How do you differentiate american beech, ironwood and black birch leaves?
I need a distinguishable characteristic for each leaf. They all look the same!
Beech have much more widely spaced teeth, and the teeth occur singly: http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=47
Ironwood and black birch both have double teeth, where there are several small teeth, then a larger one.
The base of the black birch leaf is usually "indented", making the leaf slightly heart shaped:
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=11
The base of an ironwood leaf is usually straight:
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=17
Of course, it would be easier to identify these from the bark of the tree when you collect them, then put them into an envelope with the name on it. Ideally, you'd want to collect a few leaves with the twig attached so you can see characteristics like leaf arrangement and the buds, which also can help in identification.
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