Starker Forestry Trail Dichotomous Key

The student will use a dichotomous key to identify trees and other plants found at the Starker Forestry Trail. Most of these trees and plants are common throughout Oregon’s Coast Range and Cascade forests. This is a good, outdoor follow-up activity for Activity #9.

1.	The plant is tree-like	go to 2
	The plant is not tree-like	go to 13
2.	The leaves are needle-like or scale-like	go to 3
	The leaves are not needle-like or scale-like	go to 8
3.	The leaves are needle-like	go to 4
	The leaves are scale-like	Western red cedar
4.	The leaves are clustered	Ponderosa pine
	The leaves are not clustered	go to 5
5.	The buds are large and pointed	Douglas-fir
	The buds are not large and pointed	go to 6
6.	The terminal buds are round and clustered	go to 7
	The terminal buds are not round and clustered	Western hemlock
7.	The needles are flattened on the twig	Grand fir
	The needles are shaped like hockey sticks	Noble fir
8.	The leaves are opposite	Bigleaf maple
	The leaves are alternate	go to 9
9.	The leaf edges are smooth	go to 10
	The leaf edges are not smooth	go to 11
10.	The leaves are thick and leathery	Golden chinkapin
	The leaves are not thick and leathery	Willow
11.	There are tiny glands at base of leaves	Bitter cherry
	There are no glands at base of leaves	go to 12
12.	The leaf edges are serrated	Apple
	The leaf edges are doubly serrated	Red alder
13.	The plant is vine-like	Trailing blackberry
	The plant is not vine-like	go to 14
14.	The plant is fern-like	go to 15
	The plant is not fern-like	go to 16
15.	The fronds are simple and leathery	Sword fern
	The fronds are more complex and more fragile	Bracken fern
16.	The leaves are thick and leathery	Salal
	The leaves are not thick and leathery	go to 17
17.	The leaves are simple and palmate	Thimbleberry
	The leaves are compound and pinnate	go to 18
18.	The leaflets have spiny edges	Oregon grape
	The leaflets do not have spiny edges	Elderberry