Trees thrive all around us; but how much do we know about them? If you want to learn about your best friends and neighbors in a hurry, Elbert Little's field guide is a good way. I lived with a Black Walnut for 23 years before realizing my tall friend is the scarcest and most coveted of native hardwoods and was especially terrific for gunstocks. And I didn't know my two neighborly Common Persimmons were having a lovely relationship with one another (they must in order to produce the fruit), nor that their name was derived from the Algonquin.
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.
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National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees
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4.8 out of 5
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Reviews with images
Beautiful field guide!!!
We live in the mountains near the Blue Ridge Parkway. We always hike and wonder about what kind of trees we are looking at. This book has gorgeous color photos, descriptions and drawings to help you identify trees in our region. It’s really helpful that you can narrow down your possibilities in identification based on leaf shape, color, bark color and texture, kind of flowers, berries or nuts etc. Very informative and helpful. As a bonus the book is very attractive and feels special. Would make a nice gift for the nature lover.
Top reviews from other countries
Design (Canada)
Missing part of the book (main cover sleeve) new update
Reviewed in Canada on March 9, 2021
Design (Canada)
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.
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