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Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region Imitation Leather – May 12, 1980
Nearly 700 species of trees are detailed in beautiful, full-color photographs of leaf shape, bark, flowers, fruit, and fall leaves, and accompanied by informative text. Both compact and comprehensive, this is the ideal companion for beginner and advanced tree-peepers alike.
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.
- Print length714 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherKnopf
- Publication dateMay 12, 1980
- Dimensions4.1 x 1.09 x 7.7 inches
- ISBN-100394507606
- ISBN-13978-0394507606
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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.
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Product details
- Publisher : Knopf; First Edition (May 12, 1980)
- Language : English
- Imitation Leather : 714 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0394507606
- ISBN-13 : 978-0394507606
- Item Weight : 1.08 pounds
- Dimensions : 4.1 x 1.09 x 7.7 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #21,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Trees in Biological Sciences
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive.
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If you'd like to identify a stranger, Little's organization by thumb tabs based on leaf shape makes it easy to find the section where your tree is pictured with its leaves and bark in a full color photo. He also provides separate sections showing us flowers and fruit. You'll be charmed by an especially brilliant section showing red, orange, brown and gold autumn leaves.
Who but a dendrologist, or tree identification specialist, would know so well how to share all this knowledge of trees? And Elbert Little is not just any dendrologist, mind you, but the former Chief Dendrologist of the U.S. Forest Service.
What is a tree, really? According to Little, it's a "woody plant with an erect perennial trunk at least 3 inches in diameter at breast height, and definitely formed crown of foliage, and a height of at least 13 feet." That's good to know.
If you love words (as I do), you're lucky to get a glossary with "lanceolate," "nutlet," "pith," "sepal," "stamen," and "whorled" fully explained. Besides a wealth of full color photos, the guide includes 400 pages of prose narratives and black and white diagrams describing the 315 native trees of the eastern two thirds of the continent arranged by family, as well as the common naturalized or introduced trees you'd be likely to run into in parks or cities.
Here's a recommendation for you: walk in the woods for love of trees.
"If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day," Thoreau tells us, "he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen."
The danger of being regarded as a loafer is worth risking. Let this book be your companion. For all that's inside, it's amazingly small: 7.5" x 4" by 1" deep, with a soft laminated cover--perfect to fit in a jacket or backpack pocket.
It's also great for lying on the ground and placing as a pillow under your head. To look up at the trees.
I can determine trees quickly, and keep moving on to the next tree. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in identifying trees on the East Coast of the United States of America.
As usual, I did as much research ahead of time as possible and ended up with three top choices. As I went through the reviews I found a reoccurring theme. The theme was that NO ONE FIELD GUIDE WILL MEET ALL YOUR NEEDS. Field guides are not textbooks and of necessity are not exhaustive because of size constraints. Each guide deals with this in its own fashion. Some are short on text and quality descriptions. Others are short on high quality pictures of leaf, bark, and general tree shape. Still others suffer from inadequate I.D. layout.
After considering all the variables the three that ended up on the top of the list were: National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American trees (Eastern Region) (NAS), Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Trees (PFG) and National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America (NWF). I live in Indiana so all three fit my location. On the upside, of the three guides the NAS has the best, clearest, and most detailed plates (pictures) of leaves and bark. It is also the most compact size of the three books mentioned. It can be carried in a standard cargo pants pocket. For use as a visual aid it is excellent. Its weakness lies in its poor layout and lack of logical ID method. I would not recommend this book as a PRIMARY identification guide. Because of its poor layout I believe it fits more of a backup role. I can't say that I am disappointed with it because I purposely purchased it with the intent that it would supplement the other book(s) I planned on obtaining.
Out of the three books I purchased above I found the NWF to be the most useful and complete guide. I believe (IMHO) that it has the best combination and balance of all the areas I mentioned above. It is however the largest of the three and is not a pocket field guide by any stretch of the imagination. It is even a little heavy for my taste to take on an extended hike in a backpack.
If the PFG had better graphics and pictures I would have rated it at the top. It is an excellent resource, but I just could not get past the poor graphics and lack of realistic pictures that the other two books provide.
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As an audobon collector I'm strongly disappointed for my book missing the main cover sleeve. It just looks awkward among my plant,rock,bird and other audoban books. And of course to just get a sleeve I have to return the entire book, something that's impossible for me to do while hospitalise so.... woooo. Everytime I look at my bookshelf I'll just be OCD annoyed.
That aside I love the info and book in general. A perfect resource.
Update: they GAVE ME A FULL REFUND for just missing the sleeve. I think I can let my OCD simmer when the whole book was covered because of this. Great customer service and a great reference to buy. Definitely will buy national Audubon books for years to come.
Reviewed in Canada on March 9, 2021
As an audobon collector I'm strongly disappointed for my book missing the main cover sleeve. It just looks awkward among my plant,rock,bird and other audoban books. And of course to just get a sleeve I have to return the entire book, something that's impossible for me to do while hospitalise so.... woooo. Everytime I look at my bookshelf I'll just be OCD annoyed.
That aside I love the info and book in general. A perfect resource.
Update: they GAVE ME A FULL REFUND for just missing the sleeve. I think I can let my OCD simmer when the whole book was covered because of this. Great customer service and a great reference to buy. Definitely will buy national Audubon books for years to come.


















