Learning about trees

I am no naturalist and can't identify any kinds of plants or trees on the hiking trail except for poison ivy. So in an attempt to broaden our horizons, this fall my family decided to join the Maine Tree Club organized by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the Maine Forest Service and the Pine Tree Arboretum.

But for those not interested in the 2-year program, there's an upcoming tree class being taught by the City of Portland Parks and Recreation Department, the Maine Forest Service and UMaine Extension Master Gardeners.

The class, geared for children ages 4 through 11 and their families, is "The Wonder of Trees." The two-session course will be held 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 in Portland. Participants will learn how to identify trees, learn about tree parts and functions, and discover the value and importance of trees.

My husband is trying to re-work his schedule to take the class with the kids because even with the tree fact worksheets, identifying trees is a lot more challenging than it first appears to be.

Our first tree "lesson" at home (which we're doing on our own until our Tree Club notebooks arrive) focused on trees with needles, also called coniferous or evergreen trees. There are four major trees in Maine with needles and are fairly easy (even for me) to tell apart - White Pine, Red Spruce, Eastern Hemlock and Balsam Fir.

The kids went out and collected samples in our back yard and it turned out we had all four evergreens on hand.

The kids are starting to feel like experts with the "confer trees" or "those trees with the needles." They might be able to tell a Balsam Fir from an Eastern Hemlock now but we're still working on learning to pronounce the tree vocabulary.