California Natural History Guides

Great for a budding naturalist. I live in Los Angeles and became inquisitive about all the native and non-native trees we have throughout the city. Since L.A. is a rather unique environment where there has been so much importation of non-native species, I grew curious as to which trees are actually California natives. I use this as a quick reference guide whenever I'm intrigued by a tree I'll randomly spot in someone's yard or along the sidewalks. At work there are two rows of trees that I had been trying to figure out for the longest time. Sure enough, I was able to match the leaf sample I took to the sketches in the book and identify them as California Sycamores. The book offers identification of trees by their trunk, leaves, fruits, and silhouettes. There is also zoning maps of where you can find these trees in Southern California as well as how to care for them (water, sunlight, dormancy, etc). Let's face it, Southern California (and especially Los Angeles), is always strapped for water and at risk of getting way too hot. Learning about and planting more California native trees will not only help stabilize the water supply but also provide much better shade than palm trees (thereby lessening the "urban heat island" effect of excess heat from pavement) and also provide naturally fire-resistant foliage. Just my two cents...