| Author | |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: Nov 08 2010 at 9:41pm | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I'm really excited about the book I found this weekend! I was preparing to lead our nature club on the topic of trees, and while we were up in Pennsylvania, I found this book at the antique mall:
Tree Identification Book: A New Method for the Practical Identification and Recognition of Trees by George W. Symonds.
It was $4.00, so I snatched it up because it was a perfect fit to what we we were covering. I have to admit, I like this book better than a field guide.
This was originally printed in 1958, but the book is still in print, over 50 years later.
The book is standard paper size (8 1/2 x 11) and almost an inch thick. If you're trying to identify a tree, this is a definite book to add to your collection. It does only have black and white pictures and drawings, but they are very good quality. The book is a pictorial key or guide to identifying trees. The author breaks it down in 7 keys:
Key 1) opposite
Key 2) Thorns
Key 3) Leaves
Key 4) Flowers
Key 5) Fruit
Key 6) Twigs and Buds
Key 7) Bark
There are multiple pictures for each tree in each key. For the bark section, each tree has a young and a full-grown picture, and next to the full view of the trunk bark, there is also a close up of the texture. Each tree then has a master page with all the key pictures combined. I found the book very easy to use, and while it's not pocket-size like a field guide, it fit in our backpack as simply as a regular notebook would fit.
He also has a companion book, also in print, The Shrub Identification Book: The Visual Method for the Practical Identification of Shrubs, Including Woody Vines and Ground Covers which I can see would be great to add, especially since my sons and I are into vines!
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to  & ds1  '03 & ds2  '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 12:21am | IP Logged
|
|
|
What area does it cover? I mean.. what types of trees? Hardwoods, conifers, western, eastern.. ?
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 6:30am | IP Logged
|
|
|
JodieLyn wrote:
| What area does it cover? I mean.. what types of trees? Hardwoods, conifers, western, eastern.. ? |
|
|
Such good questions, Jodie! Thanks for helping me...my head cold is not helping me think straight. It does cover both broadleaf and needleleaf, and the range of the book wouldn't include the West coast, more of Eastern to midwest. Here's the exact range from the book:
Quote:
The trees described in this book grow in a <strong>region bounded by Maine (extending into Canada), west to North Dakota and south into Texas and along the Gulf of Mexico to northern Florida</strong>. Of course, not every tree is found in all parts of this area, and, as this book is not a complete tree manual, certain trees were necessarily omitted. Such omissions include:
(1) Strictly southern or subtropical trees, or those of another regions which overlaps small sections of the area covered.
(2) Some trees of genera whose species are very numerous. It has been felt that in these cases that a number of the most important and representative species would be sufficient and would enable anyone interested in further species identification to do so in a botanical manual. The Oaks are an example of this, for with over fifty species in this region alone, it is obviously impractical to include them all.... |
|
|
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JodieLyn
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006
Location: Oregon
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 12234
|
| Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 8:58am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks Jenn.. it sounds like a neat book.
DH is a botanist so he's got me well trained on what questions to ask about that sort of stuff 
__________________
Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
lapazfarm
Forum All-Star
Joined: July 21 2005
Location: Alaska
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6082
|
| Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 12:05pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
That sounds like a great find!
__________________
Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MicheleQ
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 23 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2193
|
| Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 6:13pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Jenn this is great! I have Symonds The Shrub Identification Book and like it very much. I plan to use it quite a bit now as our new place has a lot of foliage that I am unfamiliar with.
__________________
Michele Quigley
wife to my prince charming and mom of 10 in Lancaster County, PA USA
http://michelequigley.com
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
|
| Posted: April 09 2011 at 8:57am | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have to add another one I find. This is more colorful, and definitely not a field guide, but it fits quite nicely with this book.
I just found a wonderful, color illustrations, oversized book that would really be helpful. It's OOP, but I see there are many copies available, both in Paper and hardback.
The Trees of North American by Alan Mitchell.
The book covers Broad Leaf Trees and Conifers, with two to four pages dedicated to certain types of trees--i.e., White Oaks, Red Oaks, Plums and Cherries, American Ash, Buckeyes (57 broad leaf).
Each illustration includes the bark, the tree canopy shape both with foliage and the winter look, the leaves, the fruit, some have the buds, some include the autumn colors.
It is tremendous!
__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Tree Identification Guide
