Good tree i.d. book desperately needed!

[Tiley]

I'm on the quest for a really good book that will leave me in no doubt about trees, particularly ones in Northern Europe/British Isles.

It'll need to cover the shape of trees through the seasons, leaf shape and arrangement on the stem, frequency of flowering, bud and seed shapes, colours and types, distribution and soil preferences, bark recognition and, where possible, be illustrated with photos. If there is any further reference to folklore attached to the tree and/or its usage for bushcraft and survival, that would be fantastic.

I've a sneaking suspicion that I'm looking at more than one book here. Any suggestions of titles that you fellow bushcrafters have found useful and easy to use would be gratefully received.

Many thanks in anticipation!

 

[g4ghb]

My wife bought me one form the 'book man' yesterday and it is cracking!


Appart from knowing that it was publised by collins I can't rember the exact title (and hence cannot find it on Amazon at the mo) - I'll post the title isbn etc tonight (unless i can stumble on it before then) and it is the range about twice the size of the 'gems'

 

[tomtom]

I have one of the collins ones I think, though they have changed the covers for newer editions and mine is back at uni so I can't check. Its a good book though and I would recommend it. It is always worth getting more than one of these Ident books if you can and double checking stuff your not sure about, you would be surprised the variation between books.

 

[Richie O]

Trees in Britain Europe and North America by Roger Phillips is a good one.

It contains full colour photos of the leaves, arrangement shape, etc. Also has a small section on barks of trees, and fruits.

The descriptions of the trees cover the latin names, where it grows, growth height in it's native enviornment, flowers for males and females, bark colour and texture and foliage colour, texture, size and season.

All in all not a bad buy.

Btw, i am not Roger Phillips

 

[godfather]

Collins Tree guide gets my vote. A bit heavy but I still take it out with me on various trips.

 

[g4ghb]

OK it was the Collins Complete British Trees by Paul Sterry - ISBN 978-0-00-721177-7



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-British-Trees-Paul-Sterry/dp/0007211775/ref=sr_11_1/026-1556850-7325253?ie=UTF8&qid=1178901331&sr=11-1

 

[Celt_Ginger]

Collins "Tree Guide" by Owen Johnson and David More. It shows the shape, the bark, the flowers, the leaves and the fruit of the trees of Britain and Europe.

 

[Tiley]

Brilliant! Many thanks to one and all for your help. I'll cruise Amazon and make some choices.

 

[Pipistrelle]

Folklore wise you can't go far wrong with Geddes and Grosset Plant folklore, its small and concise and contains geograhical info too, ISBN 1-85534-252-9. Plenty on trees but also wildflowers tooI got mine for a couple o' quid. If you PM Your address I have created a pack for my site (although it is transferable) with the 20 or so main species we find here, folklore, uses and ID I will post you one.