Occasionally I get a chance to show this book to some other tree nut. Their first reaction is "Oh, yeah, I have a great tree book too." Then we take a mystery twig and see which book is best. Without fail, this book is quicker and easier. The next thing the tree nut is saying is, "hey let me see that book." The next thing I know I'm back on this Amazon page buying a copy to send them...
This book is a masterpiece. It is arranged so that you can take a single sign (twig, leaf, bark, etc.) and use pictorial keys to quickly narrow your search to a positive identification of a mystery tree. Sometimes you need to check additional signs, but often times the twig with a leaf or bloom that you bring back from a walk is all you need for a positive identification.
I have had my copy since 1975 and it has never let me down as I have lived in Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and points in between. The copyright date is 1958. I don't know anything about George Symonds, but he had that rare knack for making a potentially confusing and complicated topic pleasurably accessible to the average person.
This is NOT a coffee table book. It does NOT fit in your pocket. It has NO color photos. This 8.5 x 11-inch black and white volume does have incredibly clear and useful photos of all the keys. Unlike those puny photos and drawings in a pocket guide, these photos are full or one-half scale, or carefully referenced (for example bark photos include a ruler in the image). It has no stuffy writing, just the essential information in completely accessible form.
The result is a low-tech looking book that blows the doors off of any other tree ID book I have ever seen.
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Customer reviews
4.4 out of 5
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377 global ratings
Reviews with images
Typos right off the bat
A lot of quality useful information, but how did the second page labeling alternate leaf pattern get labeled as opposite, right behind the actual image of opposite leaf pattern? And it's been this way unedited since 1958? What?
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2000
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Top reviews from other countries
Home Inspector
US book for identifying US trees!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2007