Forest Trees of Illinois: How to Know Them

There's a particular pleasure in knowing the name of the tree that shades your afternoon walk. This pocket manual, first published in the mid-20th century, has guided generations of Illinoisans through the state's forested landscapes - from the towering white pines of the north to the bald cypress swamps of the south. George D. Fuller distills decades of botanical expertise into accessible entries for each species, teaching readers to read the language written in bark, leaf, and habit. You'll learn to distinguish between similar oaks by their leaves, to identify a tree in winter by its silhouette and buds, to understand where each species thrives and why. This isn't a book for armchair reading - it's for the field, the trail, the moment when you encounter an unfamiliar tree and want to know it. The practical knowledge here has outlasted the era that produced it, because the trees themselves remain.