Thread: Tree Identification Guide & Help

Lookis like an imported pine to me as in not a native but it is a pine.

Thanks Woodkid, I forgot to include in the original post that any help in finding an online guide to tree identification of more than just the American tree species would be appreciated too.

Cheers

Think you need a close up of the male/female cones and the needles/leaf scales to get a likely ID. To me the foliage is typical of a cypress species not a pine. Something in theCupressaceae anyway. Maybe if you look up that family you might find some candidates.

The Leaf structure and a cone sitting on top.


And this is a close up (ish) shot of a branch on the tree, it's dead, but you can still see the structure of things. Unfortunatley the branches are all a bit higher up and hard to get close to with cutting them down



Cheers

Definitely a Cypress spp. Foliage looks a lot like Cupressus arizonica (Arizona cypress) but the images for the bark on the net don't look too similar to the shot you posted. I found one photo that showed it to be a mix of smooth & flakey in its native habitat although in SA it could take on another form. Certainly the foliage colour is right and that species would prob do well in the dry SA climate. Likewise for Cupressus macrocarpa (Monterey cypress) which seem to have fissured hard bark and green foliage in most of the web images but does have some blue-grey foliage variants which may be horticultural cultivars.

That's my best shot.

Edit: Having said that, this shot of Cupressus bakeri seems right for the bark foliage looks similar but the cones are slightly less nobby over the surface. Actually this site shows just how variable the bark can be for a single species in diffferent habitats. Looking at the fruits I would lean more back toward C. arizonica

yep looks like C. arizonica. The wood smells just like Dettol