Customer Reviews

National Geographic Field Guide to Trees of North America

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

a HORRIBLE GUIDE! I am an arborist and use field guides all of the time. This is the WORST guide I have ever tried to use. There is little or no organization in the way each tree is described. Sometimes a tree's height is given in the opening description, other times you have to search for it in the body of the entry. Sometimes a flower is described, other times no description appears at all. Each feature that may define a tree is thrown in, in a slapdash manner, or left out, completely. It's as if the authors knew that NG was paying them big bucks for a guide, and they simply threw it together as fast as they could to get their paychecks. Forget ever trying to read this guide if you don't have your degree in the sciences, as I do. The terminology is straight out of Botany 101/102, and you'll use the glossary to make it through each and every tree description. FWIW, the measurements are given using the metric system. I guess it's a guide for Canadians, so if you're in the US and haven't been raised with metric measurements, you'll be frustrated on this count, as well. The tiny symbol key that lets you know which symbol stands for each type of area a given tree may be found in is almost impossible to make out. If you have a magnifying lens, you'll be OK. Again, if you like great illustrations of trees and their constituent parts, this guide may be for you. If you want a good guide that helps you identify trees easily--PASS THIS ONE BY!

Good leaf, fruit, bud and bark pictures. Typical of NG. Uses a lot of symbols to describe a tree which means going back and forth a lot. Does not give tree height or branch geography.

There are plenty of guides to trees on the market - but few offered in a portable tote format which truly lends to pocket take-along. You can put this in a backpack or even a back pocket: it's slim, compact, yet full of color illustrations of the complete tree plus close-ups of leaves, buds, flower and more. Keith Rushforth is an arboricultural consultant and expert urban forester: his expertise and coverage are extensively represented and provide a surprising amount of detail for what initially looks to be light pocket tote reading.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor

California Bookwatch

I like this because it is compact and has a key. Keys are the fastest means to make an identification of an unknown.

It is missing range maps and does not always show all the parts (flowers, fruits, bark) of the trees. That said, the illustrations are very good. Having used many guides, I have a strong preference for paintings over photos.

It does not cover shrubs, which might be considered small trees. But otherwise I have found it to have good coverage of both native and introduced trees.

I purchased this book for my fiance who runs a tree business. When we go to other regions he sees trees that we don't have here, and I thought this would help him identify them or even add to his knowledge of trees in our region. We like the book, but it would have been nice to have some color photos, not just drawings. I realize that the same tree can look very different from tree to tree, the drawings are more accurate, but it still would have been nice to have something with less imagination involved.

Many North American tree guides focus on native species, and only include exotic or hybrid species if they are naturalized (they spread on their own), for example white mulberry. However this guide includes a number of exotic species and hybrids that are frequently planted in yards, parks, and along roads, so if you want to be able to identify those species, this is a good choice. For example, it includes the hybrid saucer magnolia, and also the exotic Japanese zelkova, spindle tree, and English oak, none of which are included in the familiar tree guides such as Peterson and Golden (except English oak is in the Peterson guide). For some reason it does not include the exotic sawtooth oak, a common tree in parks and along streets. No field guide is perfect. The new Sibley tree guide (which is much larger and more expensive, but a great guide) has most of the hybrid and exotic species that are in the National Geographic guide, except spindle tree, but it does include sawtooth oak.

This book is good but photos instead of drawings would be much better for identifying trees.