This waterproof guide features twenty-six native trees commonly found from Alaska to Oregon, providing common and Latin names accompanied by colour photographs of identifying features such as bark, leaves or needles, flowers, cones, seeds and fruit. Information on identification, range and an illustration of each tree's silhouette make it a snap to distinguish a shore pine from a western white pine or a trembling aspen from a paper birch. Also included are traditional uses and other interesting tree facts and lore. For example, did you know that yellow cedar can live up to 5,000 years? Or that the bigleaf maple flowers are edible? Next time you go for a hike, pay attention to the forest and the trees with one of these laminated guides slipped into your back pocket or backpack.
This laminated, accordion-fold guide makes it handy for stuffing into a backpack. Although it covers only 26 different trees, it offers a surprising amount of information. Colour coding, bulleted points and crisp photographs make this guide easy to use and understand. Its design maximizes the amount of data conveyed. Full-colour photographs of needles, bark and cones provide excellent visual clues towards identification.
While the format is handy for trekking, it could pose challenges to librarians, both in terms of storing and security.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2012-2013.