For my blog and iNaturalist post, I selected a young American beech tree in Centennial Woods. The identification process was easy because the tree still had leaves which were clearly the unique beech leaves (egg-shaped with distinct ruffles). If the leaves were not there, I would have been able to identify this tree using it’s twigs. Beech trees have thin, hairless, and true buds with many scales. Additionally, their twigs are very thin with short side twigs.