The Tree: A Natural History of What Trees Are, How They Live, and Why They Matter

Book Description

There are redwoods in California that were ancient by the time Columbus first landed, and pines still alive that germinated around the time humans invented writing. There are Douglas firs as tall as skyscrapers, and a banyan tree in Calcutta as big as a football field.

From the tallest to the smallest, trees inspire wonder in all of us, and in The Tree, Colin Tudge travels around the world—throughout the United States, the Costa Rican rain forest, Panama and Brazil, India, New Zealand, China, and most of Europe—bringing to life stories and facts about the trees around us: how they grow old, how they eat and reproduce, how they talk to one another (and they do), and why they came to exist in the first place. He considers the pitfalls of being tall; the things that trees produce, from nuts and rubber to wood; and even the complicated debt that we as humans owe them.

Tudge takes us to the Amazon in flood, when the water is deep enough to submerge the forest entirely and fish feed on fruit while river dolphins race through the canopy. He explains the “memory” of a tree: how those that have been shaken by wind grow thicker and sturdier, while those attacked by pests grow smaller leaves the following year; and reveals how it is that the same trees found in the United States are also native to China (but not Europe).

From tiny saplings to centuries-old redwoods and desert palms, from the backyards of the American heartland to the rain forests of the Amazon and the bamboo forests, Colin Tudge takes the reader on a journey through history and illuminates our ever-present but often ignored companions. A blend of history, science, philosophy, and environmentalism, The Tree is an engaging and elegant look at the life of the tree and what modern research tells us about their future.

Customer Reviews:

Difficult to Read.......2007-08-09

As a layperson, interested in learning about the biology of the life forms around me, I bought this book with high hopes only to find it essentialy useless and unreadable.I didn't expect a tree ID guide, but this book doesn't tell the story of trees well. It's not a smooth narrative. It's 400 pages full of technical sounding Latin names and totally lacking pictures.In short, it's just not a good basic intro to trees or a good read.

Fascinating read.......2007-05-31

I've been sort of collecting books on trees the last few months. Though still an amateur on the subject, this book is a winner from where I sit. An I-can't-put-it-down book that makes me happy I'm only half way through right now.

If you are interested in understanding the flora around you and you aren't already degreed in botany but kinda would like to be, this book is for you!

Disappointed.......2007-05-13

Mr. Tudge is obviously very well educated on trees, but he gets a bit dry and lost in the details from time to time.

Everything you wanted to know about Trees .......2006-10-15

One of the most beloved and memorable of all popular poems is Joyce Kilmer's 'Trees' " I think that I shall never see/ a poem as lovely as a tree'/ A tree whose hungry mouth is prest/ against the earth's sweet flowing breast/.
The sheer wonder, delight, and inspiration 'Trees' give to our poetic nature is only one side of what they are.
In this learned and detailed study of Trees,Colin Tudge tells us more about them than we might ever have wanted to know. He describes the different species, provides a survival guide to the way Trees manage in often challenging environments, considers the special qualities of different kinds of trees, helps us understand how Trees are a benefit not only to the 'natural world' but to human civilization and society.
He does this as he also points out the new dangers facing various species from global- warming. And he has specific recommendations on how we can better create an environment more beneficial to the natural world as a whole.
The book is disappointingly poor in one element most of its readers will certainly want to have, good illustrations of Trees. But it nonetheless is an overall encyclopediac treasure for those for whom one of the natural world's great stars are an ongoing source of interest and attraction.

Arboreal trilogy.......2006-05-11

"I never met a Tudge I didn't like" is a fitting adage for this wide-ranging author. Having written an "unauthorised biography" of life, the impact of agriculture on human development and other works, Tudge has created a masterpiece of science writing. No longer can we claim that we can't "see the woods for the trees" since he has detailed the mechanics of both in exquisite detail. At) least so far as we know now. If nothing else is clear from this book, what we don't know about the mechanisms of trees far exceeds what we've learned. Trees, so ubiquitous in their presence and so meaningful in our lives, remain a great mystery to be solved. In three almost independent segments, he spells out what is known and what needs to be revealed.

He opens with one of the most understated definitions in science writing: "a tree is a big plant with a stick up the middle". From this simplistic opening, he then develops an image of how complex that "stick" and "plant" combination is in the final product. This complexity didn't appear from nowhere - the author explains how evolution built it from simple beginnings. Most readers will be familiar with the fact that 46 chromosome are needed to make a human. Trees, through various mechanisms, may develop hundreds of chromosomes depending on conditions. The structure of a single tree almost pales against the variety of trees growing around our planet. Tall trees, spreading ones, trees that we often call "shrubs" - which are merely superbly adapted to their local environment - all reflect the immense diversity trees have developed over the ages. Although generally divided into but two forms, conifers and "flowering" trees, they comprise thousands of species, many probably still unknown.

Tudge dedicates the second part of his book to descriptions of those variations. It is a catalogue of wonders as he depicts the oaks, beeches and other "common" types along with palms, celery pines and fruit trees. He begins with the ancient conifers, trees with a lineage stretching back nearly three hundred million years. That heritage shows in the varieties the conifers incorporate. From stately pines to humble ground-huggers, the conifers even include a parasitic member among their ranks. Angiosperms, the "flowering" trees, have surpassed the conifers in species number. The author lists each Order, with a list of the families and species. He explains why the numbers of species are in flux as new information about relationships comes to light. Tree habitats are also described with indications of where to find typical specimens.

In last third of the book: "How Trees Live", Tudge demonstrates why he's one of today's leading science writers. He has accumlated a vast repetoire of information, and presents it with almost passionate style. Seemingly static from our viewpoint, trees have much to do in the course of their lives. They must keep the sun in view, and many forests are competitive arenas to lift leaves into the light. There are seasons to keep track of, predators to discourage and to entice and employ helpers in the process of reproduction. Lacking brains, or other "intelligent" means, trees cannot manufacture devices for these needs. All must be accomplished with chemistry. Much of "the secret life of trees" is hidden here. With but five hormones and a handful of pigments to achieve their tasks, they have built up forms and methods to accomplish it all with an astounding degree of success.

Tudge's adulation of trees goes beyond being simply informative. In his conclusion, he both endorses our need to increase our knowledge of trees and warns of the effects of our failure to do so. We may view trees as aesthetically pleasing or as a source of lumber or paper. Either way, we must deal with them properly. Hewing down vast forests does far more than leave a barren landscape. Trees are the source of the oxygen we breathe. They take up the carbon dioxide our society produces in such imposing quantities. Their capacity for that role has likely been exceeded at this point. Trees matter, he argues, and we need to know why and how. This book is an excellent starting point to find the answers to that learning quest. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Average customer rating:

The Tragic Story of the Mann Gulch Fire
Uneven but thoughtful and inspiring
Math?
Reads like a detective novel
A tragic and wonderful story

Young Men and Fire
Norman Maclean
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Fire on the Mountain: The True Story of the South Canyon Fire
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ASIN: 0226500624

Amazon.com

On August 5, 1949, lightning came crashing down in the vast spruce forest above Seeley Lake, Montana, and touched off a roaring blaze. As every Westerner knows, lightning means fire, but the fire that raged through Mann Gulch that day was huge--the sort that occurs only every few decades. A battery of paratrooper-firefighters, many of them fresh veterans of World War II, had been anticipating it, and even looking forward to the chance to fight a great fire. Before the day ended thirteen of those smokejumpers lay dead, their charred remains evidence that something had gone terribly wrong. Norman Maclean gives a thorough account of the incident in language not meant for the squeamish: "Burning to death on a mountainside is dying at least three times ... first, considerably ahead of the fire, you reach the verge of death in your boots and your legs; next, as you fail, you sink back in the region of strange gases and red and blue darts where there is no oxygen and here you die in your lungs; then you sink in prayer into the main fire that consumes." After August 1949, he notes, the Forest Service came to recognize that not all fires need to be fought and that fire benefits most forest ecosystems.

Book Description

On August 5, 1949, a crew of fifteen of the United States Forest Service's elite airborne firefighters, the Smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of these men were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean puts back together the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy.

Young Men and Fire won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1992.

"A magnificent drama of writing, a tragedy that pays tribute to the dead and offers rescue to the living.... Maclean's search for the truth, which becomes an exploration of his own mortality, is more compelling even than his journey into the heart of the fire. His description of the conflagration terrifies, but it is his battle with words, his effort to turn the story of the 13 men into tragedy that makes this book a classic."—from New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice, Best Books of 1992

"A treasure: part detective story, part western, part tragedy, part elegy and wholly eloquent ghost story in which the dead and the living join ranks cheerfully, if sometimes eerily, in a search for truth and the rest it brings."—Joseph Coates, Chicago Tribune

"An astonishing book. In compelling language, both homely and elegant, Young Men and Fire miraculously combines a fascinating primer on fires and firefighting, a powerful, breathtakingly real reconstruction of a tragedy, and a meditation on writing, grief and human character.... Maclean's last book will stir your heart and haunt your memory."—Timothy Foote, USA Today

"Beautiful.... A dark American idyll of which the language can be proud."—Robert M. Adams, The New York Review of Books

"Young Men and Fire is redolent of Melville. Just as the reader of Moby Dick comes to comprehend the monstrous entirety of the great white whale, so the reader of Young Men and Fire goes into the heart of the great red fire and comes out thoroughly informed. Don't hesitate to take the plunge."—Dennis Drabelle, Washington Post Book World

"Young Men and Fire is a somber and poetic retelling of a tragic event. It is the pinnacle of smokejumping literature and a classic work of 20th-century nonfiction."—John Holkeboer, The Wall Street Journal

"Maclean is always with the brave young dead. . . . They could not have found a storyteller with a better claim to represent their honor. . . . A great book."—James R. Kincaid, New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

The Tragic Story of the Mann Gulch Fire.......2007-07-28

This true story by the author of A River Runs Through It tells the events surrounding the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949. A good portion focuses on the smokejumpers (paratrooping firefighters)13 out of 16 of which perished in the fire.

In those days, the smokejumping program was very new having been introduced within the past 8 to 10 years. The men had to be between the ages of 18 and 30, single, and in superb physical condition. The main tools they carried were a shovel and something called a Pulaski which is a combination ax and hoe built into one. They utilized these tools to dig fire lines, and fell trees ahead of the fire so as to reduce the amount of fuel and prevent it jumping from one tree to the next.

When dropped from the plane onto the ground by the fire, a foreman would be in charge of the crew as they fought the fire. In the instance of the Mann Gulch fire in Montana, the fire started out as a fairly decent sized fire. It then progressed into what is known as a "blowup." This occurred as a result of a combination of factors such as fuel type, moisture, incline of terrain, and wind.

It quickly got out of control and the crew had to run for their lives. Occasionally, in a blowup a vortex of fire will be formed which will sweep across a vast area burning everything in its path. It looks and functions like a tornado. I recently talked with a man who used to be a farmer and he indicated that when they burned fields to prepare them for future seasons a fire vortex would sometimes occur. He said it was an awesome and amazing sight to behold.

During the blowup it was not possible for the majority of the men to outrun the fire and they perished mainly from suffocation due to lack of oxygen. The foreman saw this happening and created a secondary fire to try to create a burned out place which would provide shelter from the main fire. Unfortunately, amidst the confusion of the fire, the men did not understand the foreman and thought he had gone crazy to be lighting a second fire. He did survive but all but 2 others did not.

A secondary portion of the book analyzes the various components of the fire, what caused it, and some of the science behind fire. Maclean spent around 12 years researching the book, gathering documents, interviewing the 2 remaining survivors and returning to the site of the fire. He was well equipped to tell the story having spent time as a forest fire fighter in his younger years before going on to be a literature professor and writer. The book was masterfully written but slightly meticulous at times. It is the type of story that would make a very dramatic movie if a studio were interested in producing it.

Uneven but thoughtful and inspiring.......2007-02-08

Pieced together after the author's death, you can see what this book would have been had he lived to complete it. In places, you have to push yourself through it. Still, it is worth your time. Tracing a tragedy trying to resurrect peace for souls long gone, you are put in touch with feelings and emotions that affect us all.

If you love the outdoors, adventure, and real men doing real things, this book is for you.

Math?.......2006-12-27

Has anyone out there checked Maclean's math on pages 229-230 of the paperback edition (second section of Chapter 12)? I'm no math expert, but shouldn't the hypotenuse of a right triangle with sides of 1,320 and 140 yards be a little over 1,327 yards, and not the 1,400 yards he indicates? Moreover, didn't all of the 140 yard vertical gain occur in the final half mile of travel, since the crew was moving on contour for the first quarter mile of "the race"? This would yield a total actual distance of only 1,331 yards. I was surprised by these errors given how meticulous Maclean was in the rest of his research.

This is a great book, though.

Reads like a detective novel.......2006-11-16

First, its important to note that the author did not complete this novel. Unfortunately, Maclean died prior to its completion, so others had to pull it all together for publishing. This perhaps lends to what I see as an "unpolished" quality, with some choppiness. That said, I felt it still merited four stars for what the author did. Maclean's research is extensive, and his conclusions are derived from numerous authoritative sources. It read like a mystery / detective novel for me, and I had trouble putting it down.

A tragic and wonderful story.......2006-11-09

This is a fine story of brave men in a tragic struggle. A struggle that they loose. The entire book covers the 16 minutes it took for these smoke jumpers to land, confront a "10'oclock" fire and die. Norman Maclean researches the human and scientific causes of this disaster. It was especially of intrest to me because when I went through the fire fighter academy here in Northern California, this was an incident that we studied. Norman Maclean writes in a sparcer prose than in "A River Runs Through It, and other stories" but it is no less facinating and we learn details about the authors life, that makes this story a personal one. He did not finish the book before his death and the last section was written with minimal editing from the original manuscript. This section is the most beautiful and moving of the entire book. I cannot recommend this book highly enouph.

The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest

Average customer rating:

Food for the soul.
Must have book for woodland gardeners
Great Book!
Inspiration for Your Own Woodland Garden
A book of wonders.

The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest
Rick Darke
Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0881925454

Book Description

North America's eastern half, roughly from the Midwest to the Atlantic, was once a great deciduous forest. Although centuries of human intervention have cleared much of the land, the timeless forest remains in the spirit of the place. Today, even the shortest period of human neglect allows for the resurgence of the process of forest creation. The greatest gardens — and happiest gardeners — in this area will be those that take into account the nature of the land.
In his unique, and often thought-provoking new book, award-winning author Darke promotes and stunningly illustrates a garden aesthetic based on the strengths and opportunities of the woodland, including play of light, sound, and scent; seasonal drama; and the architectural interest of woody plants.

While written from a compelling and fresh perspective, The American Woodland Garden never strays from the realistic concerns of the everyday gardener. Information on planting, soils, and maintenance provides a firm foundation for horticultural accomplishment. An alphabetical list of woodland plants offers useful advice for every garden, emphasizing native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses, sedges, and flowering perennials that fit the forest aesthetic. More than 700 of the author's stunning photographs show both the natural palette of plants in the wild and the effects that can be achieved with them in garden settings. Many of the most striking photos in the book were taken at classic gardens that are paragons of an ecological style.

The American Woodland Garden is a clarion call to a new awareness of our relationship to the natural world. This book will take its rightful place among the classic works that have influenced our concept of the American landscape.

Customer Reviews:

Food for the soul........2007-07-10

If you live near the edge of woodlands as we do, you'll find this book to be a valuable source of information. It's a challenge to landscape the transition from woodland to home, but this book provides the knowledge needed to make that happen. And if you love to live in or near woodland areas as much as we do, you'll appreciate the wonderful photographs.

Must have book for woodland gardeners.......2007-05-14

This man is the best photographer of the woodlands and a great speaker. Would purchase any book by him.

Great Book!.......2007-03-26

I am a novice gardener but this book gives great advice and great choices from groundcover to shrubs and trees for the woodsy landscape. I refer to this book all the time.

Inspiration for Your Own Woodland Garden.......2007-03-18

A gorgeous, substantive book. It's not a how-to in a conventional sense, but it will definitely get your creative juices flowing in terms of your own woodlands. If you've never thought about "color palette" for plantings, you'll really enjoy this book.

A book of wonders........2007-02-12

This is simply the best book in my garden library. It is a way of looking at the environment around us, an ethos complete with pictures, information, and instruction. Be sure to buy this book in hardback, because paperback binding will never survive the hard useage this book will receive in your home.

When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature

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When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature
Become One With the Creative Mystery
say nothing is everything that matters
Spiritually rewarding for readers of all faiths

When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature
Thomas Merton
Manufacturer: Sorin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1893732606

Book Description

Millions know Thomas Merton as the author of The Seven Storey Mountain, the autobiography that became an international bestseller and a modern spiritual classic. Merton, a prolific spiritual writer and social activist, inspired a generation from the silence and solitude of a Trappist monastery. Decades after his death, he remains a modern spiritual master, a source of wisdom on peace, racial harmony, poverty, alienation, and the engagement of Eastern and Western spiritual traditions.

Now Merton is also revealed as a man whose spirituality is rooted in nature, an environmentalist ahead of his time. His writings on nature serve as a primer on eco-spirituality. He approaches ecology as a spiritual issue, one that exposes the degree of human alienation from the sacredness of the planet.

When The Trees Say Nothing gathers for the first time over 300 of Merton's nature writings, grouping them thematically into sections on the seasons, elements, creatures and other topics. Edited by Merton scholar Kathleen Deignan, the collection is cohesive and accessible, drawing from both Merton's public writings and his recently published private journals. The lyrical writings are enhanced with Deignan's own informative Introduction, along with a Foreword by Thomas Berry, renowned spiritual mentor for the environmental movement.

Unique and powerful on its own, When the Trees Say Nothing is enhanced with the art of John B. Giuliani, known for his stunning iconography. Giuliani's drawings harmonize exquisitely with Merton's meditations on nature, making When the Trees Say Nothing a spiritual and aesthetic prize.

Customer Reviews:

When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature.......2007-01-18

Very good read, with a 5 star being his The Seven Storey Mountain. This is a great collection for anyone looking to group Merton's works in to topics, seasons, or just short chapters. This is a definite "must get" for anyone into Merton or nature, even if they are not looking to use it for prayer and meditation. This is the book you sit and read as Merton walks you through the woods of beautiful landscape and little creatures, taking you away from the kids, city life and traffic.

Become One With the Creative Mystery.......2004-03-01

Kathleen Deignan, a professor of religious studies at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York, really outdid herself here in compiling and editing some THREE HUNDRED works by Thomas Merton in this text. It's not a particularly long book, surprisingly, with only 190 some odd pages in it. With that being said, not much is left out here, either. It's by all means complete. There are chapters on the four seasons - on the mountains and the forests. Nature herself.

Merton even likens a mountain to sainthood, seeing God`s creative beauty and wonder all throughout nature. If you have ever been to the Abbey of Gethsemani, you may understand why that is, too. The monastery is surrounded by absolutely stunning and expanding landscape, the perfect spot for the kind of reflection and introspection Merton apparently did in this work. He urges us to be engaged with nature. That probably means for us modernists to get out there off of our sometimes lazy butts and take a walk; go ride our bike. Whatever it is feel your connection to nature in a very raw sense. It opens up the sunshine that is already within. Merton's helpful finger pointing us the way in this work on how wonderful nature really is, serves as truly a great inspiration to do just that.

say nothing is everything that matters.......2003-10-17

Kathleen Deignan's When the Trees Say Nothing
is a fresh rendition of Thomas Merton's writings evoked from creation. In times when chatter is normative and being alone is mistaken for loneliness we have a wonderful lectio book of quotes and context of 'seeing' from the inside.

This book will live beyond the writer but not without chanigng many readers into the vast beauty of 'silence'.

Spiritually rewarding for readers of all faiths.......2003-04-07

Compiled and edited by Kathleen Deignan ( Sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame), enhanced with drawings by John Giuliani (Founder and Overseer of The Benedictine Grang, a spiritual center in West Redding, Connecticut), and featuring an informative foreword by Thomas Berry, When The Trees Say Nothing: Writings On Nature is an impressively thoughtful and thought-provoking collection of commentaries by the late Thomas Merton (1915-1968), an influential Catholic monk, poet, spiritual writer, and social activist. The commentaries, observations, and writings are superbly organized into eight chapters: Seasons; Elements; Firmament; Creatures; Festivals; Presences; and Sanctuary. These, along with the postscript "Sophia," a section of notes, a list of abbreviations, and a bibliography, combine in a movingly written, enthusiastically recommended volume of readings that are appropriate and spiritually rewarding for readers of all faiths who seek to experience the sacred and the sacramental in God's handiworks.

Better Trout Habitat: A Guide To Stream Restoration And Management

Average customer rating:

Better Trout Habitat: A guide to Stream Restoration and Mana
Good Trout Habitat and Life Cycle Reference

Better Trout Habitat: A Guide To Stream Restoration And Management
Christopher J. Hunter
Manufacturer: Island Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Rivers | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

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Trout Stream Therapy
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ASIN: 0933280777

Book Description

Explains the physical, chemical, and biological needs of trout, and shows how climate, geology, vegetation, and flowing water all help to create trout habitat.

Customer Reviews:

Better Trout Habitat: A guide to Stream Restoration and Mana.......2001-11-01

This book provides an in depth review of the methods and techniques used to provide habitat characteristics to a variety of streams. The writting style is excellent for both the lay reader as well as someone with a scientific back ground. However, it does not dwell on some fot the more technical details which requires a more technical level book to provide more indepth details. However, as a general manual to habitat resoration it provides an excellent background as well as the necessary caution needed when conducting these types of instream restoration projects.

Good Trout Habitat and Life Cycle Reference.......2000-06-07

This book offers a good variety of man-made trout improvement structures, but the current (2000) state-of-the art in trout habitat improvement trends toward a more natural, vegetation and channel reconstruction approach. This book provides excellent design guidelines and background information on trout and their life cycle, and perhaps the most useful part of this book was the author's ability to teach the reader enough about the habitat requirements of trout to allow the reader some latitude and innovation with their habitat improvement designs.

I personally enjoyed the workable, readable and philosophical approach to fish habitat improvement, and I believe that this book would be a good reference for anyone who wishes to improve trout habitat.

Remember, an ounce of habitat preservation is better than ten pounds of habitat restoration efforts! (Also, the information in this book will help the reader become a more effective trout fisherman!)

A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs: Northeastern and north-central United States and southeastern and south-centralCanada (Peterson Field Guides(R))
Average customer rating:

Learn to love trees! Or learn about the trees you love.

the one

Best for field work

Worthy of the Name

Definitive work for identification

A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs: Northeastern and north-central United States and southeastern and south-centralCanada (Peterson Field Guides(R))

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America (Peterson Field Guides(R))

ASIN: 039535370X

Book Description

All the wild trees, shrubs, and woody vines in the area north to Newfoundland, south to North Carolina and Tennessee, and west to the Dakotas and Kansas are described in detail. Accounts of 646 species include shape and arrangement of leaves, height, color, bark texture, flowering season, and fruit. Clear, accurate drawings illustrate leaves, flowers, buds, tree silhouettes, and other characteristics.

Customer Reviews:

Learn to love trees! Or learn about the trees you love........2007-10-17

This is an wonderful guide to trees and one of the few that also includes shrubs. The format of keys and plates is very clear and an excellent introduction to the use of taxonomic keys.

the one.......2002-08-01

No mere Peterson field guide, this scholarly work is a concise encyclopedia of all the trees native to the northeastern United States, with descriptions that can truly be used to tell them apart (a unique feat). Belongs in the backpack of any hiker who wants to learn trees. Fits in a half-gallon Ziploc. Remember you need a magnifying glass and a sharp knife to use the book properly.

Best for field work.......2002-03-17

As a wetland delineator in PA, this book proves invaluable for field identification of trees, shrubs, and vines. Especially useful is are the keys for identification of these plants in winter when leaves and fruiting bodies are non-existant. I have several other tree books for reference, but they rarely are worth carting along in the field now that I have this book. I highly recommend it.

Worthy of the Name.......2001-08-03

Follows the fine tradition of Peterson Field Guides. Enough said.

Definitive work for identification.......1999-09-22

Petrides' work is the most accurate I have found in tree identification. Color pictures are no substitute for a close-up examination of the stems, leaves and fruit of trees and shrubs. It is considered the definitive source for the John Burroughs Naturalist Award bestowed by the Buckeye Council of the Boy Scouts of America only upon those capable of sight identification of approximately 600 trees, shrubs and wildflowers.

Trees, Shrubs, And Vines Of The Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide (W L Moody, Jr, Natural History Series)

Average customer rating:

Jan Wrede speaks to me
An excellent guide in understanding Texas hill country

Trees, Shrubs, And Vines Of The Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide (W L Moody, Jr, Natural History Series)
Jan Wrede
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Trees | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Grasses of the Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series)
Wildflowers of Texas
Trees of Texas: An Easy Guide to Leaf Identification (W L Moody, Jr, Natural History Series)
Texas Trees: A Friendly Guide
Texas Wildflowers: A Field Guide (Texas Natural History Guides)

ASIN: 158544426X

Customer Reviews:

Jan Wrede speaks to me.......2007-02-15

When I am out on the range in the Hill Country of Texas trying to identify a plant, Jan Wrede tells me what I need to know.

An excellent guide in understanding Texas hill country.......2007-01-16

The pictures and descriptions have been invaluable in my interpretive walks and hikes. This is a must have for hikers and hill property owners. I bought two! One for me and one for a friend.

Average customer rating:

Great for the US
Excellent for getting kids interested in being outdoors
Wonderful!
...a treasure-trove for the young explorer.
Wonderful book for this summer when "there's nothing to do!"

Backyard
Donald M. Silver , and Patricia Wynne
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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One Small Square: Woods
Pond
Seashore
One Small Square, The Night Sky
Swamp

ASIN: 007057930X

Book Description

An exciting journey of science discovery is as near as your own backyard. Just one small square is alive with creepers and crawlers, lifters and leapers, singers, buzzers, climbers, builders, and recyclers. Backyard invites children ages 7 and up to become nature lovers by looking, listening, touching, and smelling the world from the ground up! From the unique One Small Square series of science acitivity books. . .where children can explore exotic and familiar ecosystems in detail, one small square at a time.

Customer Reviews:

Great for the US.......2007-09-18

This is a beautiful book and my 8 year old daughter refers to it occasionally, but I think that because so many of the animals in it are never seen in Sydney, Australia my children aren't really into this book. It hasn't inspired them to get into the garden and look around.

Excellent for getting kids interested in being outdoors.......2007-03-21

My son is 4 and loves all worms and bugs. This book is carried with us everywhere. He knows the names of the bugs and the earthworms habits. I love it that he is interested in something that will expand his mind, make him aware of his environment and keeps him away from the TV! He is still a little too young for squaring off a part of the yard but that could be next year. The illustrations are excellent, it creates a forum for conversation, love of nature and science. Too often our children are caught up in brands and being sold from TV brands and characters that are shallow and offer little to our children. How wonderful to fuel interest in something outdoors and interactive with the world we live in.

Wonderful!.......2007-01-20

This book (and others in the series) is a real treasure. Your kids, and you, are guaranteed to enjoy and make use of this great little book.

...a treasure-trove for the young explorer........1999-08-24

My three children have thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful illustrations, dynamic fact-filled text, and activities given in this book. We love the whole One Small Square series, but because this book has helped solve some mysteries in our own backyard, this one is our favorite! It also served as a great companion to several curricular themes and field trips during the school year.

Wonderful book for this summer when "there's nothing to do!".......1999-04-26

We read this book over and over! My son learns something new every time. The illustrations are numerous and detailed. "Backyard" provides a great springboard for further exploration of the world.

Trees and Shrubs of California (California Natural History Guides)

Average customer rating:

not just any trees and shrubs
Trees and Shrubs of California
California's Floral Treasures
OK

Trees and Shrubs of California (California Natural History Guides)
John D. Stuart , and John O. Sawyer
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

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Introduction to California Plant Life, Revised Edition
Grasses in California (California Natural History Guides)
Introduction to California Spring Wildflowers of the Foothills, Valleys, and Coast (California Natural History Guides)
Oaks of California
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ASIN: 0520221109

Book Description

California's varied landscape is characterized by a spectacular abundance of plant life, including a magnificent variety of trees and shrubs. This is the first book to combine the trees and shrubs of California in one accessible field guide. Trees and Shrubs of California identifies and describes native California tree species and most common shrub species. The text is complemented by more than 200 beautiful line drawings, 300 range maps, and 40 color photographs.
In their introduction, the authors discuss the dominant vegetation types, climates, principal landforms, and elevations of California's ecological regions. They explain the classification system and nomenclature used in the book, which includes both scientific and common plant names and is based on the 1993 edition of The Jepson Manual. The authors also provide a step-by-step explanation of how to use the dichotomous keys to identify plants and distinguish between trees and shrubs.
This user-friendly field guide minimizes technical terms and includes a checklist, making it an invaluable resource on California's profuse vegetation.

Customer Reviews:

not just any trees and shrubs.......2007-10-05

Hi I was required this book for my course at UCB, Trees: taxonomy, growth & structure. This book was extremely helpful for identification. The only weird thing I found thus far is in the index for hairy bush it says refer to hairy bush. Funny, but good reference book if you are just starting to identify.

Trees and Shrubs of California.......2007-10-02

This guide is easy to use and full of information. A great field guide for anyone interested in California's native woody plants.

California's Floral Treasures.......2002-11-09

This is a wonderful reference book for more serious California native plant enthusiasts. It has detailed drawings of most referenced plants and also shows a map illustrating the native range of every specimen (which I find particularly interesting). Although I have found some missing species -- I really value this book. It is a great companion to the Sunset Western Garden Book (I go back and forth between the two). It also provides information on non-native plants that have long naturalized in the Golden State.

OK.......2001-09-16

This would seem to be OK. Nicely printed with attractive line-drawings that give a good overall picture of what the plant looks like (not quite one for every species, also somewhat short on botanical detail) and distribution maps (one for every species). A separate section with pretty decent color photographs (39 total).

Book Description

These magnificent and evocative color photos reveal why forests have been a source of inspiration to humankind throughout the ages. The bestselling author of Meeting with Remarkable Trees has chosen 15 "mythic woods," from the famous Sherwood Forest (so unlike its legendary image) to the little-known Valley of the Giants in Tasmania, home to some of the world's tallest trees. Some are huge and ecologically vital, like the Amazon and Canadian rainforests; others are tiny remnants, like the Black Wood of Rannoch. The rich and diverse gallery includes the Petrified Forest of Arizona and the towering underwater groves of the Californian Kelp Forest. If anyone questions the need to nurture and protect Earth's forests, these images offer a supremely eloquent answer.

Customer Reviews:

not great.......2006-03-17

Great fron cover an internal cover, but that is where all the fun stops with this book, unfortunately. The rest of the book consists of strangely chosen and bad quality photographs with lots of huge text. I do not recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a great photograhic book on forests - it is very deceiving!

Slightly disappointing........2005-06-16

I bought this book with the expectation there would be many more detailed photographs in it. Though the photos that were there were stunning to be sure, there were too few of them! More photos, maps to said forests, etc. would have caused me to give this a full five stars.

Green splendour revealed.......2004-11-21

Approximately one third of the earth's land area is covered by forest habitats. Some are well-known, but there are magnificent forest areas that have not gained major attention. Mythic Woods explores the individual character of both familiar and unknown forests on all continents, revealing new worlds of majestic beauty. The forests include:

The Amazon
Black Wood of Rannoch
Sudarban mangrove forests of the Ganges delta
Cloud forests of the Andes
Blue Cedar forest of the Atlas Mountains
Taiga of Northern Russia
Valley of Giants, Tasmania
Mediterranean Maquis and Garigue
Petrified forest of Arizona
Sherwood Forest
Kauri Pine Forest of New Zealand
Baobab woods of Madagascar
Great Bear rainforest of Canada
Ancient rainforest of Cape York Peninsula

The engaging text comes alive through the breath-taking full colour photographs and the book concludes with a Forest Fact File that lists factors such as the Area, Rainfall, Temperature, Access and the most interesting trees and animals for each forest. The absence of maps in a book of this nature is baffling, though. Besides that omission, Mythic Woods is a classy and informative guide to some of the most impressive forests of the world.

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