Hi there I need help on identifying a pine tree, I have looked on the internet but to me all of the pine trees look identical. Is there a simple way to tell?
With pines the number of needles in a clump are where you need to start. That will narrow it down to a short list.
We're used to US trees here, but there are many similarities. If you post some pics of the needles, cones, and bark, myself and others will give it a shot. We like pics. In general, only the long needle ones (3"+) considered "pine". "Spruce" have shorter needles, and are commonly the type used for christmas trees.
A spruce has single needles whereas pine will be found in clusters. They are also sharp. Easiest way is to remember is spruce=sharp. If you grab a branch and the needles are prickly you can be pretty sure that your "pine tree" is a spruce.
If you grab a branch and don't get hurt you either have fir or pine. Spruce will hurt. Pines come in 2 needle and 5 needle varieties in the americas. The needle count refers to the number of needles in each clump. When I spent some time in Switzerland I saw lots of evergreens that I could not identify and that did not even look similar to what I see here. We may be no help at all but a good tree key will let you identify your trees rather quickly based on the tree's characteristics. Most keys are written for a live, growing tree so ID from nothing but bark and the appearance of a split is seldom attempted by most keys.
