General Books

Remarkable Trees of Virginia

Nancy Ross Hugo

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Subjects -> Outdoors & Nature -> Reference

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

This stunning collaboration between the noted garden writer Nancy Ross Hugo and the photographer Robert Llewellyn showcases the fruits of an effort begun in 2004 to research, locate, and photograph Virginia's most remarkable trees. Four years later, more than one thousand trees had been officially nominated to the project and many others suggested for possible inclusion. The results, presented in this elegant, four-color volume, are astounding. Hugo and Kirwan, the project coordinators, have selected a sample of trees and "tree places" that illustrate the enormous variety, startling beauty, and fascinating history of Virginia's trees. Here you will see, through Llewellyn's incomparable lens, not only some of Virginia's largest trees, including a newly discovered national champion overcup oak in Isle of Wight County, but also some of the state's oldest, including baldcypress trees over 800 years old in Southampton County and red cedars over 450 years old in Giles. You will find unique trees like a willow oak in which a tricycle is embedded, fine specimens like the massive American beech in front of Sleepy Hollow Methodist Church in Falls Church, and outrageously shaped trees, like the water tupelos in the Cypress Bridge area of Southampton County. You will find trees associated with famous people and events as well as trees associated with ordinary people in extraordinary ways. Perhaps best of all, you will learn about communities that have gone to great lengths to protect their trees and about places where the public can visit some of the best trees and "treescapes" in the state.

Remarkable Trees of Virginia is a celebration of trees, but it doesn't dodge hard issues. In a section on urban forests, the authors describe the major problems facing trees in urban areas and point out strategies urban foresters are using to solve them. They describe the ecological services trees provide and issue a call for action both to protect trees in their existing habitats and to find more places where trees can "grow large and long."

Hugo, Kirwan, and Llewellyn present a treasury of Virginia's trees that is, indeed, remarkable.

The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring

Richard Preston

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Subjects -> Professional & Technical -> Professional Science -> Earth Sciences -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Hidden away in foggy, uncharted rain forest valleys in Northern California are the largest and tallest organisms the world has ever sustained–the coast redwood trees, Sequoia sempervirens. Ninety-six percent of the ancient redwood forests have been destroyed by logging, but the untouched fragments that remain are among the great wonders of nature. The biggest redwoods have trunks up to thirty feet wide and can rise more than thirty-five stories above the ground, forming cathedral-like structures in the air. Until recently, redwoods were thought to be virtually impossible to ascend, and the canopy at the tops of these majestic trees was undiscovered. In The Wild Trees, Richard Preston unfolds the spellbinding story of Steve Sillett, Marie Antoine, and the tiny group of daring botanists and amateur naturalists that found a lost world above California, a world that is dangerous, hauntingly beautiful, and unexplored.

The canopy voyagers are young–just college students when they start their quest–and they share a passion for these trees, persevering in spite of sometimes crushing personal obstacles and failings. They take big risks, they ignore common wisdom (such as the notion that there’s nothing left to discover in North America), and they even make love in hammocks stretched between branches three hundred feet in the air.

The deep redwood canopy is a vertical Eden filled with mosses, lichens, spotted salamanders, hanging gardens of ferns, and thickets of huckleberry bushes, all growing out of massive trunk systems that have fused and formed flying buttresses, sometimes carved into blackened chambers, hollowed out by fire, called “fire caves.” Thick layers of soil sitting on limbs harbor animal and plant life that is unknown to science. Humans move through the deep canopy suspended on ropes, far out of sight of the ground, knowing that the price of a small mistake can be a plunge to one’s death.

Preston’s account of this amazing world, by turns terrifying, moving, and fascinating, is an adventure story told in novelistic detail by a master of nonfiction narrative. The author shares his protagonists’ passion for tall trees, and he mastered the techniques of tall-tree climbing to tell the story in The Wild Trees–the story of the fate of the world’s most splendid forests and of the imperiled biosphere itself.


From the Hardcover edition.

Tree Finder: A Manual for the Identification of Trees by Their Leaves (Nature Study Guides)

May T. Watts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 25 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

An excellent way to identify trees 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I have used this guide (and also the "Winter Tree Finder") for decades and find it accurate and easy to use for it's intended purpose: identifying what tree one is looking at. If you want to learn more ABOUT the tree, get an additional book like the Audubon Society publishes. But this is so convenient to carry and easy to use it's almost always with me when I'm out hiking.

Handy reference 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book provides good coverage of most trees of the northeast. It is compact and handy to carry along.

Oldie and a goodie 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I remember using this little book back in 1984 or so for a leaf project for my eighth-grade science class. The whole class got one. I decided to get one for each of my kids since we like to hike. It wasn't as easy to use as I remember (so my elementary-school age kids had some trouble using it), but it's still pretty neat how the book will ask you a series of "does it look like this or like this" type of questions to help you narrow down to the tree you're trying to identify.

Editorial Review:

Guide to identifying native (and some widely introduced) trees of U.S. and Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. Organized as a dichotomous key, the book leads the user through a series of simple questions about the shape or appearance of different parts of a tree. Includes 161 species. Illustrated with line drawings. The small (6" by 4") format fits in pocket or pack to take along on a hike.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees--E: Eastern Region (Eastern)

NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 43 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For the untrained observer, it can be quite a challenge to sort out the many trees that make up a stand of older forest in, say, New England or the Ozarks. This well-illustrated guidebook, covering 364 species, comes to the rescue with photographs organized in several ways: by, for example, the shape of the leaf or needle, by the fruit, by the flower or cone, and by autumn coloration. Following one visible characteristic or another, the reader can narrow the range of possibilities, then turn to an informative text that describes a tree's physical characteristics, habitat, and range. Many of the species covered are relatively rare, such as the "stinking cedar" of the Georgia-Florida border; others are locally abundant, such as the paper birch of the boreal forest, used to make ice-cream sticks; still others, such as the smooth sumac, are widespread. The guidebook also covers ornamentals introduced from other continents, such as the Chinese privet and Mahaleb cherry. --Gregory McNamee

A Field Guide to Eastern Trees (Peterson Field Guides)

George A. Petrides

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A Field Guide to Eastern Trees 4 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I bought this for my husband for Christmas. He was blown away by all the information this little book contained. The only thing he said that he didn't care for was that some of the pictures were in black and white and he would have prefered all colored pictures.

Not as good as it could be! 2 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

If you like having color plates in your field guide this one is not for you. I found it difficult to work with and hard to find information I needed. For a field guide it has too much written information looking to list various tees but not enough total tree information. For instance, the buds and leaves are shown but not the tree bark or the silhouettes with each. Silhouettes are provided for types but not referenced for the various species. One has to jump around with the guide looking for information on the same specie of tree. For identifying species in the field the book falls far short. Color plates are a limited number of diagrams and sketches instead of photos, a major weakness. On a positive note, greater emphasis in locating species with maps showing growth locations is provided.

Editorial Review:

This field guide features detailed descriptions of 455 species of trees native to eastern North America, including the Midwest and the South. The 48 color plates, 11 black-and-white plates, and 26 text drawings show distinctive details needed for identification. Color photographs and 266 color range maps accompany the species descriptions.

A Splintered History of Wood: Belt Sander Races, Blind Woodworkers, and Baseball Bats

Spike Carlsen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In a world without wood, we might not be here at all. Without wood, we wouldn't have had the fire, heat, and shelter that allowed us to expand into the colder regions of the planet. If civilization somehow did develop, our daily lives still would be vastly different: there would be no violins, baseball bats, chopsticks, or wine corks. The book you are now holding wouldn't exist.

At the same time, many of us are removed from the world where wood is shaped and celebrated every day. That world is inhabited by a unique assortment of eccentric craftsmen and passionate enthusiasts who have created some of the world's most beloved musical instruments, feared weapons, dazzling architecture, sacred relics, and bizarre forms of transportation. In A Splintered History of Wood, Spike Carlsen has uncovered the most outlandish characters and examples, from world-champion chainsaw carvers to blind woodworkers, the Miraculous Staircase to the Lindbergh kidnapping case, and many more, in a passionate and personal exploration of nature's greatest gift.

Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide To Eastern North America

Michael D. Williams

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

good packaging, mediocre content 3 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I was really excited to get this book. As I read it my opinion gradually declined. While it is a useful book, I have seen much better tree books, such as Michigan Trees (for those who live in the Great Lakes or Northeast). The book only cover the larger trees, for the most part. Many of the photos are of remarkably poor quality, and they tend not to show many good identifying characteristics. The writing seems disorganized, and the text does not go into detail about reliable identifying characteristics. The ranges given are extremely general.

Most of all, I was disappointed to find the book containing errors that seem inexcusable in a guide of this type. For example, the section on slippery elm says "Slicing through the bark at a gradual angle will usually expose thin layers of white inner bark divided by the thicker reddish brown bark, as is usually found in the elms." This is totally wrong: the ABSENCE of white layers in the bark is the feature used to tell slippery elm from the other elms. The photo he shows are of American elm bark, as can be clearly seen by the light creamy layers in the bark. How can this guide help people identify trees if the author can't even identify them?

Editorial Review:

Identify trees in any season, not just when they are in full leaf. This field-tested guide features colour photos showing bark; branching patterns; fruits, flowers, or nuts; and overall appearance; as well as leaf colour and shape - all chosen specifically to illustrate trees in spring, summer, winter, and fall. Accompanying text describes common locations and identifying characteristics. Created for in-the-field or at-home use, this guide includes an easy-to-use key that will help you put a name to any tree by flipping only a few pages. This title covers every common tree in North America.

Winter Tree Finder (Nature Study Guides)

May T. Watts, Tom Watts

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Even professionals can use help 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As a certified arborist I was having a little trouble with my winter i.d. of trees. This little book has helped tremendously.

Winter Tree Identification 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This little book will teach you to be MUCH MORE observant of the features of a twig on a tree you are trying to identify. Without the leaves of Spring and summer to distract you (and makethe job easier?) - You look closer at the true differences of every tree, and you learn much more about trees in the process. Your powers of observation will increase 10 fold!

Handy and accurate 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Trees in winter are more difficult to identify than in other seasons when leaves are present. But this little pocket sized book (as with the others in Watts' series) is both helpful and accurate.
I keep a small supply of both this and the Tree Finder guides on hand to give to younger naturalists. Great way to get to know your way around the woods.
Once you've identified a tree you can then use a more comprehensive guide to learn more about it, but these pocket sized ones are so convenient to keep with you.

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

C. Frank Brockman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Poor Choice for Tree Identification 2 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

Despite the excellent illustrations and detailed information, this is a POOR book for actually identifying an unknown tree from its foliage, bark, or other characteristics.

The book divides trees into their families. Unfortunately, this requires that you have some idea of what you are looking for before you start. There is no cross-reference to bark to reinforce a choice. Also, since it includes both Eastern and Western North American trees, one can easily make a false choice.

However, its handbook size is convenient for a carry along.

Editorial Review:

Smell the bark of the aromatic Sassafras. Wonder at the Lodgepole Pine, whose heat-activated cones reseed forests destroyed by fire. Search for the Sugar Maple, whose foliage blazes red and yellow in autumn. North America's trees rank among nature's most awesome creations. This premier field guide features all characteristics-tree shape, bark, leaf, flower, fruit and twig-for quick identification, making it a superior choice for trail walks, creating displays, and scientific or commercial needs.-All of North America in one volume-Over 730 species in 76 families and 160 range maps-Native species and important introduced foreign varieties-Text, range maps, and illustrations seen together at a glance-Common and scientific names-Convenient measuring rules

Young Men and Fire

Norman Maclean

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> 1945 - Present

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 79 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

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.