What is that? Is this poison ivy? How many times have you wondered about the vegetation around you as you wandered down a trail or along a city street? Each plant species has its own id fingerprints. The key is to be ale to sort out and recognize the characters. Most of you can recognize one or more groups of nature's miracles. There are a lot people who can readily id birds even by their sounds, other can id snakes and other repitiles, others can readily id rocks, an the list goes on. We decide a few years ago to attempt to create a book on the woody plants of Louisiana that would allow you to id them.

Twenty-five years of labor went into Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest, by the late Robert A. Vines, which describes and illustrates more than 1,200 species of native and naturalized woody plants of the southwestern United States. The book covers Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The author traveled more than 250,000 miles by car, on foot, and horseback. The species described are grouped into 102 chapters, each chapter representing a different plant family. Accompanying the text are more than 1,200 black-and-white drawings by Sarah Kahlden Arendale.

This book is an invaluable compilation of ecological information on 244 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines found in the northern half of the Florida peninsula and in the Florida Panhandle. It covers the full range of native species in the region as well as common exotic plants, drawing on original experience and field research by ecologist Robert Simons. For each species, Simons describes the plant’s leaves, flowers, and fruit, geographical distribution, size, and lifespan. He also discusses its typical habitats, soil and light requirements, water needs and flooding tolerance, adaptation to fire, economic importance, and the plants, insects, and diseases most often associated with it. Notably, the book focuses on each plant’s relationship with wildlife, including which species eat the fruit or foliage or pollinate the flowers. It also features an introduction to the biological communities of northern Florida and a helpful glossary of botanical terms. The Ecology of the Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Northern Florida provides gardeners, landscapers, scientists, and students a foundational understanding of how these plants fit into the communities of organisms in which they live and how they have adapted to their place in their physical environment.

With Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines in hand, visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National park are able to see the trees instead of just the forest. The location of various stands of virgin forest, the elevations at which certain trees and shrubs are found, and other pertinent floral data are contained in this handy guide by Arhtur Stupka. Published with the cooperation of the Great Smoky Mountains Association, the book includes sixteen pages of pictures showing rare or exceptional specimens and forest vistas. A special feature of the volume is a twenty-four-page section of identifications to keys to each group of plants prepared by Dr. A.J. Sharp (1904-1997), former University of Tennessee professor of botany and former president of the Botanical Society of America.

A guide for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.