Maryland Tree Quiz

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The Maryland landscape is full of beauty and diversity. How many trees can you identify in this Maryland Tree quiz. With many parks and nature reserves throughout the state, residents can enjoy discovering the many species that make Maryland their home.

Trees can be a great place to have your family start learning about nature. While your family is out on their next nature walk, have everyone see if they can identify a tree.

Get some practice in and see how well you know your Maryland trees by correctly identifying the leaves in the photo below.

Do some of them have you stumped? Click on the letter below to find out the answer and a little more about that species of tree.

All of the leaves were gathered from South River Farm Park in Edgewater.

Tree Expert Rating

6-7 correct: you are an expert
4-5 correct: you’re a budding naturalist
3 or less correct: you need to go on more nature walks

Sweet Gum

Sweet Gum has star-shaped leaves and gray bark. You might recognize the seed pods of this tree more than the leaves. With their spiky exterior, they are hard to miss during the fall.

Sassafras

The leaves on a sassafras tree can be single, mitten, or have three lobes. The leaves will turn to yellow, orange or red in fall.

Willow Oak

This variety of oak features willow like leaves that develop into a range of colors during fall like yellow, orange and red. These trees grow fast and their bark can be dark gray to blackish.

Maple

There are 3 main types of maple trees in Maryland, Red Maple, Sugar Maple and Silver Maple. These trees have those famous helicopter seeds that kids love to throw in the air. They are also known for that delicious pancake topping, maple syrup. Check out the annual Maple Syrup Festival in March where you can sap to syrup demonstrations.

Tulip

The beautiful orange and green flower is a favorite for humming birds and bees. Their leaves have four lobes and turn yellow and orange in the autumn.

Oak

The leaves on this oak have bristled lobes and turn a beautiful red color in the fall. This tree produces acorns so keep an eye out for squirrels nearby.

Cherry

The cherry tree produces an oblong leaf with finely toothed edges. They turn a yellow-orange once the weather starts to cool down. The bark on an older tree is very distinctive as it’s bark begins to curl away and create a scaly like appearance.