1. Classification of Leaves
By Lucas
Mod 8

2. Maple
Maple is the more commonly known name , the scientific name is Acer . It is easy to help you identify Maple leaves because of their different Sinuses and Lobes(see picture below). Maple trees have"helicopters"(fruit or seed)called double samaras. They fall before the leaves drop from the trees, which twirl to the ground in late summer or early fall. They resemble helicopters in motion, which gave them the common name of helicopters or whirligigs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the Vascular Cambium. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. White-tailed deer, moose, snowshoe hare, flying squirrels and aphids are all animals that feed on the sugar maple seeds, buds, twigs, and leaves. Porcupines also consume the bark of the tree. Maples are an important source of syrup and wood. Dried wood is often used for the smoking of food. An interesting fact is Maple wood is also used for the manufacturing of wooden baseball bats, The maple bat was first used in Major League Baseball (MLB) in 1998.

3. Oak
Oak is the more commonly known name , the scientific name is Quercus.To help identify Oak leaves we look again at their sinuses and lobes. Oaks have spirally arranged leaves with lobate margins in many species. Some have serrated leaves or the entire leaf with smooth margins(see picture below). Also, the acorns and leaves contain tannic acid, the acid helps to protect it from fungi and insects, it’s a poison. In spring, a single oak tree produces both male flowers (in the form of catkins) and small female flowers(see picture in lower left). The fruit is a nut called an acorn or oak nut, a cup-like structure known as a cupule. Each acorn contains one seed. One use of the oak tree is the bark of the White Oak is dried and used in medicines. Oak wood is still commonly used for furniture making and flooring. Deer, squirrels, chipmunks, wild turkeys, crows, quail, raccoons, wood ducks depend on oak trees for their fruit, An interesting fact is that the Wye Oak in Maryland was the United States' largest white oak tree before it blew down in a storm in 2002, it was approximately 460 years old.

4. Coniferous
Conifers scientific name is Pinophyta. They are mostly evergreen trees and shrubs having needle-shaped leaves, with cone-bearing seed plants. Examples include cedars, Douglas firs, cypresses, junipers, pines, hemlocks, redwoods, spruces, and yews. They are the dominant plants over large areas of land. The narrow conical shape of northern conifers, and their downward-drooping limbs, help them shed snow(see picture above.) Many of them can seasonally change their biochemistry to make them more resistant to freezing. Conifers are of great economic value for softwood lumber and paper production. Animals such as chipmunks, the black capped chickadee use the tree for shelter and cone seeds for food.Deer use the trees for winter protection and snack on the bark. The conifers are a very old group of trees. There is record of a fossil dating back about 300 million years to the Paleozoic time period.

5. Glossary
Sinus: a sinus is a space or indentation between two lobes or teeth, usually on a leaf.
Lobes:A rounded projection part of the leaf.
Vascular cambium: is the plant tissue located between the xylem and the phloem in the stem and root of a vascular plant.
Tannic Acid:The acid helps to protect it from fungi and insects and is found in leaves and bark of the trees.
Catkins: Elongated cluster of single-sex flowers having a modified leaf(downy) and without petals.
Cupule:a cup-shaped organ, structure, or receptacle in a plant or animal.
Conical shaped trees : trees that are similar to Pyramidal, the classic Christmas tree, but are usually more slender and bullet-shaped.

6. Citations
/trees