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Basic anatomy of a twig
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Cottonwood Tree Stem
When most people might not even notice this twig and gardeners might simply pitch it along with the rest of the late fall debris, a horticulturist might look at it and think, “Wow, what a great specimen!” And proceed to brush up on his/her plant identification skills and horticulture terms for woody plant stems.
This twig comes from a plain old Cottonwood tree (Populus deltoides), a tree of little landscape value (it is messy, of little aesthetic value, short-lived), yet abundant in Chicagoland anyway. Nonetheless, it has some great features to study.
Overall, the horticulturist notes the color, texture and bud arrangement. This stem is mostly grey, with brown new growth, smooth, medium to coarse in texture.
The most obvious features on this stem are the buds. The placement of the buds, along with the leaf scars travel down the stem in an alternate pattern, narrowing the selection of genus’ from which it came. Notice the huge, green lateral buds and the smaller brown apical bud. Look at how pointed they are. Buds are very unique and key to successful woody plant identification, especially in fall and winter when there are no leaves. At both the base of the stem and directly under the last petiole (leaf stem), one can see the terminal bud scale scars. Some horticulturists say they look like droopy socks. In any event, the terminal bud scale scar tells one how much the twig has grown that season. In this case, it is about six inches, typical for the fast-growing Cottonwood. 
All of these characteristics (and more) help the horticulturist, tree or plant enthusiast identify and hone their plant identification skills.
All Photos Viridis Garden Coaching
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