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The need to identify which plant is which has existed for time immemorial. The ability depends to a large extent on what criteria and whose system is used. Determination now relies on modern taxonomy to define the identify of organisms. Taxonomy is the branch of biology which deals with identity, nomenclature and classification.
The pattern of branching in a tree will vary from species to species, as will the appearance of a plant as a tree, herb, or grass. Fourthly, plant morphology examines the pattern of development, the process by which structures originate and mature as a plant grows. While animals produce all the body parts they will ever have from early in their ...
A California Native American myth explains that each three-ended bract is the tail and two tiny legs of a mouse that hid inside the scales of the tree's cones during forest fires, and the tree was kind enough to be its enduring sanctuary. A Douglas-fir species, Pseudotsuga menziesii, is the state tree of Oregon.
Plant identification is a determination of the identity of an unknown plant by comparison with previously collected specimens or with the aid of books or identification manuals. The process of identification connects the specimen with a published name. Once a plant specimen has been identified, its name and properties are known.
The consistency index (CI) measures the consistency of a tree to a set of data – a measure of the minimum amount of homoplasy implied by the tree. [20] It is calculated by counting the minimum number of changes in a dataset and dividing it by the actual number of changes needed for the cladogram. [ 20 ]
The lowest branches can be observed growing 1 m (3 ft 3 in) above ground level. [4] The leaves are flat and needle-like, 1.5–3 centimetres ( 5 ⁄ 8 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 in) long, glaucous green above with a broad stripe of stomata , and two blue-white stomatal bands below; the fresh leaf scars are reddish (tan on the inland variety). [ 4 ]
As the trees grow taller in denser forest, they lose their lower branches, such that the foliage may start as high as 34 m (110 ft) off the ground. [19] Douglas-firs in environments with more light may have branches much closer to the ground. The bark on young trees is thin, smooth, gray, and contains numerous resin blisters.
Many are also decorative garden trees, notably Korean fir and Fraser's fir, which produce brightly coloured cones even when very young, still only 1–2 m (3 ft 3 in – 6 ft 7 in) tall. Many fir species are grown in botanic gardens and other specialist tree collections in Europe and North America. [20]