![Participants at the Allerton Winter Tree Identification Hike looking up at a state champion
swamp white oak](https://will.illinois.edu/images/uploads/36444/winter_trees_web__medium.jpg)
Learning to See Trees Through “New Eyes” at Allerton
Most people who can tell the difference between tree species in the summer have difficulty in winter because they’re naked — the trees, that is, not the people. The goal of the winter tree identification hike at Allerton Park goal was to teach participants other cues to tell them apart.
![A group of people playing lawn games inside](https://will.illinois.edu/images/uploads/28807/cornhole__medium.jpg)
![A Skunk Cabbage grows out of the snow](https://will.illinois.edu/images/uploads/36902/first_flower_web__medium.jpg)
On the hunt for first flower of spring
The “skunk cabbage,” is a plant that lives up to its name, giving off a distinct, skunk-like odor. But this distinct early spring flower also distinguishes itself from all other plants native to Illinois by the fact that it generates heat--enough so that its flower can remain 36 degrees F warmer than the surrounding air for a period of about two weeks.
![An Arctic ground squirrel peeks out from its burrow under the snow](https://will.illinois.edu/images/uploads/37012/ea_ground-squirrel_snow_web__medium.jpg)
We’re not alone coping with the cold
You’ve probably had about enough of winter by now. But other mammals have to find ways of coping with winter as well - from hibernation to energy storage to huddling together for warmth and to save energy.