Subjects:  1. Calendar    2. Calendars & Diaries    3. Flowers    4. Non-Classifiable    5. NATURE / Flowers    6. Photography / Nature & Wildlife   

Reviews (36)

Excellent Resource
After spending hours on the internet trying to select new trees for my yard, this book puts it all in one place. I especially appreciate the photos that show not only the leaves, flowers, but also the structure, shape, and size. Many web sites don't give you the complete "picture" of the tree, but just a special feature. This book was recommended to me by a person who wrote a book about tree selection, and it is an excellent resource.

Great Source for Trees and Tree lovers
For any tree lover, or gardener this is a great read.Specifically targeted to those of us in the northern tier, the book is an excellent source for individual species and varieties, within each selection.
If you are from west of the Missippi, you might want another book.
This should be titled Dirr's Hardy Bias for the East.I noticed nearly all of the reviewers hail from east of the Missippi.That may be the reason no one noticed the omissions of many western trees and thinks this book is the best thing since sliced bread.Dirr is a professor at the University of Georgia, and I can suppose that is the main reason for the bias.And the glowing review from the Washington Post must be for the same reason.I live in Florida now, but grew up in Northern California.Let me say the trees of the East and South are indeed beautiful.I like learning about them.In fact many books talk exclusively of eastern and southern trees.But those books state that in the title.This book does not.If it did, I would like it more (although a more systematic order to the trees and shrubs in it would be a lot more user friendly).The Ponderosa pine is the most widespread pine in North America (Sierras and Rockies would be naked without it) but does not find it's way into the book.The Monterey Cypress which groes naturally and in yards along the Pacific Coast is omitted.The Coast Live Oak (not the Southern Live Oak) shades many hillsides and homes on the west coast, and the Interior Live Oak leaves a signature on the San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra Nevadas, as does the California Black Oak, Valley Oak, and Blue Oak.Western oak species are markedly different from their Eastern cousins (the western oaks do not grow as straight, but sprawl and twist much more than even the Southern Live Oak).The Western Sycamore is a massive and gnarled cousin to the American Sycamore and London Planetree, but didn't make the cut.There are many others that would've been in the book if Dirr taught at the University of Oregon or maybe Colorado State Univerisity or Berkeley.I don't mind a book on eastern trees and southern trees.They are magnificent and beautiful, but let the reader know what to expect.Westerners, if you are looking to plant or to identify trees in your neighborhood, you should skip this expensive non-comprehensive volume. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Ornamental shrubs    6. Ornamental trees    7. Pictorial works    8. Reference    9. Shrubs    10. Trees    11. United States    12. Gardening / Trees    13. Horticulture    14. Reference works    15. Shrubs & trees   

Reviews (6)

Beautiful
Living in California oak country, I have searched for just such a book to help learn about these beautiful trees. This is the best information I've found.

Beautiful and useful
If you are used to books with line drawing of leaves that make it impossible to use as a reference, then you will love this book.It is a great study as well as a beauty.If you only have one book on the Oaks of California, this should be it.If you have many books on Oaks, this is still going to be one of the most used. Useful and beautiful!

If you love California's oaks...
this is a magnificent book. I just cannot get over the glory of the native oaks and this book captures that glory well. It covers all native species with a nice amount of detail. The photographs are beautiful. What I actually found the most intriguing was the great history the authors provide on the oaks, and the incredible ecosystem that depends on their existence. The book even provides information on parks and drives statewide where mature native oaks can be visited. I have had this book for many months now and it is one I continually pick up again and again. It inspired me to plant several native oaks at home and take inpeccable care of the one large oak (treasure) that came as an added bonus to a beautiful old home. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Nature / Field Guide Books    2. Nature/Ecology    3. Plants    4. Plants - General    5. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS   

Reviews (7)

MMMMMMMMMMMMMGood
Lovely photographs, excellent identity descriptions, tons of useful information and I love the recipes -- plan to make every one of them.

Excellent Book For Novice Edible Mushroom Hunter
This is a concise easy to use book for people just starting to
Limited scope, horrible recipes.
I bought this book many years ago as the first of what is now a fairly large collection on the subject.As the title indicates, it concentrates on the EDIBLE fungi, so the reviewer who was dissappointed because he/she could ID only one of the 13 mushrooms he/she found has unfair expectations out of the scope of this work. That said, only the most popular edibles seem to be listed here, and variants on those species are not covered in much depth. It's ok for those who just want to be able to distinguish a golden chanterelle from a jack-o-lantern, or a morel from a thimble-cap so they can safely gather some edibles. The worst thing about this book, however, is it's unfortunate recipes. Every single recipe I've tried from it completely sucks. Either the cooking method is inappropriate to that particular mushroom (turning delicate specimins to mush, for instance, or inundating absorptive ones with oil), or strong flavors from other ingredients overwhelm the sometimes subtle flavors of the mushrooms themselves. I get much better results by trusting my cooking intuition and experimenting than I do by following these recipes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacteriology    2. Cookery (Mushrooms)    3. Cooking    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    6. Mushrooms    7. Mushrooms, Edible    8. Mushrooms, Poisonous    9. Nature    10. North America    11. Specific Ingredients - Vegetables    12. Cookery by ingredient    13. Cooking / Vegetables    14. Mycology, fungi (non-medical)   

Reviews (4)

classic text but no bargain
This is an excellent introduction to the fungi, however the cost is extremely prohibitive.The coverage is good, and its strong points are in morphological description and taxonomy.It is less impressive in molecular aspects of mycology.Given the high price of this volume, I highly recommend checking it out from a library to see if it meets your needs and expectations before deciding to purchase.And keep in mind that there are more affordably priced alternative pathways to introduce you to the fungi, such as The Fifth Kingdom by Kendrick.

Excellent reference text for fungi
The text is a good introduction to fungi with several excellent black and white pictures and illustrations.The text also contains an extensive glossary of mycological terms.However, as other reviewers have indicated, the text appears to be written for people with at least a general biology background.As a microbiologist, I find this book to be a perfect reference for fungi.

A classic introduction with a focus on plant pathology.
Last month I began browsing my 1962 edition of Introductory Mycology.Loand behold I read through the whole book over a weekend.This book was ourbible for the Mycology 100 course in grad school.I was noticing how goodthe narrative and drawings were in this classic.The book is not a glitzytome so common in textbooks today.Each class of fungi is dealt withseparately and there are extensive references at the end of each chapter.Of course because of the date of my edition some of the references aredated.However, the basic science here is solid and presented in apedagogical manner.The chapter on class Basidiomycetes deserves specialmention.The basidium development narrative is just superb. If you have aninterest in fungi and want to delve deeper into this important living groupthen get this book.It will serve you well for years to come just as ithas done for me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fungi    2. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    3. Microbiology    4. Mycology    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Mycology, fungi (non-medical)    8. Science / Bacteriology   

Features

• Unabridged

Reviews (41)

Setting the Record Straight
I just wanted to reply to J. Schachter's "The Critic" review of this book, which is spotlighted above.Not only did he omit some crucial info about Jorge's book, but his own statements have been proven false this year.
it's an OK guide BUT
okay all the typos and grammatical errors got to me too. this book has a lot of good information BUT I too, found incorrect information.Cervantes also contradicts himself a lot because in his articles in high times grow magazine, he says things that are total opposites from the book. i prefer his articles to this book BUT it did have some information that i found helpful. there has to be better stuff out there though.

The definitive indoor grow guide
In 1983 when I first became interested in the subject this book was the definitive indoor grow guide and it still is today and I like Mr. Cervantes style too instead of writing several books and you have too buy them all to find all the information you need he writes one complete book and updates it every few years with new stuff keep up the good work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening / Horticulture    2. Gardening / House Plants    3. Life Sciences - Horticulture    4. Plants - General    5. Popular Culture - Counter Culture    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Techniques    9. Cannabis    10. Gardening    11. House Plants & Indoor    12. Marijuana   

Reviews (16)

A good but not great little book
This book is helpful in identifying trees with clear distinctives in their leaves.I had trouble with evergreens whose needles didn't seem to fit the choices that were given.There needs to be more mention of cones, fruit, tree shape, etc.It is, however, small, convenient and helpful with many trees.

I know nothing about trees
At times, this guide was confusing, but it packs a lot of bang for your buck.
Too much error!
I've only been in a dendrology course two weeks to know this book has far too many errors to be taken seriously.My largest complaint is the writing of the scientific names.NEVER do you capitalize the first letter of the species name!The author/ editors were entirely inconsistant about doing so.While they would capitalize species derived from names (eg. Pinus banksiana), they did not capitalize those from states and "americana" (even though the normal English guide they were following would have made them do so). This error occured 17 times in the guide, highly disappointing for a publication.Obviously, they knew general guidelines, but they need to better understand the science behind taxonomy.Teaching people to write names wrong is not a way of expanding knowledge.Also, when writing the common name, NOTHING is capitalized unless it is a name for a PLACE: on page 4, American Elm and REALLY American elm (they avoided this by carefully capitlizing EVERYTHING later in the finder), and just for further information, jack pine is written like that, all lower case because "jack" is not a place.I'm sure there are more errors, I just haven't gotten that far.Anyways, I'm sure it's a cute little book to bring on camping trips, but it does little good in real science, missing key facts that distinguish one species from another..... as well as family names (a NECESSARY component of understanding linking relationships!).If you want to spend the 3.50 on it, go ahead, but be sure not to think of this as a "book," it's only a general, non-scientific, uninformative key for distinguishing common trees in North America. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Identification    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Reference    6. Trees    7. Trees & Forests - General    8. United States   

Subjects:  1. Flowers    2. Life Sciences - Biology - General    3. Life Sciences - Botany    4. Plant Physiology    5. Plants - General    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Nature / Plants   

Reviews (4)

An Encyclopedia, best used as a cross reference.
This book is what it says it is, an encyclopedia. It provides very detailed descriptions on a very large database of plants. It would be close to impossible to use alone as a means of identifying plants in the field, so it is best used as a cross reference to a field guide. Recommended field guides would be "A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and Central North America" by the Petersons, and "Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West", By Gregory L. Tilford for the western region. I have all three of these, and use the two field guides for identification purposes, and the Encyclopedia for verification and usage.

unbelievable
Although it lacks color pictures, it is by far the most complete listing of edible plants that I've ever seen (over 4000 plants covered) and tells you how to identify and use EVERY part of a plant from the Flower to the Leaf to the Bark to the Root (and any other part that may be usable) If your into long term survival or just want a snack on the trail, this book has it covered.

The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America
The Encyclopedia of Edible Plants of North America, by Francois Couplan, Ph.D. is "a reference for all people interested in learning about the numerous opportunities nature offers us in the form of healthful, intriguing, often delicious vegetables and fruits that we do not have to grow to enjoy."Read more

Subjects:  1. Botany (Specific Aspects)    2. Edible plants    3. Encyclopedias    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Nature    6. North America    7. Nutrition    8. Plants - General    9. Reference    10. Wild plants, Edible    11. Miscellaneous Items    12. Science / Geography   

Reviews (7)

The Joy of... or HYI?
The other reviews, both positive and negative, seem to be on the mark. I think the words, "The Joy of" should have preceded the title. I was personally looking for a little more of the "How to" in this book about gardening. '...not much about lichens. It was both funny and long winded at times. It was beautiful but not as informative as I would have liked. This makes a great, compact sized, coffee table book but not a very good HYI text book.

Would be a better book if the author could get over himself
I read this book from cover to cover and while it does have some great information the author is far too long winded and can't seem to stay on track. He seems to have an ego far larger than the minute moss he writes about and it really ruined the book for me.
Esoteric, beautiful, reverent book for moss & lichen lovers
This is a beautiful book, and I treasure it.I've shared it with several others who value the green mosses and lichens of the outdoors and they were also impressed.It is high quality paper, every picture (abundant) is in color.The descriptions are thorough.It is a treasured book of mine, one of my favorites for information and for pleasure.The joy of moss and worts. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. General    5. Horticulture (Specific Aspects)    6. Moss gardening    7. Mosses    8. Ornamental Plants    9. Plants - General    10. Gardening / Reference    11. Gardening: plants    12. Specialized gardening methods   

Reviews (1)

Quality photography enhances this practical reference guide.
Grasses by freelance gardening writer Nancy J. Ondra is a beautiful and practical guide to raising ornamental grasses in one's garden. Filled cover to cover with excellent color photographs by life-long gardener and gardening photographer Saxon Holt of aesthetic and splendid grasses, the profusely illustrated text presents the reader with a wide choice of colored grasses to best accentuate the beauty of one's garden and how to best select choice plants for wet, dry, hot, or shady sites. Highly recommended for personal and professional gardening, horticultural and landscaping reference collections, even non-gardeners will appreciate the dazzling, coffee-table book quality photography of this singularly elegant yet practical guide. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Landscape    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Grasses    7. Gardening / Landscape    8. Gardening: plants   

Reviews (2)

beautifully illustrated & comprehensive
This is the most beautifully illustrated and comprehensive guide I've found for the wildlife of southern Africa. The invertebrate info is hard to find elsewhere, and the fact that this guide includes plants is a welcome bonus. If you buy one guide to carry with you on your trip, this should be it.

A Comprehensive Guide
While visiting So.Africa, I had a million questions on what I looking at.I found this book and carried it with me throughout the trip.When we went on game runs, I would check off what we saw and make reference notes (e.g. the Baboons were eating Jackalberries - I could reference both the mammal and the tree section).The variety of birds in the country (over 900) was astounding and having the book made it much more fun and interesting to look up.This is the only book I found that combined lower invertabrates, spiders and other arachnids, insects (including a large butterfly collection), fish, frogs, reptiles, birds, mammals,grasses-sedges-ferns&fungi,wild flowers, trees.Several people on the tour had me write down what we saw so they in turn could get this book and make notes. A good book combining everything in one neat package for those who like to play outside! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Africa    2. Animal Ecology    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Plant Ecology    6. Plants - General    7. Wildlife    8. Nature / Wildlife    9. Science / Nature & Ecology    10. Southern Africa    11. Wild animals   

Reviews (9)

Excellent field guide
This book is excellent for just carrying around as a field guide, probably one of the best there is. Good artwork and descriptions, kept short and simple, with all general identification features included. Large list of native trees with some exotic species as well, it doesn't leave any important ones out.

Trees of North America
Real good. Has leaf and bud and fruit drawings. Shows geographically location of each species. Has pictures of bark and branch spacing. Shows general tree height and shape. Information well organized.

Lavishly illustrated with just the right amount of detail.
While not as detailed as other field guides, the Golden Books Trees of North America contains just the right amount of information for amatuer naturalists and is lavishly illustrated.The organization of the book also lends itself to quick and accurate identification of trees.The book is a wonderful resource. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Canada    2. Identification    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Pictorial Works    6. Trees    7. Trees & Forests - General    8. United States    9. Nature / Trees   

Subjects:  1. Botany (General)    2. Flowers    3. Life Sciences - Botany    4. Photography    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    8. Pollen    9. Pollen - Pictorial works    10. Pollination    11. Science / Botany   

Subjects:  1. Auditing - GAAS    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. CPA (Certified Public Accountant)    4. Flowers    5. Nature    6. Study Aids    7. Test Prep    8. Management accounting    9. Study Aids / CPA (Certified Public Accountant)   

Reviews (4)

Dry as Sawdust& a Paucity of Photos
This 638-pages work, published previously by the American Rose Society (ARS), is THE nitty-gritty dig for serious rose growers, plant science researchers; those involved with academic and industrial settings, horticultural nurseries, botanical gardens, and informed amateur enthusiasts. There are descriptions for more than 25,000 roses along with a sparsely populated (28) group of token photographs. The current edition is list priced at $130.00 and includes a CD.
Book needs more pics; CD needs better search capabilities
I bought this book and CD in the hopes of being able to identify several rose plants that my husband had rescued from the city's bulldozers.It is not designed for an amateur like me who needs pictures and drawings.I am less interested in the parentage of roses than I am in what the terms "semi-double, reverse, exhibition form, cupped" mean.Some roses did not even have the color of the bloom listed.The CD is great if you know the name of the rose you wish to search for, but cumbersome if you do not.Yes, you can search based on characteristics of a rose, but it's not easy.For example, there are no drop-down menus for options on search criteria.A search for a red rose with a "strong" fragrance yielded no results; "intense" fragrance did.When the results are shown, there is no number count on how many roses fit the criteria, and when you select one rose from the results to view, you must re-perform the search to look at another one.It's extremely frustrating.There are pictures of roses on the CD, but the search result listing does not show you which ones have pictures and which do not.Help is limited to FAQ's (with only two questions listed) and an email address.There is no online method for updating the program so there is no hope of this version becoming any better....

The ultimate reference work on roses
If you love roses and if you want to know about the full range of rose varieties that you may encounter at your local nursery or in mail order catalogues, this volume is essential. The expense is justified in part by the CD-ROM, which gives you the ability to search the underlying database at will. I enjoyed the pictures (although they don't match other works like Botannica) as well as the articles on famous European rose gardens. In any work of this magnitude there are bound to be errors (e.g., Meilland's Michelangelo is yellow, not pink), but the overall accuracy is very impressive. If you are only dabbling in rose growing, this encyclopedic work is probably more than you need. But if you are crazy about roses, you will be crazy about this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Flowers    2. Flowers - Roses    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Life Sciences - Botany    5. Life Sciences - Horticulture    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Plants - General    8. Science    9. Plant physiology    10. Plant reproduction & propagation    11. Science / Botany    12. Shrubs & trees   

Reviews (4)

Great field guide
perterson field guides are the best Ive found. I appreciate the easy to use guides and the content is excellent.

Essential to Everyone Outdoors
"Peterson's Field Guide to Venomous Animals and Poisonous Plants" is the first thing to be packed in one's backpack.It is essential to every hiker, camper, naturalist, hunter, bird watcher and nature lover. There are a hell of alot less hazards than benign plants and animals (although this varies somewhat according to region. The Mid-Atlantic and Northeast US has it easy compared to the Southwest) and while most people could identify a few, it doesnt make sense not to learn the 2-3 dozen major ones to avoid. Before you know what's edible, know what'll kill you!
Before you dash out into the woods and pick some plants you think are edible, you might want to get this book and know definitely what will killyou, or really mess up your body. Excellent info, bright color pictures,and written for an easy understanding, this book should be in any natureenthusiast's library, right next to Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, possiblythe best plant identification guide around. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Botany (Specific Aspects)    3. Canada    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Biology - General    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Plants - General    9. Poisonous animals    10. Poisonous plants    11. Reference    12. United States    13. Wildlife    14. Zoology (Specific Aspects)    15. Nature / Reference    16. Wild animals   

Reviews (6)

Visuals and text both excellent
The combination of this author and this illustrator has produced an amazing book. Both have a lifelong interest in trees. The author aimed to produce a book to be "read for pleasure", but maintained a high scientific standard throughout, so you'll need to know a scion from a taxon from a sport. (There is a helpful glossary.) But he never forgets his duty to keep the text interesting. So we learn every cricket bat for the last 300 years has come from a single willow and its descendents.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees
The book is beautifully illustrated and is very thorough.Even though it might have more application in Europe than in North America, it still contains pertinent information for species found in the United States.

Wonderful book
I bought this for the library but now I want my own copy.It answers questions which field guides don't address. I was not bothered by the euro orientation -- in fact it had much more information about the Scarlet Oak than the recently lauded Dirr's.Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Reference    5. Trees    6. Trees & Forests - General    7. Gardening / Trees   

Reviews (3)

National Geographic Field Guide to Trees of North America
Good leaf, fruit, bud and bark pictures. Typical of NG. Uses a lot of symbols to describe a tree which means going back and forth a lot. Does not give tree height or branch geography.

A surprising amount of detail for what initially looks to be light pocket tote reading
There are plenty of guides to trees on the market - but few offered in a portable tote format which truly lends to pocket take-along. You can put this in a backpack or even a back pocket: it's slim, compact, yet full of color illustrations of the complete tree plus close-ups of leaves, buds, flower and more. Keith Rushforth is an arboricultural consultant and expert urban forester: his expertise and coverage are extensively represented and provide a surprising amount of detail for what initially looks to be light pocket tote reading.
Nice illustrations but---
a HORRIBLE GUIDE!I am an arborist and use field guides all of the time.This is the WORST guide I have ever tried to use.There is little or no organization in the way each tree is described.Sometimes a tree's height is given in the opening description, other times you have to search for it in the body of the entry.Sometimes a flower is described, other times no description appears at all.Each feature that may define a tree is thrown in, in a slapdash manner, or left out, completely.It's as if the authors knew that NG was paying them big bucks for a guide, and they simply threw it together as fast as they could to get their paychecks.Forget ever trying to read this guide if you don't have your degree in the sciences, as I do.The terminology is straight out of Botany 101/102, and you'll use the glossary to make it through each and every tree description.FWIW, the measurements are given using the metric system. I guess it's a guide for Canadians, so if you're in the US and haven't been raised with metric measurements, you'll be frustrated on this count, as well.The tiny symbol key that lets you know which symbol stands for each type of area a given tree may be found in is almost impossible to make out.If you have a magnifying lense, you'll be OK.Again, if you like great illustrations of trees and their constituent parts, this guide may be for you.If you want a good guide that helps you identify trees easily--PASS THIS ONE BY! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Nature    2. Nature / Field Guide Books    3. Nature/Ecology    4. Trees    5. Trees & Forests - General    6. Nature / Trees   

Reviews (5)

The American palm compendium
Palms are a very conspicuous feature of the tropical landscape, whether in the wilds of Central and South America or in the suburban environments further north. They are also important economically (usually as fruit crops) and culturally (having uses as diverse as roofing, as material for weaving hammocks as fodder for edible beetle larvae!). Since everyone knows what a palm is, yet most non-specialists cannot get much beyond that, this guide to their identification should fill a niche.
a must have
if you're interested in neotropical palms, you ought to buy this excellent guide. all three authors are considered to be highly esteemed authorities who know their stuff very well. the description said it had approximately 380 pages, but together with all the appendices and photo pages, the total number of pages gets to 500.

A must for all palm enthusiasts
Overall it would say that it 's the excellent job that authors has put together all the description of American palm species. It would be welcome among serious palm collectors as well as reserchers.Read more

Subjects:  1. Nature/Ecology    2. Nature / Field Guide Books    3. Trees    4. Palms    5. Biological Sciences    6. Botany & plant sciences    7. Nature / Plants    8. The Americas    9. America    10. Plants - General    11. Nature    12. Identification