Trees Pacific NW app

Fall is a great time to start to learn more about our native trees, especially conifers.  And, a new phone app allows you to carry a field guide in your pocket and use it to identify a tree you encounter.  Photos help focus your attention on needle, bark, cone, and growth form characteristics.  No internet connection is needed once you download the free app!

Check out the Wenatchee Naturalist conifer webpage to learn about other great field identification publications and websites you may like to use.  Learning more a tree species enhances enjoyment of walking in their habitats.

Photo provided/Susan Ballinger
Our Washington native pine tree cones: Upper left, ponderosa pine; lower left, western white pine; upper right, lodgepole pine; lower right, remains of whitebark pine cones after either Clark’s nutcrackers or tree squirrels have removed the scales and harvested the seeds. Stone pines, such as whitebark, rely on a nutcracker to harvest and plant its seeds because the cones don’t open on their own.

During the 12-week Wenatchee Naturalist course, we devote one evening to learning 10 native trees by using samples of bark, cones, and needles.  Everyone takes home a bag of branches to allow continued study.  Registration is now open through Wenatchee Valley College Continuing Education website.  We are already 75% full for the course that runs on Wednesday evenings from Sept. 26-Dec.19 with four Saturday field trips on Sept. 29, Oct. 13, Nov. 17, and Dec. 1.