MikeGras & EdOut

This is the biggest and most diverse group of plants on earth.  Every plant that makes a flower belongs to this group.  Can you imagine a taxonomic key that would include all of these plants.  Our Key is not so big as we are concerned only with the woody plants of East Texas.  And lucky for us, all of our wood bearing Angiosperms fall into only 2 groups.

If your plant has leaves with veins that run parallel (next to each other from leaf end to leaf end) Click Here.

If your plant.s leaves have veins that are more like a net, sort of crossing and reconnecting. Click Here.

Basically these are pine trees and trees like them.  It is the family of trees that have seeds in cones.  There are over 600 cone bearing plants but East Texas and our nature center have only a few.  With just a few more observations you will have identified your tree or shrub. The next step in your search is to find the genus of your plant.

If your plant has leaves less than an inch long and somewhat triangular with cones that look and feel like a berry Click Here

If your plant has needle like leaves – long and narrow with cones that dry and feel like wood Click Here