1. Look carefully for thorns or prickles.
2. Notice anything unusual about the bark of trunk and branches—knotty, flaky, peeling, color, etc.
3. Try to choose mature leaves of typical shapes and sizes rather than the unusual ones.
4. Look for flowers, fruits or seeds on or under a tree or other woody plant. These may furnish just the confirmation you need to feel sure of the right name.
GLOSSARY
axil: the angle where a leaf stem joins a twig.
deciduous: losing its leaves in winter, not evergreen.
dioecious: bearing staminate, or male, flowers on separate plants from the pistillate, or fruit-bearing flowers; hence some plants of certain species never bear fruits or seeds.
fruit: that part of any plant which contains the seeds.
lenticel: air pore in the bark.