This weekend, I visited Centennial Woods in order to find a species from the following list: red maple (Acer rubrum), Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), or American beech (Fagus grandifolia). I originally thought this would be an easy task, and I would be in and out; however, it proved to be much more difficult. In order to properly identify one of these species, I had to look for a relatively mature tree with low buds that were developed enough to be identifiable. Additionally, many of the trees that I had come across had not enough buds visible to properly identify them.
Eventually, I was able to find what I believe to be a red maple (Acer rubrum). It took me a little while to gain confidence in this identification as I was a little unsure that it was not a different variety of maple. The buds on the tree that I examined were shiny, red, and had smoother tips with only a few scales which allowed me to eliminate a sugar maple as a possibility since sugar maples have more scales that are pointier. Also, the bark was gray and smooth, with only a few ridges developed at the bottom, also consistent with a red maple.
