Fruit Key and Twig Key to Trees and Shrubs

The book is an unaltered reprint combining "Fruit Key to Northeastern Trees" (1946) and "Twig Key to the Deciduous Woody Plants of Eastern North America" (1954). The reprint title led me to assume that the geographic range it would cover would be a little bit more expansive. I live in the western United States so as a field guide the book isn't something I would use very often. That being said there is a good level of detail with magnified photographs for each specimen.

No one - no one, should study dendrology in the northeastern US without this book. It is an absolutely essential reference. At the price for this book, even new, you can't afford to be without it. Buy a copy now...you need it!

This is one of three winter keys I use on a regular basis. I work at a botanical garden, but I'm not a botanist. I find it easy to use, and fairly comprehensive. It uses B/W photos instead of line drawings- this works great for the fruit key. For the twig key, drawings might have been clearer, but it's still very good. The first ten pages cover the terminology used in the rest of the book, and are a good introduction. There are seperate indexes for common & scientific name. One caveat: each of the two sections (twig, fruit) has its own set of indexes. When I brought this key to work, both my boss (a horticulturalist) and our head gardener ( a botanist ) produced well-worn copies of their own, so it's been around awhile, and has stood the test of time.

If you're a tyro or a practiced botanist, you'll find this helpful. Take it along on walks in the dreary seasons, and you'll find a wealth of fascinating things to keep you busy bushwatching. Easy to use and not too technical.

This is the guide I take with me on walks in the winter, when all the leaves are off the oak forest here in southeast Massachusetts. To be honest, I haven't had an opportunity to use the fruit key yet. Remember that this book is ONLY a key, so you'll need other references to learn. I've found the key to be technical and a bit unwieldy on occasion, but by the same token, it's opened a new level of detail to my observation: an eye loupe comes along for those walks...