BEHOLD BARK, BUDS, AND BERRIES

January is a great month to refine your winter botany skills by learning to recognize important dormant-season plant characteristics such as bark, buds, and persistent flower and fruit structures. Previous winter-month EcoQuest Challenges (see guides below) provide many examples of common plants that can be identified in winter, representing diverse groups of native and invasive species, including cryptogams, gymnosperms, and flowering plants (grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees). How many species can you find this January?

Pictoral Guide for Tree Bud Identification
What are Lichens?
NYC Bryophyte Guide
Guide to Pines of NYC
Guide to Common Reed (Phragmites)
Guide to Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orientalis)
Guide to Porcelainberry (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata)
Guide to Euonymus
Guide to English Ivy (Hedera helix)
Guide to Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)