Product Description

The best-selling, unrivalled beginner's guide to identifying the most common species of tree in northern Europe. This is the perfect pocket guide for anyone who wants to identify those deciduous or evergreen species they may come across on hill or in dale, in the town or in the countryside. For each tree included in the book, there is a wealth of both textual and visual identification information. Remarkably detailed illustrations show not only the overall shape of the tree but also details of leaf shape, flowers, fruits and bark. There's also information on the origin of each species, its height, preferred habitat and growing conditions. Illustrations of cones, catkins, nuts and fruits allow you to distinguish between similar species at a glance. The introduction covers the life cycle of trees, the establishment of woodland, people's relationship with forests and how to go about identifying trees, plus the all-important question -- what exactly is a tree?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1896 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Alistair Fitter is Professor of Biology at the University of York. Among his publications have been the Collins Pocket Guide Wild Flowers, An Atlas of the Wild Flowers of Britain and Europe, and Collins Guide to Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe. In September 2003 he became resident of the British Ecological Society. David More has been a botanical illustrator for many years. His other books include Collins Tree Guide (2004), Trees of North America (1988) with the late Alan Mitchell, and the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees (2003) by John White. He has also contributed artwork for many other books, magazines and posters, including a design for the Natural History Museum in London.

Customer Reviews

Still the favourite
I've been studying and working in ecology since 1987 and this is still the first book I turn to. Descriptions are clear and concentrate on distinguishing features. It's divided nicely into closely related groups with additional pages on fruits and nuts with a simple bark/leaf key. There's also a description of tree buds for winter ID.

Collins Gem Trees
I find this a very worthwhile, easy to use little book, packed full of interesting information on over 200 trees and shrubs.

This book can be popped into a rucksack and taken on countryside rambles or school trips as a quick, concise aid to tree identification.

Colourful illustrations of trees, foliage, flowers, fruit and bark add to the ease of tree identification for both beginners and those with some knowledge. Useful keys in the introduction also help you to identify trees in winter. A must for nature lovers!

A good little book, but with it problems, read below!
this book is exactly what you would expect from a little Collin's gem, it has good material through out, and a pretty good selection of the most common trees....but, i would have preferred to see real photographs rather than artists drawings, which, sometimes are not as good a reference as an image of the real thing. Furthermore i would have liked to see bigger images of the type of bark from each tree since half the year the trees have no leaves, and the bark, leafless shape, and habitat is all you have to go on.
this is however a good introduction read for summer time tree hunting, wouldn't recommend it for winter though. if you are up for a better book i recommend:-
Collins Complete Guide to British Trees: A Photographic Guide to Every Common Species