It's best to identify a black walnut tree before choosing a new site for the spring garden, since this tree's roots secrete chemicals that kill or stunt many garden plants, including tomatoes. Winter buds have a pale, silky down covering them. In our part of the country, sassafras is a medium-sized tree with green, smooth, aromatic twigs. One scratch of the twig will awaken the tree's spicy smell. This mighty native tree, valued for its lumber, is one of the easiest to identify in winter.
Tulip tree has a straight trunk, with dark, eyebrow-like marks and many upright branches.
On the tips of these branches, a careful observer will notice tan, brittle fruit clusters, especially brilliant when caught by winter sunlight. Up close, the end buds are greenish and leathery in the shape of a flattened duckbill. Oaks as a group are a challenge to tell apart from each other, but are fairly easy to distinguish from other trees. Oak buds are borne in clusters at the end of the twig. These fascinating trees can have smooth, silvery bark.