1] This is Prunus serrulata, or flowering Cherry.
The bark has lots of lenticels, which can be thought of as pores, which help the tree breathe. The rust and gray/brown are a nice contrast and an easy identifier for this tree.
2] Eastern Red Cedar, or Juniperus virginiana. As the Latin name shows, this cedar is a juniper, which makes sense considering the blue berries it develops in the fall. It’s an easy tree to identify due to the peeling nature of the outer bark.
3] The bark of the hemlock is quite thickly scaled. This tree is also big and old. Bark can appear different as a tree ages, just like us!
An easier way to tell if a tree is a hemlock: the needles are flat on the stem, not arrayed around in a swirl. The needles themselves are flat, 1/2” long and have two white stripes on the underside. This makes the tree look “lacy” when compared to other evergreens.
4] Black Walnut, or Juglans nigra. The bark is deeply furrowed and forms a loose diamond pattern. Black walnuts are allelopathic - they emit a poison that prevents other plants from growing. This ensures their survival. However, based on all the other stuff growing in the neighbor’s yard, the other trees and bushes have worked it out.
This tree dropped thousands of walnuts two years ago. They are hugely messy and difficult to rake. I had to shovel them into a wheelbarrow several times to clean up. The nuts stain a deep brown. When I was in third grade, my mom made my sister a walnut cake for her birthday using black walnuts. It was super astringent. That’s when she learned there is a big difference between black walnuts and English walnuts. Ha!
5] Paper Birch or White Birch or Canoe Birch
Betula papyrifera is a Northeast native and the state tree of New Hampshire. (Ours is the White oak or more specifically the Charter Oak) If the peeling shiny white bark is not a giveaway then look for the standout bright yellow leaves in the fall. Another feature of the bark is the apricot undertone - peel away enough outer bark and it is apricot underneath - the photo shows it somewhat down the center of this shot.
The bark was used to write on in the past. I can attest to its hardiness - while removing old cut logs and branches a while back, the birch logs would crumble from the inside while the bark stayed intact. Of course, this makes sense as the bark is meant to protect so it should last.
6] Today’s bark is brought to you from Norway. The Norway maple - boo hiss! It is nonnative and takes over and spreads its roots wide and sucks the life out of the ground around it and chokes off natives and drops loads of branches in the wind storms and then I have to run around picking them all up because they absolutely wreck the lawnmower! And that’s all I have to say about that!