Pay It Forward - Tree Knowledge Competition

[andyn]

If it helps someone get the prize...

I can garrantee 100000% that number 2) is Alder, I'll even donate £25 to charity if I am wrong, and If Red says its something else then he is fibbing

Might have another stab at this later, It is "Children in need" day tomorrow isn't it?

 

[British Red]

Wow - now there's confidence!

What makes you so sure Andy?

Red

 

[andyn]

Wow - now there's confidence!

What makes you so sure Andy?

Red

Well you haven't asked for the £25 donation yet.

Theres about 100 of them growing around our office.

 

[British Red]

I said I'd trust people to make the donations themselves Andy

 

[addo]

Here goes again

1. Sycamore
2. Willow
3. Field Maple
4. Ash
5. Walnut
6. Whitebeam
7. Oak
8. London Plane
9. Beech
10.Scots Pine

This is fun but doin my head in. At least its in a good cause.

 

[rich59]

Now, if we want to work as a team and be very systematic about this then we could give up trying to be right on 9/10 trees and only make a realistic guess (and one only) 5 times. Then after the 5 tries Red might just kindly tell us whether we scored 0 or 1. When we get 1 then we know what that tree was definitely and can move on to attack another tree.

As an example:-

1) Clover
2) Clover
3) Clover
4) Clover
5) Clover
6) Clover
7) London Plane
8) Clover
9) Clover
10) Clover

Now enter the same thing 5 x and see what Red gives us

 

[British Red]

Neither are entirely correct guys I'm afraid

Rich - have you calculated just how many donations its going to cost you to London Wildlife yet to find the answer?

You have however divined why I won't score individual entries

However if you are that confident about no 7, why not match andyn's offer??



Red

 

[Stew]

Try #2.....

1 - Horse Chestnut
2 - Alder
3 - Elder
4 - Pear
5 - Maple
6 - Whitebeam
7 - Pine
8 - Sycamore
9 - Lime
10 - Spruce

 

[Mang]

Red, I do a collection each year at work where people donate to a cause instead of sending cards (I can recommend it folks) and it will be to a local Hospice who looked after a work colleage.

I did OK in the individual tree quizzes but different barks?

1. Lassie
2. Poodle
3. Pointer
4. Springer Spaniel
5. Scooby-Doo
6. Papillon
7. Alsation
8. Hong Kong Phooey
9. Beagle
10.Border Collie

Can you tell I'm not even at the races when it comes to barks? *cough* I'll get my coat....

 

[SOAR]

So thats what #5 is. I may get to sleep tonight.
Nice one fella.

 

[addo]

Here goes again

1. Sycamore
2. Goat Willow
3. Field Maple
4. Ash
5. Walnut
6. Rowan
7. Oak
8. London Plane
9. Beech
10.Scots Pine

I know there not all right, but if I dont put Rowan for No6. and its correct, I kick meself as its my Daughters name, and one of the finest trees around! I dont care if 1. isn't sycamore cause it looks like all the sycamores ive been inspecting this week. Raaaaa. Rant over

 

[British Red]

Mang gets the best entry so far

No winners yet................

Average so far is 3.24

The high score of 5 has now been achieved by a number of contestants.

There is an interesting difference of opinion on No 1 here

Red

 

[rich59]

Neither are entirely correct guys I'm afraid

Rich - have you calculated just how many donations its going to cost you to London Wildlife yet to find the answer?

You have however divined why I won't score individual entries

However if you are that confident about no 7, why not match andyn's offer??



Red

I have calculated very precisely that it will take us something like 500 years to get 10 right by just trying for 10 with no clues. Trying for 1 only would get the answer much quicker.

 

[British Red]

aaaah but clues can be purchased............

Red

 

[bushwacker bob]

1/ yew
2/ alder
3/ spruce
4/ oak
5/ sycamore
6/holly
7/larch
8/london plane
9/beech
10/scots pine
£5 to guide dogs for the blind

 

[ganstey]

This might be the new version of the Tree ID Book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Tre...19/ref=pd_sbs_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1195148428&sr=1-6. Price is a little more reasonable.


Geoff

I've been using Collins Complete British Trees, but it hasn't helped much

It is a good book though.

G

 

[Toadflax]

I've been using Collins Complete British Trees, but it hasn't helped much

It is a good book though.

G

My problem now is that I've run out of available references that I can use. I don't know tree barks so I'm going from a standing start. I have one or two tree books at home but, as I suspect for the majority of basic guides, bark isn't often used as a primary ID - it's normally leaves /flowers /fruit. There are some good tree ID web sites, some include some pictures of bark, but in general they follow the primary IDs used by books: leaves /flowers /fruit. Google images produces some results but I haven't had great success there. If I had a day to spare, I'd print off the piccys and take them into the Radcliffe Science Library in Oxford because I'm sure that they will have lots of reference tomes there.

I've tried some statistical analysis of the answers so far and Red's hints but it's like one of those logic problems where there isn't quite enough information to get the answer. As Rich tried to do, we need some more data if we are going to solve it by logic. And solving by logic doesn't really teach me anything about tree identification.

I'm now getting to the limit of my knowledge and I'm tempted now just to do what I can to help anyone get a solution. I'd like to win the prize, but I don't want to get into the situation where I put in loads of effort to find the answer and then get annoyed because someone else beat me to it. In the end, Red's competition has provided me with entertainment, and I will hopefully learn something from it.

When I play board games, I just like playing them for the experience, and winning or otherwise doesn't matter to me. Right from my school days, I've always been good at what I do but there has always been someone better than me, and the philosophy propounded by the modern world of always trying to be best, and that you have failed if you aren't the best, has made it difficult for me at times. So my philosophy now is that I owe it myself and my family to try hard, but that second best is often good enough, and in most cases is still a very good achievement.

I'd better climb down from the psychiatrist's couch now and think some more about this problem.


Geoff

 

[ganstey]

I spent all of yesterday's lunchtime coming up with my entry. I spent some time having another look, but couldn't come up with anything better. Any other entry by me would be a finger in the air guess.

What I would really appreciate once someone has got the right answer, is some idea on what particular aspects of the barks help with the identification. I know that some of them will just be "well, that's how it looks", but maybe some of the others have key features that separate them from similar looking species.

Thanks Red, this has been a really good quiz, and even though I'm not going to win, I've learnt a lot from it.

G

 

[Matt Weir]

Exactly, I would love to be able to ID tree's from bark alone but in reality I am still in the early years of tree ID with full leaves, flower, buds and a bloody big sign next to it telling me what it is in most cases.

When I looked at the 10 specimens initially I admit no thinking 'no idea' to all of them or at best 'looks a bit like a pine - I think - maybe'

Hopefully though this has and will be a great training tool because it makes you keep looking at the bark and it's characteristics over and over so come the day of the reveal we will all have a much better idea in general and if I can walk past a tree and just glance at it's trunk and think 'that's a sycamore' then I'll be chuffed to bits

Edit: I think no 6 is a cherry - I'll buy a Big Issue later

 

[British Red]

Thanks Sean - not the right answers though mate I'm afraid.

Sounds like I may have made this one over hard . I think AndyNs was the only only approach to solve this one - saying which ones you were cerain of and why. Of course someone might feed you a Red squirrel (I mean Red Herring), but I doubt it

Shall I provide the answers and dream up another competition instead?

Red