Tropical Trees of Hawaii

We bought this book for a trip to Hawaii. It is nice and small and yet has lots of information in it. We look forward to using it on Oahu.

If you are going to Hawai'i and have a desire to know about the trees you'll see, this is a wonderful little book to have. Keep in mind that this is a pocket guide, and not a comprehensive guide of *all* trees found in Hawai'i. As the author states on page 6, "Our purpose in this book is to help you identify the trees that you usually see as you travel around the Hawaiian islands." I just returned from being on O'ahu and Moloka'i, and, with the exception of the one tree I mention below, every tree I saw I found in this book. This book is very well organized and easy to read. The layout is crisp and clean, and the names of the trees are bolded so they are easy to spot when flipping through the pages. Each tree entry is accompanied by at least one photo (all photos are of superb quality), but there are usually two or more photos which include a close-up of the fruit and/or flower and a photo of the entire tree. The entry itself is always interesting and includes information such as the origins of the tree, how the tree is used, growing habits, and pertinent historical information. In the back, there is a helpful guide which tells of parks, arboretums, trails and other areas on the various islands where you can best see tree specimens. Also in the back is a Picture Index. However, in many cases, the pictures are in adequate for effective referencing. The only other criticisms I have are that I wish that *every* tree had a full-view picture and also that they would have included the paper mulberry tree. Whether that tree is still common or not, I don't know, but it was cultivated by the Hawaiians and still seems to be as evidenced by the multitude of items for sale which included "kapa cloth." This book just doesn't seem complete without this tree. I still give this book five stars. It's a wonderful little book that includes a surprising amount of trees for it's small size, wonderful pictures, and a wealth of helpful and interesting information.