Book Review: What Tree Is That? By The Arbor Day Foundation

What Tree Is That?: A guide to the more common trees found in North America

By The Arbor Day Foundation

The book for today’s review was provided by: GreenLeaf Book Group LLC

Have you ever visited a new place to find that the trees seem to be one nameless sea of green? One of my favorite aspects of travel to any place is the opportunity to see new flora. The Arbor Day Foundation’s latest book What Tree Is That? has just joined the ranks of handy references which I tote along for quick identification during travel.

What Tree Is That? works like a decision tree. The user navigates the book from the general to the specific, starting with location (region) and ending with botanical details like leaf size and shape.

On the big treasure map of tree identification books, What Tree Is That? would be the big red X marked “Start.” There is nothing intimidating about this guide: it fits comfortably in the hand with a durable plastic cover which features key tools like a glossary and a ruler.

Everything about this book lends itself to use with kids, in classrooms, and in everyday excursions to parks and gardens. There is no unapproachable terminology – every botanical word is clearly explained in the glossary. This makes What Tree Is That? effective not only in teaching about trees, but in helping users to learn about the process of tree identification, and the physiology of trees and plants.

What Tree Is That? is inviting. Users are welcomed to the book with a short note from Arbor Day CEO John Rosenow, addressed “Dear Friend”. Novices and experts alike can pick up this book and use it immediately. While this book does not pretend to be a comprehensive identification manual, it does provide the user with a great introduction to common trees of North America.

So why is it important to be able to identify common trees? Just as museums afford us a glimpse at our human history, trees and forests can teach us about our natural history.

I started by flipping ahead past the key and went straight to the mulberry trees. Remember when I was in Pennsylvania, trying to distinguish the black, white, red, and paper mulberries (only to find that they may even be wild hybrids)? This is one of the first books to help clear the air and distinguish each variety in clear, simple terms.

All pictures are hand-drawn which gives the book an attractive, consistent quality. Images reflect the main parts used for identification in this book: leaves, needles, fruits, flowers, and cones. The leaf shapes, qualities, and growth patterns are clearly explained to help those new to tree identification learn what to look for as they observe new species.

While traveling through Oregon in November, I tested out What Tree Is That? to see if it could pinpoint the giant pines growing in the Siskiyou Mountains. Let me walk you through the result:

START: I’m located West of the Rockies --> Go To 68A

68A: This tree bears cones with needle-like leaves (Conifers) --> Go To 69D

69D: Needles are arranged in clusters, tree is evergreen (Pines) --> Go To 70A

70A: Needles are clustered, cones thick and prickly --> Go To 70B

70B: Needles more than 2” long --> Go To 72A

72A: Needles 4-7” long, cones prickly --> 73A Ponderosa Pine (Pinus Ponderosa)

It took me about a minute to walk through these questions and find the tree. Each question discusses a key distinguishing feature allowing only a YES or NO response. This cuts down on confusion and makes it easier for those new to tree identification to get the right answer the first time.



When all trees appear as a nameless sea of green, it may be difficult to recognize the amazing and intricate natural processes which are an ever-present (however unnoticed) part of our lives. Easy-to-use books like What Tree Is That? can help us learn to look carefully, and observe. And once we begin looking and discovering what we once passed by unnoticed, we find ourselves looking for the next resource, asking the next question, and looking for the next tree.

New Book Release by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees

At long last, Dr. Nalini Nadkarni’s book Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees (UC Press, July 2008) is now available for purchase. I had the unique pleasure of assisting Dr. Nadkarni in the preparation of this book, and I look forward to sharing more about her work here at Arboreality.

First up, I’ll be reviewing her book, and following that I hope to take a few minutes of Nalini’s time for a brief interview. There’s no need to wait for me however: I can tell you right now that this is an outstanding book derived from Nalini’s own willingness to ask new questions, and search for answers in both the obvious and the obscure. Grab a copy and give it a read!

Want to see more about Nalini Nadkarni's recent work? Check out the video special "Green Prison Reform" from KCTS9.

Book Review: The Curious Gardener’s Almanac

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Gardening Wisdom, by Niall Edworthy

The book for today’s review was provided by: Perigee Books, Penguin Group (USA)

At Arboreality I like to share the joy of discovery by bringing you glimpses of the trees and plants in my corner of the world. Niall Edworthy echoes this spirit with his new book, The Curious Gardener’s Almanac: Centuries of Practical Gardening Wisdom.

In his introduction, Edworthy attempts to wrap his arms around this book and explain the “what” and the “why” to little avail. Perhaps I can lend him a hand: this book is itself a garden.

The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is essentially a book of happenstance. As in a garden, you wander the pages and find yourself distracted by flowers of thought here, nuts of wisdom there, and all the while cognizant of the dark earth that engenders such a wealth of gardening wisdom.

Rather than chapters of how-to’s and when’s, Edworthy’s pages are filled with bits of poems, quotations, advice, facts, proverbs, and parables. Edworthy is not a condescending gardening guru, but like so many of us, he is a man with a basic curiosity about his garden, learning literally from the ground up.

As a self-taught gardener, I giggled with recognition when he explained the most unfortunate fate of his onions: rotted to death when left out to dry… in the rain. Those of us who did not grow up with gardens typically lack the innate wisdom of how to manage a thriving garden. What Edworthy shares with us is that not only is this wisdom not lost upon us, but that we can all find a spot of green on our thumbs if we just keep shoving it into the dirt.

Creating a garden is never an instant transformation – nor should it be. In Edworthy’s introduction he confesses, “The first year in the vegetable patch was a perfect disaster—I just scattered a variety of seeds over it, expecting it to turn into the Garden of Eden by the end of summer, like it does on the TV.”

Therein lies the deepest wisdom of all: gardening is never a process to be finished. It is an ongoing process of learning and growth of which we gardeners, proficient and novice, are a part. Edworthy’s book includes accessible advice on gardening in each season. I found it refreshing that he includes information both contemporary (like why you don’t need to water your lawn), and traditional (like companion planting and uses for herbs).

This book is like a happy little backyard garden: tangible, unassuming, nourishing, and meaningful. The Curious Gardener’s Almanac is not a reference book—it is a book of discovery. Flip through its pages, and what you’ll find is a chorus of shovels and rakes, plucking at the earth to see what comes up.