Product Description

A new method for the practical identification and recognition of trees -- and an important supplement to existing botanical methods.

The book is in two parts: Pictorial Keys and Master Pages. The Keys are designed for easy visual comparison of details which look alike, narrowing the identification of a tree to one of a small group -- the family or genus.

Then, in the Master Pages, the species of the tree is determined, with similar details placed together to highlight differences within the family group, thus eliminating all other possibilities. The details of the Oak trees on this plate are an example of the system.

All of the more than 1500 photographs were made specifically for use in this book and were taken either in the field or of carefully collected specimens. Where possible, details such as leaves, fruit, etc., appear in actual size, or in the same scale.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34785 in Books
• Published on: 1973-02-01
• Released on: 1973-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Customer Reviews

Decent book for starters
Mixed review. For identification of wholly unknown trees it can narrow searches down quickly and give an idea of the family of trees. For a beginner this is an excellent book. However for more experienced tree identifiers, this book is entirely unhelpful for identifying the differences between, for instance, scarlet oak, southern red oak, northern red oak, shumard oak, georgia oak, bear oak, turkey oak, cherrybark oak, pin oak, northern red oak, and black oak. This book would only provide four oaks to choose from in the above list and not give as detailed of a handling of those trees. For a much more detailed handling of tree identification in the Southeast I would recommend Native Trees of the Southeast by Kirkman, Brown and Leopold.

The Tree Identification Book by George W. D. Symonds
Excellent resource book for anyone seeking to identify trees by their leaves, bark, flowers, fruit, twigs, buds or thorns. Even though the photos are in black and white, their 3-dimensional appearance helps very much in identifying a tree.

a picture is worth a thousand words
The photos in this book make it easy to compare what you have in your hand with what's in the book. They are large enough for real comparison, and there is a wide variety of trees described in different ways. It's a useful companion to a more wordy tree encyclopedia.