Campus Tree Trek
Celebrate citizen science and get to know our trees!
Did you know that MSU is home to more than 1,800 trees?
Ten different trees on the Montana State University - Bozeman campus have been tagged with a sign and QR code. When you find a tree from the Campus Tree Trek, see if you can identify it. Then, scan the code to see if you’re right! Be sure to share what you learned (and challenge yourself to identify more untagged trees around campus). The Campus Tree Trek is open to all MSU students, staff and faculty as well as visitors to campus.
The Campus Tree Trek is brought to you by the Science Math Resource Center and Dr. Danielle Ulrich’s Plant Physiology Ecology Lab.
Use the map and the hints below to help guide you to each tree. Hint: Check out MSU’s Interactive Tree Inventory for a comprehensive list of all the trees on campus.
For more information, please email [email protected].
Campus Tree Trek Guide
Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)
- You’ll find me on the west side of the Renne Library. I am the official state tree of Montana! Look for my puzzle piece-shaped bark and egg-shaped cones with sharp points on each side.
Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa)
- See me just southeast of the Swingle Health Center. I have a slender trunk, soft and flat needles, and dark purple ones that stand upright.
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides)
- You can find me on the northwest corner of the Animal Bioscience building. Look for my distinctive white trunk and “eye” markings.
European larch (Larix decidua)
- I am between Tietz Hall and Leon Johnson Hall. My needles grow in tuft-like clusters, and I am one of the few types of deciduous conifers.
Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)
- Look for a small grove just east of Wilson Hall. I have blue-green scaley leaves and blue-purple “juniper berries” (female cones).
Blue spruce (Picea pungens)
- You’ll find me on the south side of the MSU duck pond. Keep an eye out for my blue-gray needles, and feel how sharp and stiff they are!
Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
- While you are relaxing on the east side of Romney Oval, look out for my rough and rigid bark and my compound leaves.
Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)
- I can be found southeast of Jake Jabs Hall. Look for my distinctive cones with “mousetail” bracts protruding between each scale.
Limber pine (Pinus flexilis)
- You’ll find me on the northwest corner near Linfield North Hall. Keep an eye out for my large 3–7-inch, light-brown cones.
