Mary Jo DiLonardo has worked in print, online, and broadcast journalism for 25 years and covers nature, health, science, and animals. Young trees sometimes have smooth bark that's unbroken by ridges.

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Immature smooth alder catkins, or elongated flowers. Looking at buds can help identify trees in winter. Once you’ve familiarized yourself with staring at tree bark, you can begin to recognize the ...

HAMLIN TOWNSHIP, MI – Sugar maple. Red maple. Silver maple. What’s the difference? Those three maple species are part of the “tree identification pathway” at Ludington State Park, near Ludington. This ...