Customer Reviews

Trees and Shrubs of California (California Natural History Guides)

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

 

 

This would seem to be OK. Nicely printed with attractive line-drawings that give a good overall picture of what the plant looks like (not quite one for every species, also somewhat short on botanical detail) and distribution maps (one for every species). A separate section with pretty decent color photographs (39 total).

The downside is that this is a guide for North and Central California, with the occasional South Californian species thrown in, which makes it a compromise. Also I don't really like the size: I would have preferred a bigger page size in a less chunky volume. But good value for money overall.

This is a wonderful reference book for more serious California native plant enthusiasts. It has detailed drawings of most referenced plants and also shows a map illustrating the native range of every specimen (which I find particularly interesting). Although I have found some missing species -- I really value this book. It is a great companion to the Sunset Western Garden Book (I go back and forth between the two). It also provides information on non-native plants that have long naturalized in the Golden State.

This book is exactly as described and what I wanted. After a trip to the Channel Islands where great precautions are taken to keep the environment as natural and pristine as possible, I developed an interest in California's flora and fauna. This book along with some other natural history guides has given me a new perspective on living in Southern California.

This guide is easy to use and full of information. A great field guide for anyone interested in California's native woody plants.

This is the best field guide for California Trees and Shrubs on the market. It is an essential guide for anyone wanting too know native California trees and shrubs. I have had my tattered hardcover copy since 2002 and I still use it when I come upon a shrub I don't know. It takes a little time learning the key and the structure of the book, but once you have that down you should be able to ID all of the plants in the book.

They book is divided into two sections, conifers and broad leaf trees, with a key for each. If you know the genus, such as manzanita, but not the species you can skip the key, look up manzanita in the index, and then try to ID the plant with the line drawings and the descriptions, which are detailed as to size of plant, leaf size and structure, stem features, inflorescencex, flowers and fruit as well as habitat and range. The only drawback is about 5 to 10% uf the plant species do not have line drawings.

The book also has a remarks section for each plant which lists features such as closely related subspecies, medicinal uses and importance to wildlife. It also has 40 color photos of the plants described.

I would highly recommend this book, and hopefully they will come out with a second edition adding about 30 to 40 more species and more line drawings.

Hi I was required this book for my course at UCB, Trees: taxonomy, growth & structure. This book was extremely helpful for identification. The only weird thing I found thus far is in the index for hairy bush it says refer to hairy bush. Funny, but good reference book if you are just starting to identify.