A few leditsia triacanthos IDed by plated bark and compound leaves with ovate leaflets. Most of the honey locusts around (of which there are many) seem to have root sprouts
Honey Locusts’ New Growth
Japanese Cherry
Prunus serrulata IDed by cherry-esque thin shiny bark with lenticels and pink flowers. I feel like cherry trees at this time of year are quite easy to identify from afar, since they are really the only trees in the city that have a gradient of red leaves at the top and greener leaves at the bottom with flowers interspersed. Gingkos and zelkovas are also really distinct from afar at this time of year because of their prominent leaves and general shape.
Green Ash
Fraxinus pennsylvanica IDed by alligator-esque, craggly, segmented bark and opposite, pinnately compound leaves with 7 leaflets give or take 2 and very minorly serrate margins (Fraxinus americana has slightly larger serrations). Also most NYC ashes are green ashes.
Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba IDed by fan shaped leaves and gray bark.
Willow Oaks
Two Quercus phelloses IDed by noticing the two were the same species and using observations from each. The features include: two lanceolate, willow-esque leaves persisting through winter and into spring; smooth, gray bark of young willow oaks in the midst of transitioning into rough and irregular furrows; slender, hairless twig. The buds are supposed to be very small, reddish brown, and sharp pointed according to this website. These buds don’t match the small bud requirement. But given that the leaves are starting to sprout, the unusually long buds may just be the leaves distorting the normal bud shape.
Crabapple
Malus sp. blossoming crabapple tree IDed by rough, cracked, easily peeled bark; bountiful pink flowers with kind of sweet scent; small overall form; elliptical leaves with mildly serrate leaves. Way too hard to determine the species of crabapple so I’m not going to even try. You could probably do process of elimination but idk if it’s actually possible to determine the exact species on observation alone.
Japanese Zelkova
Zelkova serrata IDed by lancelot serrate acuminate leaves and smooth gray bark with orange inner bark
Cherry Laurel (?)
Prunus laurocerasus IDed by evergreen, dense, smooth, glossy, elliptical leaves on short stems; cylindrical, upright flower racemes with axillary inflorescence. The leaves are supposed to be coriaceous (leather-like) and smell like almonds when crushed (the leaves are poisonous, though), but I didn’t touch or smell the plant. There are supposed to be “2-8 glands on the underside of the leaf blade base near the midrib,” according to this website I used to ID this plant. I’m gonna revisit it sometime and check these characteristics.
[Revisited] Idk, it had 2 glands but no real smell.
Little Leaf Linden
[Revisited] Tilia cordata IDed by gray bark, oval asymmetrical buds, and finely serrate, asymmetrically cordate, pinnately veined leaves.
White Mulberry
Moraceae morus IDed by orangey bark with narrow, wrinkly ridges; wide crown and low branching; smooth, slender grayish brown twig with reddish brown, small, blunt but tapered buds; sunken oval leaf scars. For this tree, the buds look green but that’s just the leaves emerging. This website that I used to ID this tree said that broken twigs have silvery white filaments but I didn’t want to break a twig off.
