Tree identification from a photo
Trees are easiest to name from a close photo of a single leaf (both sides if you can), plus the bark and any fruit, cones or seeds. In winter, a twig with its buds is often enough for an expert, and the AI looks at the same clues.
Take or choose a photo
One leaf, flower or the whole plant, in focus. Stays private: it is sent only to identify it and is not stored.
Determinationawaiting specimen
- Name
- common and scientific
- Why
- the features in your photo that point to it
- Care
- light, water, soil, hardiness
- Safety
- toxicity to people, cats and dogs
- Look-alikes
- and how to tell them apart
What to photograph
- One whole leaf, flat, filling the frame, including the stalk
- Bark at chest height
- Fruit, nuts, cones or seed pods, even from the ground below
- The whole tree from a distance for its shape
Features that separate look-alikes
- Leaf arrangement
- Opposite (pairs) or alternate (staggered) along the twig. Only a few big groups of North American trees have opposite leaves.
- Simple or compound
- A compound leaf is split into leaflets on one stalk (ash, walnut, locust). Look for the bud: it sits at the base of the whole leaf, not each leaflet.
- Leaf edge
- Smooth (entire), toothed or lobed. Oaks have lobes; elms and birches have toothed edges.
- Needles
- Pines have needles in bundles of 2, 3 or 5; spruce needles are single, square and sharp; fir needles are flat and soft.
Questions gardeners ask
Can you identify a tree from its bark alone?
Sometimes: birch, sycamore, shagbark hickory and many pines have distinctive bark. For most trees, leaves, buds or fruit give a far more reliable answer.
How do I identify a tree in winter?
Photograph a twig showing bud shape and arrangement, the bark, and any leftover fruit or leaves on the ground.