How to Use a Dichotomous Key: A Tutorial Featuring 10 Common Shade Trees of the Tampa Bay Area
Andrew K. Koeser, Gitta Hasing, Michael G. Andreu, and Melissa H. Friedman
A dichotomous key is a tool used to help identify an unknown organism. This fact sheet features a key of leaf characteristics for ten common broadleaf trees in the Tampa Bay Area. Accurately navigating this series of paired, either-or choices about leaf characteristics will lead the reader to identify the correct tree from the group of ten.