Tree Silhouettes

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to be out at sunset and was inspired by the silhouettes of some trees growing along Crescent Harbor. One of the things that struck me was how distinct the growth pattern of each species was, and I thought it might make for an interesting challenge to identify the trees based only on their silhouettes. Perhaps a true expert could do this without prior knowledge of what species occur in the area, but I doubt I could, so I’ll provide list of the common native or naturalized trees that occur around Sitka. The photos below are all on the list, though not everything in the list has a photograph, and some species are present in more than one photograph.

Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla)
Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana)
Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis)
Shore Pine (Pinus contorta)
Black Cottonwood (Populus balsamifera)
Red Alder (Alnus rubra)
Sitka Alder (Alnus viridis)
Sitka Willow (Salix sitchensis)
European Mountain Ash (Sorbus aucuparia)
Sitka Mountain Ash (Sorbus sitchensis)
Pacific Crabapple (Malus fusca)

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