Native Trees of Southern California (California Natural History Guides) [Paperback]

Victor P. Peterson (Author), Rita Whitmore (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (February 1, 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520010043
• ISBN-13: 978-0520010048
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,480,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Tree Guide for Los Angeles, December 20, 2009

By 

J. Heyerdahl "Luminous Velocity" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Native Trees of Southern California (California Natural History Guides) (Paperback)

Great for a budding naturalist. I live in Los Angeles and became inquisitive about all the native and non-native trees we have throughout the city. Since L.A. is a rather unique environment where there has been so much importation of non-native species, I grew curious as to which trees are actually California natives. I use this as a quick reference guide whenever I'm intrigued by a tree I'll randomly spot in someone's yard or along the sidewalks. At work there are two rows of trees that I had been trying to figure out for the longest time. Sure enough, I was able to match the leaf sample I took to the sketches in the book and identify them as California Sycamores. The book offers identification of trees by their trunk, leaves, fruits, and silhouettes. There is also zoning maps of where you can find these trees in Southern California as well as how to care for them (water, sunlight, dormancy, etc). Let's face it, Southern California (and especially Los Angeles), is always strapped for water and at risk of getting way too hot. Learning about and planting more California native trees will not only help stabilize the water supply but also provide much better shade than palm trees (thereby lessening the "urban heat island" effect of excess heat from pavement) and also provide naturally fire-resistant foliage. Just my two cents...