Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota (The Complete Guide to Species Identification)

This book is simply fantastic. It has photographs and natural history information for those who want more than just a dichotomous key; and it has superb, technically accurate keys for the serious botanist. It excells in both aspects. The keys are detailed and more precise and clear than most other keys, and these characters are augmented in the descriptions. The book does an especially good job of differentiating diffcult or commonly mistaken sets of species, such as how to tell American, showy, and European mountain-ash apart; Canada versus American plum; woodbine versus Virginia creeper, and other such groups. The treatment of difficult groups such as Amelanchier, Crataegus, and Rubus is excellent and was not taken lightly.The photos in this book are superb and must have required enormous effort and organization to acquire.The book was put together by someone who loves and KNOWS the trees and shrubs of his region. It is of the highest quality in every way.The only thing I don't like about the book is its organization. Alphabetical by scientific name of the genus makes related groups of plants scattered in random places throughout the book. Standard taxonomic order would be much more useful. Casual users who might benefit from this alphabetization are not familiar with the Latin names anyways, so it is of no use to them.I found it rather odd that this supposedly inclusive book did not include some shrubs that are found growing wild in Minnesota. Elaeagnus umbellata, a large shrub definitely found growing wild in Minnesota, is not included. Over the years, hundreds of frustrated users will likely puzzle over this shrub. More strangely, no barberries are included, even though a PhD thesis was done on the distribution of Berberis vulgaris in the state and recorded them in nearly every county. At least two barberry species are widespread in the wild in Minnesota.I was also shocked and disappointed that the author parroted the statement that bitternut hickory nuts are not eaten by wildlife, or are generally disliked. Although cited by the author to another source, this completely false and preposterous idea has been floating around the ecological literature for at least 50 years. It needs to stop somewhere, and should have long ago been discredited. Utter nonsense, based on no science or even empirical observation whatsoever. Bitternut hickory nuts are highly preferred by all kinds of nut-eating wildlife, from black bears and deer to deer mice and squirrels, and this is exceedingly easy to verify. (Am I really the only botanist who hunts squirrels?) The tannin content of bitternuts is far lower than that of any North American acorn, yet acorns are widely eaten - so why would the tannin content cause wildlife not to eat bitternuts? They are far HIGHER in calories, and in protein to tannin ratio, than acorns. And scarcely different than other hickory nuts, except for the thinner shells, which is advantageous to wildlife. Give me a break, my fellow ecologists, please stop and think (or just observe) before you repeat this nonsense!But that's only a tiny part of this book. It's a great book. If you like trees and shrubs, if you want to study them, this should be the first choice of any Midwesterner.

I can't say enough good about this volume. It is as much as I expected and more. Superficially, it could be a beautiful coffee table book. The layout and photography are excellent. For the non-specialist, as I am, it is a superb tool to use in identifying and learning about woody trees and shrubs. It employs some technical language, but not more than an interested amateur can handle in exploring the subject. It has maps showing tree distribution; hints on identifying and distinguishing similar plants, and discussions of cultural history of plants in Minnesota. It challenges me to observe plants carefully. The prospective purchaser should be aware that the trees and woody plants covered are limited to those that are native or naturalized in Minnesota. There are a great number of trees in Minnesota that are neither native nor naturalized that have been imported or developed in nurseries, such as the huge variety of crabapple trees, that are not covered in the book. This is a book that, in my opinion, would have been cheap at twice the price!

I absolutely love this book! Great photos, detailed information, and an easy-to-use dichotomous key have helped me learn Minnesota plants sooner than I thought I would. Plants are organized by genus, so unless you're already familiar with these names, you might need to use the plant index in the back to find what you're looking for quickly. My only "complaint" is that the book is too big to easily take on hikes, so I have to take photos or clippings to identify the plants later.

This is the Bible for anyone engaged in Minnesota forestry and horticulture, or anyone with a naturalist's curiosity about the landscape. It is the most extensive book available on the subject of Minnesota woody plants. As such, you will find it used as a textbook in college courses, but it is also quite enjoyable to read at home. The photographs are clear, and the written descriptions are concise. It is too large to be a portable field guide; this is a tome that belongs in every natural history library.

It's a good book. It contains more species than I'd ever heard of. The pictures are also very good. The template for each species is pretty rigid, but this is still very well done. If there was a little more depth on each species it would be a 5 star for sure.

This is a terrific bargain and a resource work that will remain useful for years. The delights of this book have been mentioned by the other reviews. I will only add here that the series of all life-size, black and white drawings of all the willows is particularly useful in working through this difficult genus, and is not found anywhere else. Usually different scales of drawings are used on the same or adjoining pages making comparisons more difficult. The side color tabs are clever and a quick way to find specific sections of this large work.

Fantastic book, excellent text and photos. We have already discovered two new species of shrubs where we hang out.

Got this for my dad and he absolutely loves it. Excellent photography and detail. Even though we live in Ohio, it does a better job of covering our trees and shrubs than do similar books made for our region.