The Sibley Guide to Trees

This book is an excellent reference for learning to identify trees. Very well illustrated in color, showing leaf shapes, bark types, and views of the entire tree. The author also has maps of north America showing which regions various species of trees grow in. This book is virtually an encyclopedia of knowledge about trees of north America.

This is an awesome plethora of information. I will cherish it forever.

Very nice book

I purchased this guide book for an extensive trip to the Southwest. Like Sibley’s Guide to Birds, the illustrations in this guide to trees are unparalleled. The leaves, bark, nuts, etc, are beautifully illustrated. I have not seen any other guide that comes close to this. The illustrations are in color and give great detail in some cases showing you both the young bark and older bark, since younger tree bark can look very different. Illustrations of fruits, nuts, flowers, leaves, are all in color and consistently gives you multiple images so you can see variations. Additionally, the distribution maps showing where species occur are nicely done, and the written descriptions for identification are concise and clear. Thank David Allen Sibley for giving us a great field guide to trees.

I want to give it five stars because the illustrations are beautiful and you can learn a lot about trees from this book but I give it four because it leaves much to be desired as an identification guide. Some trees have an illustration of the bark some do not and some just have a picture of the leaf and not the fruit etc. I wish it was more detailed in descriptions too but you can’t fit everything in this size book. Buy it.

TELLS YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT TREES THAT YOU PUT EVERYONE KNOW, THE ORIGINS DOWN TO HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM LOVE THE HARD COVER AND I’M NOT SURE ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE, BUT MINE SMELLED LIKE CEDAR WHEN IT ARRIVED

I am a landscape architecture professor and always bring this book on Plant ID field trips with students. This is not a standard botanical text but is more accessible. A few relevant traits are shown in helpful drawings such as leaf shape, bark, buds and twigs, the overall shape of the tree etc. that make it easy for the the layman to ID any tree.

What can I say? I'm a Sibley fan. The detail, both illustrated and written are beyond reproach, and I've had them all autographed (so what?). Are they they the be all end all? No. Do I own several other author's books on various subject matter? Many. Books like this are a personal choice and you should check many of them out to see what works for you, especially if you plan on owning only one book on a subject. If you don't use it then what's the point of owning it? For example, I use Sibley, Peterson, Stokes, Newcome and others depending on what I'm looking for. If you have the chance, go out with a group and ask to see what they are using and ask why. Then make up your own mind. Do all these types of books do what they're intended for? More or less. A case in point is the Audubon series. I think they are terrible because all they show you is one picture, as if an oak is an oak is an oak. The better ones will have drawings pointing out unique and identifiable features. You really need to know individual characteristics if you want to be able to identify something in the field. What if it's winter, so there are no leaves on the tree you're trying to identify, and your book shows a picture of a full grown tree in summer? SOL. Now you need to know shape, habitat, bark, twig, fruit, etc. This book does it all. Add a dichotomous key to your list as well. Spring is bud time, so try to identify your local trees just by that aspect. Hope that helps and good luck!

Perfeito, bem elaborado.

This is an excellent identification manual for the trees. This book clearly shows all parts of the trees, including not only the bark and a selection of the leaves showing the shape variations, but also the flowers and the fruits, seed pods, cones, nuts, etc. Mostly my other books show only the leaves and the trunk. This makes it much easier to identify those I have seen and photographed. A good book for naturalists and anyone who wants to get to know the trees.

This is a wonderful book for identifying trees in North America. It is very detailed and comprehensive except for certain species native to Florida. If you live trees and want to identify those around you, this is the book for you.

What a great book this is. Page after page of beautiful, fully coloured drawings and detailed descriptions of trees. A true cornucopia for tree lovers.

Awesome info about trees