National Wildlife Federation field guide to trees of North America

Title:

Author:

Kershner, Bruce.

ISBN:

9781402738753

Publication Information:

New York : Sterling Pub. Co., c2008.

Physical Description:

528 p. : ill. (chiefly col.), col. maps ; 20 cm.

General Note:

Front cover unfolds to a leaf identification guide with ruler.

Map on inside back cover.

Contents:

Introduction -- The scope of this guide -- Names and classification -- Tree divisions -- How trees function -- Photosynthesis and transpiration -- Wood and bark -- Roots -- Flowers and fruits -- Twigs and buds -- Autumn color -- Ecology -- Trees and wildlife -- Habitat succession -- Disturbed habitats -- North American forests -- Map of North American forests -- Boreal forests -- Pacific Northwest forests -- Rocky Mountain forests -- Columbian forests -- California coniferous forests -- Subalpine forests and parklands -- California mixed evergreen forests -- Great Basin/Southwest forests -- Laurentian mixed forests -- Eastern deciduous forests -- Southern oak-hickory-pine forests -- Southern floodplain forests -- Southeastern coastal plains forests -- Savannas.

Threats to trees and forests -- Invasive species -- Air pollution -- Climate change -- How to identify a tree -- Visual glossary -- Leaf structure -- Leaf arrangement -- Simple leaves -- Compound leaves -- Leaf shapes -- Leaf tips and bases -- Leaf margins -- Leaf undersides -- Features of twigs -- Buds -- Flowers -- Fruit -- Bark -- Nonbroadleaf trees -- Trees with needlelike leaves -- Key to trees with needlelike leaves -- Pines, Larches, Tamarack, Spruces, Firs, Douglas-firs, Hemlocks, Yews, Torreyas, Bald-cypress, Redwoods, Araucarias -- Trees with scalelike leaves -- Key to keys with scalelike leaves -- Giant Sequoia, New World Cedars, Cypresses, Junipers, Tamarisks, Casuarinas -- Trees and fire -- Cypresses -- Junipers -- Broadleaf trees -- Broadleaf trees -- Ginkgo -- Trees with opposite leaves -- Key to trees with opposite leaves -- Opposite, compound leaves -- Horse-chestnut, Buckeyes, Bladdernut, Lignum-vitae, Catalina Ironwood, Elderberrries, Ashes -- Ashes.

Opposite, simple leaves -- Maples, Catalpas, Desert-willow, Mangroves, Swampprivets, Devilwood, Fringetree, Buttonbush, Fevertree, Silktassel, Dogwoods, Viburnums -- Maples -- Trees with alternate, compound leaves -- Key to trees with alternate, compound leaves -- Thorny or prickly trees -- Hardy Orange, Pricklyashes, Devil's Walkingstick, Honeylocusts, Locusts, Desert Ironwood, Jerusalem-thorn, Paloverdes, Acacias, Mesquites -- Trees without thorns -- Walnuts, Hickories, Hoptrees, Mountain-ashes, Sumacs, Poisontree, Gumbo Limbo, Soapberries, Mahogany, Yellowwood, Coffeetree -- Walnuts and hickories -- Trees with alternate, simple leaves -- Key to trees with alternate, simple leaves -- Lobed leaves -- Sycamores and Planetrees, Sweetgum, Mulberries, Sassafras, Flannelbush, Tuliptree.

Unlobed, mostly untoothed leaves -- Magnolias, Pawpaw, Osage-orange, Figs, Seagrape, Bays, Dogwoods, Tupelos, Titis, Sweetleaf, Sumacs, Smoketrees, Bullies, Persimmons, Farkleberry, Madrones, Manzanitas, Mountain-laurel, Rhododendrons, Silverbells, Snowbells, Redbuds -- Magnolias and tuliptree -- Unlobed, mostly toothed leaves -- Bayberries, Buckthorns, Witch-hazel, Mountain-mahoganies, Cherries, Plums, Crabapples, Serviceberries, Hawthorns, Hollies, Hackberries, Elms, Basswoods, Willows, Populars, Cottonwoods, Aspens, Hornbeams, Birches, Alders, Beeches, Chestnuts, Chinkapins, Tanoak -- What's in a tree name? -- Rose family -- Hollies -- Elms, Hackberries, and Kin -- Willows -- Poplars, Cottonwoods, and Aspens -- Birches, Alders, and Kin -- Beech family -- Oaks -- Key to oaks -- Other trees -- Palms, Yuccas, and Cacti -- Palms -- Yuccas -- Cacti -- Appendices -- Tree families -- Tree silhouettes -- Arboreta and botanical gardens -- Resources and references -- Photo credits -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Species index.

Abstract:

Presents a reference guide to over seven hundred species of trees, providing introductory essays along with individual entries on habitat, range, and descriptions of leaves, fruits, and flowers.

Language:

English

Subject Term:

Trees -- North America -- Identification.

Added Author:

Kershner, Bruce.

Tufts, Craig.

Added Corporate Author:

National Wildlife Federation.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Call Number	Status
Searching... Downtown Branch at Slover	Trade Paperback	0118613756378	582.1609 NAT	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From the National Wildlife Federation® comes the most up-to-date, all-photographic field guide to North American trees.

The Jeffrey Pine, Coconut Palm, Staghorn Sumac, and Western Hemlock: this single, portable volume features these, plus more than 700 other tree species and varieties, with special emphasis on their leaves, bark, fruits, and flowers. More than 2,000 stunning images show these trees in their natural habitats. Other features include: a unique identification tip for each tree; range maps showing distribution in North America; How to Identify a Tree section; a detailed glossary of tree parts and leaf, fruit, flower, and bark types; essays on ecology, conservation, and North America's important forest types; plus a complex species and quick-flip indexes. The guide's unique waterproof cover makes it especially valuable for use in the field.

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

There is much to like about this guide. It passed this reviewer's first test by including common, nonnative species found in parks, campuses, and street sides and increasingly naturalized elsewhere. An amazing amount of good information is packed into a portable, very attractive, inexpensive single volume. The color photography is uniformly excellent, as are the much less frequent line drawings. Most native trees have maps depicting their geographic distribution. In addition to the descriptions of 700 species, environmentalist/ecologist Kershner (deceased) and colleagues provide short essays on tree function, ecology, forests of North America, forest threats, and more. A well-illustrated glossary explains necessary terminology while omitting the more obscure botanical lingo. The guide's main drawback is that the simplified keys to finding the names of unknown trees start with leaf shape and arrangement, then move to fruit characteristics, which will prove problematic since fruit are often either not present or not accessible. This reviewer questions the need for a single book covering so much territory, when regional guides can devote more space to each species. Further, line drawings can be much better for identification than photographs. Minor criticisms aside, this work should be welcomed by naturalists, resource managers, arborists, and others who need to identify trees. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers/libraries. G. D. Dreyer Connecticut College