Tree and plant identification book?

   / Tree and plant identification book? #1  

lennyzx11

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Can any of you ol boys recommend or not recommend a good field guid for plants and trees? I live on 8 acres in SE Oklahoma and would like to know what is here.
I cut firewood for my stove but last year I cut some "in the way" stuff that seasoned all year but didn't burn worth anything so kinda curious. I think it was elm. Didn't want to split either with a maul.
I know I can probably find info online but I still like books.
 
   / Tree and plant identification book? #2  
I've used the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees in print form, I believe it can also be purchased as an App, there is an Eastern and Western region book.
 
   / Tree and plant identification book? #4  
Audubon or Peterson's field guides are good. The American Forestry Association put out some nice books years ago. Not sure if they are still in print. Best thing would be if you know someone with local tree knowledge of the area to take a walk with you on the property to show you what you have. If you have some non-native species that were planted, it sometimes takes longer to figure out what they are from a book than if someone can point them out to you. Good luck.
 
   / Tree and plant identification book? #6  
I bought a laminated fold out guide from Cabelas a few years ago. Showed bark and leaf examples.
 
   / Tree and plant identification book? #7  
I've used the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees in print form, I believe it can also be purchased as an App, there is an Eastern and Western region book.

That is the guides we used for my dendrology forestry class in college.
 
   / Tree and plant identification book? #8  
Can any of you ol boys recommend or not recommend a good field guid for plants and trees? I live on 8 acres in SE Oklahoma and would like to know what is here.
I cut firewood for my stove but last year I cut some "in the way" stuff that seasoned all year but didn't burn worth anything so kinda curious. I think it was elm. Didn't want to split either with a maul.
I know I can probably find info online but I still like books.

Elm makes excellent firewood after it seasons for about 2 years if green when cut, or 1 year if dead when cut. Needs to be dry to burn, or otherwise will piss out the fire. Elm naturally grows with a twist grain so it makes it very hard and stringy to split.
 
   / Tree and plant identification book? #9  
I use five different guides. Three are specific to WA state or the Pacific NW but two cover the entire country. The Audubon Society Field Guide and The Peterson Field Guide series. The last two have been excellent - great pics and easily understandable foliage descriptions.

Don't shy away from a direct google either. If you think you know the tree name - even its "localized" name - excellent pics, examples can be displayed thru a direct google of these names.

BTW - I'm on a mission to ID all flowering plant on my property. So far the photo book has some 90 example in it. I've got about 20-25 more to find & ID. As RalphVA says, and I've found out, flowers & shrubs can be a real PITA. I've found that patience is something that I must gain in this arena.
 
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   / Tree and plant identification book? #10  
Go to your local extension office and ask to see what they use. I volunteer at ours and am going again this morning. No one guide will work in all cases, and many guides require you to know a lot of lingo just to use their keys to locate plants. We often end up thumbing through a book and just looking at all the pictures, but you often need to know what the plant looks like or does through all 4 seasons. I misidentified what I thought was a Yellowwood tree, and it was a persimmon just because I hadn't observed what it did all 4 seasons.

What we need is a DNA for plants. We often spend hours at the office trying to define a certain flower or shrub. For trees, there are some really small and handy tree identifiers for both leaved and leafless trees and with keys that don't require too much lingo (but you still need to know what that tree does all 4 seasons). The ones for flowers require a whole lot of lingo even us master gardeners don't have. For shrubs, it's almost hopeless. Luckily, we often end up with SOMEONE in the office who knows the thing we're looking at identifying.

Ralph
 
 
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