Your search found 75 image(s) of conifers (not including Pines).
Clicking or hovering over any of the pictures below will display a larger image; clicking the plant's name will provide information about the plant pictured.
You may also want to check out
A Field Guide to Conifers found in the Northeast United States which was created for a field biology course taught at Brandeis University.
A Simplified Key to Conifer Genera of the United States from the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Red Spruce, He Balsam
Picea rubens
Look for it . It is common to dominant in spruce and spruce-fir forests at high elevations, scattered in northern hardwood forests, heath balds, boulderfield forests, ridges, and rarely coves, also in bogs or swampy forests at lower elevations (down to about 1000m), ranging in moisture tolerance from dry ridges (though these are often fog-bathed) to saturated peats. Also sometimes planted and naturalized
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Pollen cones terminal or subterminal, oval, and bright red at maturity, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Cones pendant, 1.25-2" long, reddish-brown, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Needles bright green without white bands below, much shorter than Abies, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Leaves 4-sided, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Leaves [needles] attached to peglike bases on twigs, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
Look for it to be persisting and escaping from forestry plantations at moderate or high elevations
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Leaves 4-sided, pointed, attached to peglike bases on twigs, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Cones are pendent, red-brown to gray, over 10cm long, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Drooping of twigs & branchlets on lower limbs apparent only on mature trees, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Eastern Hemlock, Canada Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis
Look for it in a wide variety of habitats in the mountains, most typically & abundantly in moist sites in ravines or coves along streams, but likely to be found in all but the driest habitats between 300 & 1500m
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Seed cone of T. canadensis on left, that of T. caroliniana on right.
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Cones pendant, small, with thin scales, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Needles 3/8" to 3/4" long, flexible, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Needles 2-ranked, flattened, with 2 narrow whitish bands of stomata beneath, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Left: leaves (needles) of Carolina hemlock. Right: Canada or eastern hemlock, per Alpine South: Plants and Plant Communities of the High Elevations of the Southern Appalachians.
Carolina Hemlock
Tsuga caroliniana
Look for it primarily in open forests on ridge tops, rocky bluffs, or gorge walls, generally in drier and rockier sites than T. canadensis, but the two sometimes grow in close proximity or even intermixed in humid gorges
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Needles flat, extending in all directions rather than in one plane, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Seed cone of T. canadensis on left, that of T. caroliniana on right.
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Cones reddish-brown, pendant, to 1-3/8" long, opening widely when mature, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Primarily in open forests on ridge tops, rocky bluffs, or gorge walls, per Weakley's Flora.
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Left: leaves (needles) of Carolina hemlock. Right: Canada or eastern hemlock, per Alpine South: Plants and Plant Communities of the High Elevations of the Southern Appalachians.
Fraser Fir, She Balsam, Southern Balsam
Abies fraseri
Look for it in high elevation forests, from about 1500-2037m
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The bark has resin blisters, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
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Needles not more than 1" long, green above & with chalky white bands below, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Foliage soft to the touch, with a strong resinous odor when rubbed, per Trees of the Southeastern United States.
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Mature seed cones erect, cylindrical, about 2.5" long, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
Eastern Tamarack, Eastern Larch
Larix laricina
Look for it in bogs and swamps
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Leaves alternate, but on the dwarf lateral branches this is not obvious , per Trees of the Southeastern United States.
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Dwarf lateral branches grow only enough to develop dense clusters of leaves, per Trees of the Southeastern United States.
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Cones solitary or 2 together on short branchlets, apex rounded, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
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Lvs radially spreading or in apparent fascicles, triangular in cross-section, per Flora of China.
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Look for it in forests. Planted as an ornamental and experimentally as a forest tree, persisting and sometimes escaping in the high mountains of NC
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Cones 2-3.5cm long (vs. 1.2-2cm for L. laricina), per Weakley's Flora.
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Leaves 2.5-3cm long (vs. 1-2.5 for L. laricina), per Weakley's Flora.
Bald Cypress
Taxodium distichum
Look for it in brownwater & blackwater swamps, usually in riverine situations. Also, this species is sometimes planted as an ornamental in upland sites within and beyond its natural range
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Knees are more narrowly conical & sharp-pointed than knees of pond cypress, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Bark brown, fibrous or shreddy on young trunks, thickening with age, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Pollen cones produced in elongated, drooping catkins 3-5" long, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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The deciduous side twigs mostly featherlike, with flat spreading needles, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Mature seed cones nearly round, 3/4-1" in diameter, opening at maturity, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
Pond Cypress
Taxodium ascendens
Look for it in limesink ponds (dolines), clay-based Carolina bays, wet savannas, pocosins and other wet, peaty habitats, shores of natural blackwater lakes, swamps of blackwater streams
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The deciduous side twigs rather threadlike & upturned, w appressed leaves, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Mature seed cones nearly round, 3/4-1" in diameter, opening at maturity, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Leaves mostly keeled, spirally appressed, and not in a single plane, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
Florida Torreya, Stinking-cedar
Torreya taxifolia
Look for it in moist ravines and bluffs, and also rarely established near plantings
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Male cones borne singly in the axils of needles of the previous year, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
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Leaves stiff with a short petiole-like constriction, often slightly curved, per Trees of the Southeastern United States.
Atlantic White Cedar, Juniper
Chamaecyparis thyoides
Look for it in peat dome and streamhead pocosins, blackwater stream swamps, hillside seepages, in highly acidic, peaty or sandy soils
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Bark gray to reddish-brown, thin, with narrow fissures forming flat ridges, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Its small, evergreen, opposite scale-like leaves aid in recognition, per Trees of the Southeastern United States.
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Seed cones become woody, brown, and stalked after opening, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
American Arborvitae, Eastern Arborvitae, Northern White Cedar, Flat Cedar
Thuja occidentalis
Look for it on dry limestone, dolostone, and calcareous sandstone cliffs, talus, and boulderfields, rarely in our area in calcareous swamps, also planted and persisting around old homesites & cemeteries (mainly in the Mountains)
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Branchlets flattened in horizontal planes [T. orientalis's are vertical], per Weakley's Flora.
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The small branchlets look as if they had been ironed or pressed, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
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Leaves opposite, scale-like, in pairs (the side pairs keeled, others flat), per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Mature seed cones ~ 1/2" long, oblong, erect, initially yellowish-brown, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
Oriental Arborvitae, Tree-of-life
Platycladus orientalis
Look for it . It is commonly planted, especially in graveyards, and rarely persisting and spreading to pastures, fields, and roadsides
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Branchlets flattened in vertical planes [T. occidentalis's are horizontal], per Weakley's Flora.
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Cones roundish, egg-shaped, 3/4" long, fleshy, bluish before opening, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
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Leaves of Platycladus & Thuja are obtuse; leaves of Chamaecyparis are acute, per Weakley's Flora.
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Each of the cone's six scales with a hornlike projection, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
Ground Juniper, Mountain Juniper, Common Juniper
Juniperus communis var. depressa
Look for it in thin soil around rock outcrops on mountain summits and Piedmont monadnocks and rocky bluffs (in GA & NC), xeric Coastal Plain sandhills (in SC)
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Leaves all needlelike, spreading from twig, w 1 broad white band on 1 side, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana var. virginiana
Look for it in a wide variety of forests, pastures, old fields, roadsides, & fencerows, primarily upland, occurring most abundantly on circumneutral soils (including shrink-swelled clays), derived from mafic or calcareous rocks
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Crown usually dense and conical, widening with age but rarely flattening, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Pollen cones about 1/8" long, terminal, numerous, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Leaves on juvenile shoots sharply tipped and subulate, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Bark is shreddy, fibrous, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Leaves appressed and scalelike (acicular) on mature twigs, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Mature seed cones ~ 1/4", berry-like, greenish-blue with whitish coating, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
Southern Red Cedar, Coastal Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana var. silicicola
Look for it in maritime forests and scrub, hammocks, coastal shell middens and natural shell deposits, brackish marshes, and other sandy or peaty, circumneutral situations
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Crown often ultimately with a flattened and open aspect on old trees, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
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Pollen cones about 1/8" long, terminal, numerous, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
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Mature seed cones ~ 1/4", berry-like, greenish-blue with whitish coating, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide.
Arizona Cypress
Cupressus arizonica
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Pollen cones small, oblong, yellowish, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
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Globose cone with 6-8 flat or depressed scales contracted into short mucros, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
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Scales are peltate, which separates them from Arborvitae, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.
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Leaves scale-like, superposed in 4 rows, pointed, pale green to gray-green, per Manual of Woody Landscape Plants.