Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Revised and Updated (Golden Field Guide from St. Martin's Press)

This is really a review of three books simultaneously, because I bought them all at the same time. I couldn't figure out which one to get, since they all had good reviews, but they have very different features.1.  Tree Finder: A Manual for the Identification of Trees by Their Leaves (Nature Study Guides) ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pros: * 4"x6" 62 page pamphlet easily fits in a pocket. * It is organized like a choose-your-own-adventure book, so it will ask you questions, and show you some small drawings explaining the question. The drawings next to the questions is probably the best part of the book, since it can be confusing if you don't know what it means for a leaf to be lobed. * This is the only one that a 10 or 11 year old child might enjoy using to identify trees, although it can still be difficult.~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cons: * Once you identify the tree, all you get is the name. The book doesn't tell you anything about its flowers, fruit, lifespan, etc. * It only contains 161 species. This seems like a lot, but I have run into interesting varieties in my neighborhood such as the Chinaberry, Chinese tallow tree, Chinese parasol tree, or Shumard Oak. In fact, it only has 21 oak varieties, whereas the "Illustrated Book of Trees" has 38. * Drawings are only in one shade of green and black. * It only helps you identify trees if their leaves have not fallen.~~~~~~~~~~~~ Summary: I gave up on this book pretty quickly, when I failed to identify some trees exactly.2.  Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Revised and Updated (Golden Field Guide from St. Martin's Press) ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pros: * Very nice multicolor drawings. This is especially helpful for understanding the different parts of a bud, or for identifying fruits or flowers. * Provides a good size paragraph of description of most species. * 730 species covered, although this number seems misleading. For example, it has 40 species of Oak compared with the "Illustrated Book of Trees", which has 38 species of Oak but only 250 species total. It does include some odd items like the Saguaro cactus, so it might have a lot of items that aren't typically thought of as trees.~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cons: * It won't help you identify a tree quickly. You would have to read the whole book until you found the one that matched. * The index listed the Chinese tallowtree, but when you go to that page you just see the Chinaberry. * The description of each species is helpful, but could be bigger.~~~~~~~~~~~~ Summary: Since I am mainly interested in identifying trees, I haven't used this book much at all. If I want to see a pretty picture of a tree for which I know the name, I'll just google it.3.  The Illustrated Book of Trees: The Comprehensive Field Guide to More Than 250 Trees of Eastern North America ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pros: * It includes a tree identification guide for both summer and winter characteristics. (I have not tried to identify a tree without its leaves, though.) * It includes a half page to a 1.5 page description of most species. That is approximately 250-750 words compared to the approximate 100 words per description in "Trees of North America". * It contains over 250 species, which has been quite useful.~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cons: * This is the hardest book to read. I was constantly be looking up words like glabrous, lanceolate, falcate, and root suckering. Fortunately, it has a glossary. * The drawings are in black and white. This isn't that bad for leaves, but it is very hard to understand the representation of twigs and their leaf scars. * The tree identification guide is not always as helpful for large family or genus. For example, it will tell you that the tree is an oak, and then you have to look through 38 descriptions of different oaks. * I was not able to use it to identify a tree as a willow oak. I was surprised that the "Tree Finder" was able to identify willow oak, although I didn't actually try that until after I had identified the tree, since I had given up on the "Tree Finder". * I think most children would prefer the pretty pictures in "Trees of North America" over the content in this book. * The only sycamores it describes are the American and the London plane tree. The "Trees of North America" includes the California, Arizona, and Oriental sycamores.~~~~~~~~~~~~ Summary: This book is more usefull than the other two combined, although it can be frustrating nonetheless.All three books leave out useful information such as how fast a tree grows or how acidic or alkaline the soil can be.

This book feels like a bit of a throwback...the production value is very mid-1970, and the illustration style reminds me of the old "Back to Basics" book and its Time-Life / Readers Digest ilk. Fortunately, trees don't evolve very quickly. Get past the cosmetics, and you will find this to be a very handy little book comprehensive enough to be a home study reference yet small enough to pack along as a field guide. Organization is primarily by taxonomic groupings (including a good mix of common and Latin names), and a worthy effort has been made to include examples of the most common genera and species within each group, even those which are non-native. Color illustration pages are densely packed with clear, informative drawings indicating the most recognizable variations between related species. Opposing text pages include short descriptions focused mainly on identifying characteristics but also provide some interesting plant lore and anecdotal information. Almost all species include a helpful range map to help prioritize your study.One nice feature is a short 8-page visual quick-reference guide which allows you to get a sense for the typical character of the major tree families at a glance. Another very thoughtful feature of the book are little "comparison" sections that dedicate a little space to helping you key in on the distinguishing features of trees which are the most superficially similar. Examples include how to differentiate soft and hard pines, how to sort out spruces and hemlocks from true and Douglas firs, and how to discriminate cypresses from junipers. To their credit, the authors also expand the scope of the book to include a number of woody plants which seldom grow to be much more than shrubs - a nice addition which contributes to the feel of completeness. My one minor complaint is that no real identification key is included...to figure out what a particular tree is, you need to flip through the book to do a bit of visual searching. Given that many tree species are fairly distinctive, however, this is not a serious flaw.I highly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in trees or tree identification - and for less than $10, you can't beat the price!

Perfect pocket size tree identification book. It is full of very colorful and helpful photos. I don't know much about trees myself and enjoyed reading this book and found the information easy to digest. Even though it is a Golden Book, it isn't exactly the kiddie books that company brings to mind. This is a resource for adults and young adults and could be read to children and the pictures may interest some younger children. My daughter is 4 and enjoys the pictures and just being told what everything is. I bought this for my husband to keep with him when he goes out into the woods. He enjoys some part time logging and has begun teaching himself tree identification. I think this will be an easy way for him to get started!

When I was growing up, my parents had a copy of this book which I used often. Now that I am married and have a home of my own, I found myself missing it and wanted a copy for my own family. I am using it to help identify trees on our 10 acre property and to assist in planning further landscaping around our property. I also work with Boy Scouts and have found this book helpful in teaching them to identify trees indigenous to our area and teaching them to identify edible plants, etc. I find it thorough and easy to use. The illustrations are excellent and very helpful. I highly recommend it.

Fascinating and fun guide to trees. I used this as research for a character in two of my novels, 'Every Time I Think of You' and its sequel 'Message of Love.' The young narrator knows a lot more about trees, plus having lived in California for decades, I'd forgotten which trees grow on the East Coast!

I was really excited to get this book, after reading all the 4- and 5-star reviews. Although the illustrations are great and it’s packed with info, it’s missing a very important item: a dichotomous key. The way this boon is laid out, it assumes that the reader has an above average knowledge of the different plant families. So someone looking to learn about a tree they’ve never seen, they’d need to go through the whole book. This is definitely not a book for beginners. Now, if you’re already knowledgeable about trees, this book is a good reference.

There are pictures of various types of plants and trees within the same family, easy to follow paragraphs explaining in detail what the leaves are supposed to look like (ie: flat stem, darker green on top fading to a lighter green near the stem) and a map of where the trees are most common in North America. It's a great guide book all in all for most ages, even older kids would be able to identify the leaves they've collected or see on a walks.

This is exactly what I wanted. Small, but not too small. Hand drawn or very clear pictures of most species, great write ups and we'll layed out. Maps are clear and provides for each species. Only drawback I found was a few of the imported trees were missing pictures to help identify them. Overall this book is a must have for anyone interested in trees of North America

This guid book is well organized and full of excellent content. I highly recommend it.

Very pleased with this reference guide. Small enough to bring along on hikes, yet informative enough to make tree identification possible. Definitely recommended!