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For the untrained observer, it can be quite a challenge to sort out the many trees that make up a stand of older forest in, say, New England or the Ozarks. This well-illustrated guidebook, covering 364 species, comes to the rescue with photographs organized in several ways: by, for example, the shape of the leaf or needle, by the fruit, by the flower or cone, and by autumn coloration. Following one visible characteristic or another, the reader can narrow the range of possibilities, then turn to an informative text that describes a tree's physical characteristics, habitat, and range. Many of the species covered are relatively rare, such as the "stinking cedar" of the Georgia-Florida border; others are locally abundant, such as the paper birch of the boreal forest, used to make ice-cream sticks; still others, such as the smooth sumac, are widespread. The guidebook also covers ornamentals introduced from other continents, such as the Chinese privet and Mahaleb cherry. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
Tree peepers everywhere will enjoy these two guides which explore the incredible environment of our country's forests-including seasonal features, habitat, range, and lore. Nearly 700 species of trees are detailed in photographs of leaf shape, bark, flowers, fruit, and fall leaves -- all can be quickly accessed making this the ideal field guide for any time of year.
Note: the Eastern Edition generally covers states east of the Rocky Mountains, while the Western Edition covers the Rocky Mountain range and all the states to the west of it.
Customer Reviews:
Great Guide that is ALMOST Perfect.......2007-08-18
I have always liked the Audubon Society Field Guides. This particular guide is great in the amount of color photos for sometimes easily identifying species in all seasons, whether from the fall leaves, bark, summer leaves, and the fruit it produces. Also the organization of the guide is very good. My cons below are NOT enough to prevent me from recommending this guide. Compared to other guides it's still the best.
CONS: The amount of information in the back is not always consistent. Also there still isn't always an easy way to differentiate some of the similar species (e.g. Oaks). In other words the pictures and/or the descriptions are not enough to distinguish like species.
helpful.......2007-07-03
Very much help for figuring out what trees we have and we have a lot. Pictures are very nice and cross reference if you aren't totally sure of what you are looking at. Very handy size too
Great Book.......2007-06-27
Every tree and every leaf that you can think of is in this book. Great clear pictures and the information is great. So glad I purchased this book for my husband. The equivalant to bird watching. Tree watching.
Information Packed.......2007-05-17
My new hobby is woodturning bowls so I bought this book to help me identify trees that supply my wood. Once I learned how to search the material, this book has been great fun and very useful. I take it with me when I walk my dog around the neighborhood to identify trees.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region (Eastern).......2007-02-04
Product received in great condition and very useful.
Customer Reviews:
Not useful for the gardener or landscaper.......2007-09-19
This book is intended for plant scientists, and I was astounded to find how useless a gigantic tome like this can be to a gardener. For starters, in 1188 pages there are zero photos. There is zero color. There's a huge number of amateur black ink drawings that suggest major details of leaves, etc., but no refinements. For visual identification purposes this book is near-useless, so it cannot be thought of as a woody plant encyclopedia. Also, the author has a peculiar manifest of political correctness: he won't speak ill of a plant. So, for example, the discussion of Rhus never mentions that at least three species (poison ivy, oak, sumac) are known for inducing allergic skin reaction after contact. You'd better know that and be able to recognize these because to Dirr that's unmentionable. Nor can I find mention that any berry, leaf, or bark is poisonous though to be fair, I didn't check all 1188 pages. Nor will I; I exchanged my copy for the same author's "Hardy Trees and Shrubs" which is what I should have bought to begin with. It has everything the scientific Manual lacks. That's Dirr's book for gardeners, and still gives you a taste of his political correctness peccadilloes.
Dirr is the Most Comprehensive.......2007-07-05
I am an OSU Master Gardener and we are taught to look to the best experts when we research information for ourselves or to give out to the public. This book, Dirr's "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants" and Carl Whitcomb's "Know It and Grow It III" are the best references a person can use when researching woody trees and shrubs for a landscape. Although Whitcomb's book has a map showing regions where the plant would grow best, Dirr's book has by far more trees and shrubs reviewed with more cultivars listed also. Additionally, Dirr's book is listed entirely by scientific name making it easy to locate information about a plant quickly.
"Manual" is the right name for this book........2007-03-06
I bought this book because other books that I have by Dirr are worth every cent I have spent on them. This book is no different. No glossy pictures are present, but instead there are excellent, detailed line drawings of the identifying features of plant leaves and twigs. What this book does offer that other books I have read do not, is exhaustive information on just about every woody plant one might ever encounter. This book is a true "manual"; it is packed with information on every aspect of selecting, planting, managing, and propagating woody plants.
I doubt this book is essential for the casual gardener, but if you want a serious treatment of trees and shrubs for reference, this book is just what you are seeking. I bought the hardback because I knew that this is a book that will need to take years of abuse.
The best textbook I've ever bought.......2007-02-26
Easily worth ten times the price; an indispensable guide for any horticultural student. Contains encyclopedic knowledge, written in a friendly and approachable way. My copy is already tagged with post-its and notes in the margins; I will no doubt be using this regularly for my whole career.
Great resource.......2007-02-12
This is a wonderful book for those with at least moderate plant knowledge. Very valuable for looking up the difference between varities, but there are no color pictures.
Customer Reviews:
Best Wildflower Guide I Know.......2007-08-14
Because the keys are based on number of petals, this is the easiest identification guide I have. I take it into the field along with the Peterson's guide, which has better illustrations, and cross-check my flowers.
Very Useful.......2007-06-11
In the past, I found field guides to wildflowers very frustrating. I have both A Field Guide to Wildflowers : Northeastern and North-Central North America (Peterson Field Guides)and a Golden Wildflower guide. Because the aforementioned are organized by color first, one has to painstakingly search though all of the illustrations until a probable match is found. This is time consuming, and for me, very difficult, leading to many misidentifications.
Newcomb's Wildflower guide takes a different approach. Created for the non botanist, it begins with flower shape, then leaf location, then leaf shape, until you have a 3 digit numeric key. Next by looking under this key for more detail, you are directed to the right page(s). For me this is wonderful, it takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you find the correct illustration and description quickly without having to page though a multitude of pink or blue or white, etc. flowers.
Admittedly, this system is not for everyone. Many people may like starting with color, but for me this guide is truly useful in the field.
Great guide for beginners and advanced.......2007-05-23
Overall a great book if you are interested in wildflower identification. I wish there were more pictures. Once you learn the coding, it is easy to narrow what you are looking for. I tried identifying a a flower that I already new by using the coding and was able to go directly to it. Using it to identify others you don't know takes a little practice, but it cuts your search time way down.
A Staple for Every Fan of Plants.......2007-03-08
This book is the first to go into a field bag when headed outside. It is an invaluable resource. A great deal of drawings (mostly B/W) that aid in the identification of Northeastern wildflowers. Note: requires a moderate amount of practice and/or knowledge of plants and flowers to be truly effective.
Regional but excellent .......2006-07-18
Definitely a regional book. If you travel in N. Georgia up to New England, this is a must-have guide. The black and white line drawings do aid in identifying plants having structure and shape as the defining characteristic because light and shade of color do not come into play as they might in photos. As in birding, the preference for either photos or drawings is an individual one and, until Newcomb's landed in my library, I used photo guides for wildflowers but preferred drawn guides (like Peterson's) for birds. This is the book that changed my mind on that point.
Having said that, this is not a beginner's book. I think I would have had little use for Newcomb's 6 or 7 years ago when I started out with wildflowers. This is the only book whose key system did not leave me reaching for a photo guide out of frustration; the key works very well with this book, and helped make me a more educated plant photographer. Also, since using it, my tolerance for keys and ability to use them have both gone up markedly. I do still carry photo guides with me but, in the region covered, the photo guide is a back-up to Newcomb's and is often used for the additional text as opposed to the pictures.
Book Description
This field guide features detailed descriptions of 455 species of trees native to eastern North America, including the Midwest and the South. The 48 colour plates, 11 black-and-white plates, and 26 text drawings show distinctive details needed for identification. Colour photographs and 266 colour range maps accompany the species descriptions.
Customer Reviews:
Not as good as it could be!.......2007-07-22
If you like having color plates in your field guide this one is not for you. I found it difficult to work with and hard to find information I needed. For a field guide it has too much written information looking to list various tees but not enough total tree information. For instance, the buds and leaves are shown but not the tree bark or the silhouettes with each. Silhouettes are provided for types but not referenced for the various species. One has to jump around with the guide looking for information on the same specie of tree. For identifying species in the field the book falls far short. Color plates are a limited number of diagrams and sketches instead of photos, a major weakness. On a positive note, greater emphasis in locating species with maps showing growth locations is provided.
A Field Guide to Eastern Trees.......2007-01-12
I bought this for my husband for Christmas. He was blown away by all the information this little book contained. The only thing he said that he didn't care for was that some of the pictures were in black and white and he would have prefered all colored pictures.
Area the book covers.......2006-04-26
This book covers eastern North America, including the Midwest and the South.
Good book but difficult to reference in the field.......2005-09-21
I thought that the "Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Trees" was a very good book to read while at home, but it was difficult to use while I was actually "in the woods." I was looking for something with more illustrations and photos, and larger print wouldn't have hurt either. It would have also been simpler to use if the authors would have included all of the details, about a particular species, together in the book, rather than devoting one section to leaves of all species, another to silhouettes of all species, etc.
The illustrations are too pretty, the system is too cumbersome.......2005-07-20
As a novice tree identifier in New York City, I wish the book's classifications were more easily located and included more variant names. There is at least one popular tree known variously as the Chinese Scholar Tree and the Japanese Pagoda Tree which does not appear, and, although Florida is filled with wonderful trees, I shall make every effort never to get to Florida to see them and I would have liked more space devoted to the rest of the East and less to Florida. I am certain many people love to identify winter trees by their buds, but I am not one. Although the illustrations are very exciting to look at and very vital, they would be better in a Disney film. I have a local guide which uses photographs and I wish the Peterson Guide used them as well. The most useful segment of the guide is the tree silhouette section.
Book Description
This comprehensive handbook, acclaimed when it was first published in 1976 as "one of the most useful reference manuals on diagnostic entomology yet produced," has now been completely revised and expanded to reflect recent advances in technology and the wealth of new information affecting the "Green Industry."
Augmented by 241 full-color plates, it gives the essential facts about more than 900 species of insects, mites, and other animals that injure woody ornamental plants in the United States and Canada, and provides means of quick visual identification of both the pests and the damage they cause.
Customer Reviews:
Well worth it!.......2002-08-14
This book is on my "short list" of essential references. Species are covered in clear, concise descriptions. This well organized volume makes hunting for similar species as easy as turning a page. The photos? I can't say enough about the clear, photos that make insect identification a good deal easier!
While an excellent book for the landscape professional, scientist, or advanced gardener, beginners might be a bit overwhelmed by the technical language and scientific names.
This is a much needed and fabulous manual........1998-06-18
When trying to identify a particular problem with growing trees or shrubs knowing what kinds of insects are possible culprits is a major step. This book gives us, in color photos and descriptions, most of the common larvae that can be found feeding on the particular plants. Even Entomology texts often refuse to deal with larvae of insects, keeping only the adults in the keys and descriptions (even though the adults are often not pests!). This guide will be a welcome addition to any plant clinic, grower, or Entomology professor or student's bookshelf.
Product Description
Bringing the world of Trees to your fingertips, Fandex presents a foolproof field guide. Four visual keys - die-cut leaf, bark pattern, flower, nut or seed, and photo of the full tree - plus descriptions of habitat and more combine to give a complete picture of North America's forest and backyard trees. In addition, Trees is a cultural history - of the mighty White Oak, California Redwood, Ailanthus, the tree that grows in Brooklyn, and the stately White Ash, as important for the bows of early Native Americans as for the baseball bats of today. 50 die-cut cards Full color throughout Knowledge at your fingertips For the whole family Measures 10.5" by 4"
Customer Reviews:
A cute guide to trees for kids and parents alike..........2001-02-24
My kids find the Fandex format easy to use, and the information on them accessible. We have several, and they're fun for all of us to use together.
I like the fact that each page has illustrations that show the leaf, bark, and seeds. There is a brief description of the tree, some history as well as typical usage. Each page has the following descriptive categories: Leaves; Bark; Flowers; Fruit or Cones; Seeds; Tree Shape; Habitat; Range; and Other Names. Mind you, this is not a complete and scientific field guide for adults, but rather a book a family can take out on a day hike and have fun using.
The only quibble I have about these decks is that sometimes when they're completely fanned out, the edges of the illustrations get caught up in each other, making it hard to close them properly. But other than that, they're cute, informative, and a nice format for kids.
Disappointment.......2000-11-14
I was very disappointed with this "book." I felt the variety of trees found in this collection to be far too minimal. If you plan on learning about trees in the winter, good luck. The primary method for identification is based on leaves. Although you can identify trees based on bark, etc. it would take hours with this manual. Also, it is far to bulky and awkward to comfortably carry along on a hike.
a stroke of genius.......2000-08-31
I read a lot of field guides, and the format of this one is a stroke of genius. You match the leaf to the die cut leaves at the top of the "book" and you're well on your way. My kids also adore it.
Excellent, easy to find what you're looking for.......1998-12-17
This guide is very easy to reference the tree that you are looking for without having to read a tremendous amount of information in typical identification guides.
concise, wonderful color pictures,historical antenotes........1998-09-16
The Guide is good for initial identification to instruct and interest children. It also contains enough important information to impress the nature lover. The historical data and other interesting information makes for good reading.
Book Description
Smell the bark of the aromatic Sassafras. Wonder at the Lodgepole Pine, whose heat-activated cones reseed forests destroyed by fire. Search for the Sugar Maple, whose foliage blazes red and yellow in autumn. North America's trees rank among nature's most awesome creations. This premier field guide features all characteristics-tree shape, bark, leaf, flower, fruit and twig-for quick identification, making it a superior choice for trail walks, creating displays, and scientific or commercial needs.All of North America in one volumeOver 730 species in 76 families and 160 range mapsNative species and important introduced foreign varietiesText, range maps, and illustrations seen together at a glanceCommon and scientific namesConvenient measuring rules
Customer Reviews:
Poor Choice for Tree Identification.......2007-09-17
Despite the excellent illustrations and detailed information, this is a POOR book for actually identifying an unknown tree from its foliage, bark, or other characteristics.
The book divides trees into their families. Unfortunately, this requires that you have some idea of what you are looking for before you start. There is no cross-reference to bark to reinforce a choice. Also, since it includes both Eastern and Western North American trees, one can easily make a false choice.
However, its handbook size is convenient for a carry along.
What is that Tree anyway?.......2007-07-23
I bought this for a friend who is a Master Gardener and couldn't put it down before I wrapped it! Simple illustrations show differents types of trees (and I'm always saying, what is that tree anyway?).
NO Good........2007-07-16
I was disappointed in this book. I'll start with the good, though. It had a nice explanation of the tree traits and what to look for when you are identifying trees. It's also small and easy to carry. There's the good. The bad is that all the pictures were drawn. Now, before you buy the book, it does state that the book does not have a complete list of all the trees found in the USA. That said, the three trees in my hood that I wanted to identify, were not in there. I'm going to buy a more complete guide to find these trees.
A lot of info in a small package.......2007-06-29
Price and size are what makes this guide so great. It provides a good overview of the trees of North America in a very portable format.
The small size, however, means that the illustrations are not as large or detailed as we would prefer. It also limits the amount of specific information that can be included. We recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest and have found region-specific books (particularly from Lone Pine Publishers) to be superb.
I recommend this as a great resource at a very good price.
Nice Little pocket book.......2007-05-16
This is a nice little pocket book that can be taken just about anywhere. Though not as complete as some of the larger books, it really does help to identify most trees. The color photos help with the identification and it is well worth the price to throw in your backpack or on your bike when in the woods.
Book Description
This book is a helpful guide to identifying 500 species of Florida plant life, including rare as well as common wild flowers and characteristic trees, shrubs, vines, and ferns. Each description includes both common and scientific names, a range map, symbols to show the season of bloom, and a useful summary code of nine key plant, leaf, and flower characters, to aid in identification. With rich color photographs and brief, nontechnical notes to accompany each species, this handbook is a valuable reference for tourists, residents, students, and anyone interested in plants in all seasons of the year, from Pensacola to the Keys.
Customer Reviews:
Gorgeous photographs, excellent information, easy to use.......1998-11-24
This book is a very useful guide to a large variety of Florida plants, as well as a superb collection of truly stunning photographs. It can be used for simple visual identification, but its organization by family and its binomial key make it user-friendly for the botanist as well.
Book Description
With more than 700 mushrooms detailed with color photographs and descriptive text, this is the most comprehensive photographic field guide to the mushrooms of North America. The 762 full-color identification photographs show the mushrooms as they appear in natural habitats. Organized visually, the book groups all mushrooms by color and shape to make identification simple and accurate in the field, while the text account for each species includes a detailed physical description, information on edibility, season, habitat, range, look-alikes, alternative names, and facts on edible and poisonous species, uses, and folklore. A supplementary section on cooking and eating wild mushrooms, and illustrations identifying the parts of a mushroom, round out this essential guide.
Customer Reviews:
best mushroom guide.......2007-09-10
This guide has the clearest most detailed pictures of any field guide I've seen. The info on how to use the guide is simple and understandable. I've identified and documented many mushrooms using this guide.
A Wonderful Guide.......2007-07-09
This is book is an excellent guide to mushrooms for the money. Its portability and durability are also second-to-none.
The book is full of beautiful color photographs and full descriptions. The pictures are grouped into categories (like all Audubon field guides) for quick identification. Personally, I am very pleased with it and highly recommend it.
Pretty Darn good.......2007-03-13
This book is pretty good, a little dificult for me to use, the photos and written data are in two different sections, but is it pretty comprehensive, and not very hard to use with a little practice.
The best portable field guide out there........2006-12-30
Some reviewers here are not real mushroom collectors. As portable field guides go, this is one of the best ones. Other bigger books may do it better but for preliminary identification and portability this is the one you want. One reviewer says there are no colloquial names. There are for virtually every one where one exists. Another said there were no latin names. There are latin names for every one. Any time you use one photograph to represent a species, there will be questions since most species are quite variable. Other field guides are guilty too. Peterson's guide uses drawings rather than photographs. That said, the photographs are good. The descriptions are a bit economical but this book is almost 1000 pages. Everyone serious about mushroom collecting and identification needs more than one book. Period. This one is for the field. If you need a more comprehensive book or books you may need to buy a 4 wheeler to carry them around. This book has served me well since 1981.
Less than stellar.......2005-10-24
I was disappointed to find that there was no useful information contained therein. While the pictures were very well done there were no colloquial names to help identify species.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent reference for your nature walks through unfamiliar territory.......2007-04-20
This book is an excellent reference book for the nature lover who isn't up to speed regarding the particulars. For each tree, there is a blowup photo of the leaves, a smaller one of the bark and a black and white sketch of the general appearance of the tree from a distance. There is also the English and scientific names and some textual explanation of the tree. This explanation is a paragraph description of the appearance, a paragraph on how to identify it and one sentence descriptions of the habitat and geographical range where it is found.
A great introduction for kids.......2006-11-11
Ok, this isn't the full blown Audubon Tree book(s), but at this price, what do you expect?
This and all the Pocket Guides are great stocking stuffers for kids, especially for those blessed with parents who think getting the latest Gameboy or Hero Clix is more important (hint hint, you know who you are).
As they get older, their interests will become more defined and you'll know what (more expensive/extensive) particular field guide(s) to buy them.
Yeah, it's cliche, but a child's mind *is* a terrible thing to waste.
I've bought all the Audubon Pocket guides more than once (kept a few for myself, yes they're that good) and I've only been disappointed with one (most of the photos were blurry). No, I won't say which one, as it may not matter to someone else (but I'm picky about that kind of stuff).
Hand them out to your nieces and nephews, and any other kid that can't tell an oak from a pine tree or quartz from slate or Pleiades from Orion or ... well, you get the picture.
They've thanked me later on(and actually meant it, lol) and they'll thank you too.
Small enough to use while backpacking.......2006-08-30
I like these small Audubon books because they are light and easy to use. The pictures are clear and the information is easy to read and use. They aren't as detailed as the bigger Audubon books, but then the larger ones are heavier and in a back pack, being light weight is everything.
Disappointed.......2001-07-11
Bought this book to take on walks/hikes. The first time out I could not find anything on two out of the first four trees of which I was not familiar!! Very limited coverage of any trees other than those we all know from everyday experience---rather a disappointment!!
A Handy Informative Guide for Trees.......2000-03-29
I bought this book because I was tired of only being able to identify a handful of the most distinctive trees. This small, colorful and easy-to-use guide was a godsend. It it paperback and can easily fit into a breast pocket, yet the full-page color photos of leaf shapes and sizes are adequate - even for a novice like me - to identify trees. It shows tree silhouettes, bark types and leaves and explains about various tree families to help us all be able to distinguish the trees from the proverbial forest! The information, organization and size of this book make it a "strong-buy" for anyone with an interest in "knowing" trees better!
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National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region - Revised Edition (National Audubon Society Field Guide)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region - Revised Edition
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders (Audubon Society Field Guide)
The National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals: (Revised and Expanded) (Audubon Society Field Guide)
