This web site will lead you through qualities of leaves and fruits from the common trees of Ohio. You will work your way through these choices by selecting images that more closely resemble your sample. To be certain of your identification of an unknown tree, however, you must use as much of the tree as possible.

Trees are made up of many parts. They have woody trunks and branches that are covered with bark. They have leaves, and they produce fruit. Remember that a tree is a complex organism. You should get to know the whole tree, and until you learn more about trees, you probably won’t be able to identify a particular tree with just a single part. You may have to make several trips to the tree, looking at it both closely and from a distance.

What tree is it?
We will use just two of the parts of trees, leaves and fruit, to identify the common trees of Ohio. Then, after you learn the tree’s name, you can read facts about your tree, or you can bypass the keys and go directly to the tree by name.

The following reference works are some that we have used in researching and producing this program. You may want to read them yourself for additional information about trees.

"Tips on Ohio Tree Identification" by David F. Berna (U.S. Soil Conservation Service, Technical Note #9, Columbus, Ohio, Revised 1988).

"Ohio’s Trees" by Guy L. Denny (Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Columbus, Ohio, 1990).

"The Tree Identification Book" by George W. D. Symonds (Quill, William Morrow and Company, New York, originally published 1958).

"Fruit Key and Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs" by William M. Harlow (Dover Publications, New York, 1959).

"Master Tree Finder: A Manual for the Identification of Trees by their Leaves" by May Theilgaard Watts (Nature Study Guild, Berkeley, California, 1963).

"The Woody Plants of Ohio" by E. Lucy Braun (Hafner, New York, New York, 1969). [Serious reading about trees and shrubs in Ohio must include Braun’s work.]

"Ohio’s Big Trees" by the Ohio Division of Forestry (Columbus, Ohio, 1989).

"Trees of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada" by William M. Harlow (Dover Publications, New York, 1957).

Alvin E. Staffan, Photographer, "Ohio’s Trees", text by Guy L. Denny, published by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Jim Kingery, Site Director, Moundbuilders and Flint Ridge, Ohio Historical Society

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

The Dawes Arboretum, Newark, Ohio

Holden Arboretum, Kirtland, Ohio

"A Guide To The Trees" by Alice Lounsberry, Illustrations by Mrs. Ellis Rowan (Frederick A. Stokes Company 1900).

"The Woody Plants of Ohio" by E. Lucy Braun, Illustrations by Mrs. Elizabeth Dalve’ (Ohio University Press)

Carl Albrecht, Curator of Natural History, Ohio Historical Society

Bob Glotzhober, Curator of Natural History, Ohio Historical Society

Kimberly Koloski, Graphic Design, HTML Markup, Ohio Historical Society

Leslie Mack, Photographer and Graphic Researcher, Ohio Historical Society

Roger Norfleet, HTML Markup, Ohio Historical Society

Todd Remer, Illustrations, Ohio Historical Society

Harry Searles, HTML Markup, Ohio Historical Society

Shane Searles, HTML Markup, Ohio Historical Society