Good book
This book is exactly as described and what I wanted. After a trip to the Channel Islands where great precautions are taken to keep the environment as natural and pristine as possible, I developed an interest in California's flora and fauna. This book along with some other natural history guides has given me a new perspective on living in Southern California.
not just any trees and shrubs
Hi I was required this book for my course at UCB, Trees: taxonomy, growth & structure. This book was extremely helpful for identification. The only weird thing I found thus far is in the index for hairy bush it says refer to hairy bush. Funny, but good reference book if you are just starting to identify.
Trees and Shrubs of California
This guide is easy to use and full of information. A great field guide for anyone interested in California's native woody plants.
California's Floral Treasures
This is a wonderful reference book for more serious California native plant enthusiasts. It has detailed drawings of most referenced plants and also shows a map illustrating the native range of every specimen (which I find particularly interesting). Although I have found some missing species -- I really value this book. It is a great companion to the Sunset Western Garden Book (I go back and forth between the two). It also provides information on non-native plants that have long naturalized in the Golden State.
OK
This would seem to be OK. Nicely printed with attractive line-drawings that give a good overall picture of what the plant looks like (not quite one for every species, also somewhat short on botanical detail) and distribution maps (one for every species). A separate section with pretty decent color photographs (39 total). The downside is that this is a guide for North and Central California, with the occasional South Californian species thrown in, which makes it a compromise. Also I don't really like the size: I would have preferred a bigger page size in a less chunky volume. But good value for money overall.
(5 reviews)
