A Beginner's Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast

by Mark Mikolas

Identify maple, ash, oak, and more with easy-to-learn visual techniques . In this friendly and approachable field guide, writer and avid hiker Mark Mikolas shares a unique approach for year-round tree identification. His method, which centers on the northeastern United States where 20 species make up the majority of trees, will prepare readers to recognize trees at a glance, even in winter when leaves and flowers are not present. Mikolas’s secret is to focus on the key characteristics of each tree―black cherry bark looks like burnt potato chips; beech and oak trees keep their leaves in winter; spruce needles are pointed while balsam fir needles are soft and rounded at the ends. Some trees can even be identified by scent. Location maps for each of the 40 species covered and more than 400 photographs illustrating key characteristics make the trees easy to identify. Mikolas also explains how to differentiate between similar and commonly confused trees, such as red maple and sugar maple.   A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast is a book to keep close at hand wherever trees grow. 400 color photographs

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Plants, Science Nature

208 pages, Paperback

Published October 3, 2017

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish it had the scientific names as well, but it explained things very well!

[izrtkfliers · Rating 4 out of 5]

After getting into foraging and fishing and things of that nature, I realized that tree identification is hugely important. This book does exactly what it promises: giving a rank beginner a head start on being able to identify Northeastern trees.

In particular, what I really liked about this book was its focus on identifying trees by their shape and bark. Really nice for Northeastern winters, when leaves are on the ground. It also has compare/contrast pages between trees that may appear similar (e.g red maple vs sugar maple, paper birch vs gray birch). The size of the book is a bit large for a field guide, but the presentation of the material is clear and concise, with lots of color images.

So why four stars instead of five? There are a few minor issues: no 'index' on the upper right of the page for quick flips and oftentimes no description or image of the leaves at all. For example, in the comparison between red oak and white oak, there was no mention made of the difference in their leaf shape. Though the leaves may be off the trees in winter, one could still get a general idea of the trees in the area by looking at the shape of the leaves on the ground.

Still, it's a great book for beginners to get a start on identifying Northeastern trees, and it's been really helpful thus far.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book! I spend a lot of time hiking in the white mountains, and immediately found this book useful. I love the approach: it focuses on only a few 'differentiatiors' for each tree, and it focuses on the 10 evergreen and 20 deciduous trees that make up >90 percent of the trees in the northeast. With tips on 'how to tell apart' trees that are easily confused. Useful in winter, as it does not focus on leaves, instead focusing on bark, habit, needles, etc. The suggested approach s is to read about a couple of trees, then next time you are out look for them.
I'm supplementing now with one of the detailed guides as well, but this book is the best for beginners I think.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO user-friendly! Wish I'd had this at the very start of my journey attempting to figure out what the heck trees are around me, and wish there were similar guides for other regions across the country. Super helpful and approachable.

[Ed Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best field guide for trees I’ve ever read—simple, clear, plenty of pictures, not overwhelming…. Real practical and simple like 👍

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't usually read a guidebook straight through, but it worked for this one. I found this a useful quick review of how to identify trees in the northeast - just by their bark and shape. Very clear bullet point descriptions with good photos.

[Lauren Csaki · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s definitely not like any other tree guide out there! It focuses on common species and uses primarily bark and other year-round characteristics to id trees, rather than leaves like most guides. It also focuses on key differences that help you tell one type of tree from another. Instead of wading through tons of details for each tree, you can focus on just the important, distinctive features. The only egregious error is using common rather than Latin names for the trees, but it’s such a great book I’m willing to overlook that and pencil in the scientific names myself. It reminded me of the time I got to walk through my forest with a naturalist and he showed me how to spot the different trees quickly with key characteristics. I was shocked how quickly I picked it up and began to spot them all myself, once he showed me the key features to look for—this book does the same thing!

[Zahnii (Suzanne) Artis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this tree book! I have always struggled with tree identification- most books focus on leaves, but this identification book teaches about bark and branching to id trees year-round. It also helped me to understand that forests develop in an order with “early adapters,” like paper birch starting and hemlocks, or “climax forest,” being the last in a forests collective life. I also enjoyed the info about the various uses of the trees from medicine to ship-building.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish more field guides were written this way. There were lots of great photo examples and is for a beginner just looking to identify the common trees. Wish it was a few more pages longer to include about the flowers or leaves in a quick summary after the extensive bark analysis. Still a great guide and a neat way to teach kids.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for those of us living in the Northeast who want to learn to recognize trees. It focuses on trees that are common in the Northeast and introduces each in the order of most prevalent providing clear tips on what to look for. For beech trees, I’d add that the color of their leaves in the winter is similar to beach sand. There’s my additional tip for you :)

[Marcine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Really excellent book for identifying trees. I would have liked close-up pictures of their leaves as well.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide

[Buck Wilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not the kind of book you finish reading.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great tree guide to start with

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I was looking for to help me recognize the common local trees, especially without the leaves. The bulleted listed of key features is very helpful.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I have been learning from it for only a few months, and already I look at bark in a whole new way. Thank you, Mark Mikolas!