The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley

From Barnes & Noble

Perhaps it is only logical and natural that the man who would devote many years and much artistry to birds would lavish equal attention on the trees where they reside. In layout and spirit, The Sibley Guide to Trees is the perfect match to David Allen Sibley's guide to birds. In its pages, he presents 600 North American tree species with his incomparable paintings, which are models of both detail and elegant clarity. Species are arranged taxonomically (i.e., by families and genera), not (as in most other guides) by leaf shape, thus offering readers an easier path to true understanding of the plant world. The Mercedes-Benz of tree guides; an instant classic.

From the Publisher

David Allen Sibley, the preeminent bird-guide author and illustrator, now applies his formidable skills of identification and illustration to the trees of North America.

Monumental in scope but small enough to take into the field, The Sibley Guide to Trees is an astonishingly elegant guide to a complex subject. It condenses a huge amount of information about tree identification—more than has ever been collected in a single book—into a logical, accessible, easy-to-use format.

With more than 4,100 meticulous, exquisitely detailed paintings, the Guide highlights the often subtle similarities and distinctions between more than 600 tree species—native trees as well as many introduced species. No other guide has ever made field identification so clear.

Features highlighted include:
• leaves (including multiple leaf shapes and fall leaf color)
• bark
• needles
• cones
• flowers
• fruit
• twigs
• silhouettes

More than 500 maps show the complete range, both natural and cultivated, for nearly all species.

Trees are arranged taxonomically, with all related species grouped together. By focusing on the fundamental characteristics of, for example, oaks or chestnuts or hickories, the Guide helps the user recognize these basic species groups the same way birders recognize thrushes, warblers, or sparrows.

In addition, there are essays on taxonomy, on the cultivation of trees, and on conservation issues, reflecting Sibley's deep concern with habitat preservation and environmental health.

An important new contribution to our understanding of thenatural world, The Sibley Guide to Trees will be a necessity for every tree lover, traveler, and naturalist. It is sure to become the new benchmark in field guides to trees.

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