Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast

by Michael Wojtech, Tom Wessels (Contributor)

Many people know how to identify trees by their leaves, but what about when those leaves have fallen or are out of reach? With detailed information and illustrations covering each phase of a tree’s lifecycle, this indispensable guidebook explains how to identify trees by their bark alone. Chapters on the structure and ecology of tree bark, descriptions of bark appearance, an easy-to-use identification key, and supplemental information on non-bark characteristics―all enhanced by over 450 photographs, illustrations, and maps―will show you how to distinguish the textures, shapes, and colors of bark to recognize various tree species, and also understand why these traits evolved. Whether you’re a professional naturalist or a parent leading a family hike, A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast is your essential guide to the region’s 67 native and naturalized tree species.

Genres: Reference, Nature, Nonfiction, Science, Biology, Field Guides, Science Nature

280 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2011

Reviews

[KB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bark is an excellent field guide to trees of the northeastern United States. Amateurs with an enthusiasm for dendrology will enjoy author Michael Wojtech's informative and accessible descriptions, which are accompanied by colorful detailed photographs that illustrate each species at varying phases of maturity. As an especially noteworthy element, the guide offers a well-organized key to the field identification of sixty-seven deciduous and evergreen tree species found in New England. The chapters on bark anatomy and bark ecology provide a firm foundational base for allowing a novice to recognize and differentiate various characteristics of tree bark.
This first-rate book is strongly recommended for anyone seeking to develop or expand a knowledge of dendrology.

[Mike Shultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a tree lover, just finding a book that focuses on bark earns it high marks. The author developed his own key to bark characteristics for identifying trees in the northeast. There were many facets of the book I loved, from the wonderful photographs to the effect of age on bark (something I haven't seen addressed in other tree ID books.) I also really liked the section on bark ecology. Know I know why some trees have shaggy bark that flakes off while others have smooth bark (among other fun tidbits.) As the book jacket says, identification by leaf is only useful for about half the year.

I do have some suggestions for improvement. Since the book is touted as being most useful for winter identification, why not throw in just a bit more info geared toward that end? I know the book is about bark, but (for example) sycamores and sweet gums tend to retain their fruit in winter, and most oaks hang on to their leaves. It would be easy to toss in an extra picture of fruits that are retained to help with winter ID. Similarly, tree or branch silhouettes could take up some of the white space on each entry -- the book wouldn't even need to be longer. And why not include each tree's range for the whole US, or at least eastern US, instead of only the New England states? The cover says "trees of the northeast". Most of the trees in the book grow in PA, and yet the author left out my state on the range maps.

But if you're into tree identification and have always wondered how you're supposed to figure out what anything is in the winter... here's your answer.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been interested in identifying trees by their bark, so I’m glad this book was written! It gives super informative explanations of how bark forms and how varied it can be. And the author is from the pine barrens (yay!) so maybe he’ll write one for that region in the future.. but most of these trees are relevant to the mid-atlantic, so it’s still very helpful for where I live.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is everything I wanted. Photos show young and mature bark. They all have quarters for scales, a point lacking in many other books. The author guides the reader from basics such as what is bark, to the bark basic shapes, markings from animals or weather, and diseases. It is superb.

[Elizabeth Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

excited to put it to use

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

exposed

[Erin Piorier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a clever and unique field guide. Micahael Wojtech sets out to make a tree identification guide with bark as the main criteria. It's written in an engaging and accessible manner. He introduces and makes use of botanical terminology but also uses metaphors and descriptive non-scientific language to help the layperson understand the concepts and terminology. The chapter on bark ecology is great reading for anyone interested in trees, the injuries and illnesses they suffer, how they heal themselves, the symbiotic or parisitic relationships they have with other organisms and more..

My only criticism is that while I understand his project, to help people identify trees by their bark, I think the text would benefit from photographs of leaves and silhouettes of the trees. This book, only has two or three pictures of the full tree and pictures of the leaf or full tree would help to confirm identification.

If you are an upper midwestern reader, like I am, you will find lots of familiar species. There are only a few plants in this book that you are unlikely to find in Minnesota and Wisconsin, like Tulip Poplar and Sycamore.

[Mila Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Wojtech is brilliant and I will forever be glad that he published with Tom Wessels! My favorite part lately is the few pages about the spruces, because they really are difficult to distinguish. I mean, we can look at soil moisture to guess if its red or black spruce, but in truth you have to look under the skin...A black spruce has yellowish or olive green bark underneath the outer corky, rough, thick bark layer. The others are either orange or reddish-brown, but I won't give it all away, you've GOT to read it for yourself.

[Francine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bark-Bark! The new favorite hobby of this newbee master gardener. Now I'm fascinated by bark. I want to be able to describe bark. Bark-Bark! Like it sheds, or curls, or it's like vertical shingles, or horizontal shingles, or latice-like. How do you pronounce lenticle? Anyway, even though the book is a field guide for the northeast, and I live in the west, bark's a lot alike all over the place. Now I stare at tree trunks all the time.

[Benjamin Felser · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly amazing and helpful guide to tree identification and building relationships with the trees themselves. The main flaw in this (and in many identification guides) is the omittance of discussing stolen land. Wojtech references various ways in which different trees and their barks or related chemicals were (all past tense) used by various "Native Americans" without ever specifying tribal identity or acknowledging ongoing Native cultures. This is the primary flaw I found in the book.

[Bonnie Lambourn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a novice learner in this area. Someone who always wished I'd been in places with people who'd have taught me hands on as a child, when it might have embedded faster. I had times of visiting areas briefly, or even living in more rural nature areas for a year here or there, but I didn't really relate to trees more than superficially. In summer, I'd be heading to the water areas. Even my year living in Maine, I was working from sunrise to sunset all school year, then hunkering down to stay warm during the coldest winter in 20 years.

After retirement, I moved to W.MA, and do wish I had gotten this book before any walk in the woods. Early on I was keen to at least start to learn to identify - and names often new to me. Name recall is a real effort for me. I'd buy these field guide cards and discover they were mostly useless. I didn't even really understand how field guides worked. Most of them seemed to be huge tomes too heavy to carry around.. and would you stop and search through all that to find the one thing you were looking at - and weren't sure what you were seeing?

As an artist, I knew there had to be patterns and some are obvious, but when I asked someone what tree this was or that was, often I couldn't see the difference. Yes, I should have probably been out there taking rubbings, drawing each one, yet it felt overwhelming. So I walked the same path over and over to at least train my eye to become familiar with what was near me and major differences. But I was missing a lot.

Here Michael Wojtech begins by sharing how as a kid he looked at bark all the time, because it was right at his eye level, more than leaves, branches, or tree shapes - I felt an excitement inside me.

Then he went on to break down the science in clear straightforward ways, so I finally understood what my teachers had never really explained about what goes on inside trees.

He shared amazing photographic examples and included the aging, and tidbits here and there about animal and insect interaction, not only identification, nor harm but also how there may be benefits. And though usually in brief, he does still share leaves and tree shapes, flowers and needles and pine cone shapes.

I am excited at how clear and easy the setup of use is explained - what to look for first and what page to flip to from there, and so on.

I'm 68 years old and just learning so might not get as far as I'd like - and this makes me hope that children will gain access to this book, with or without an older guide.

I was a public school teacher 30 years. I know this wasn't published or guided to kids' shelves.

I also believe any child of 8 or more who is reading books at that level without difficulty can read the content here. Many will find it fascinating and exciting. Having a field guide this clear and thorough provides autonomy in learning, which most kids love.

Even some younger children may read through the pictures with help for the words from adults or older siblings.

My own daughter was actually reading at 3 and would have surely loved this that early on. We lived in Brooklyn then, making weekly or more ventures into Prospect Park and the Botanical Garden was one of our favorite visits. I would have been able to learn with her - likely she would have led that. She did go off on days with her dad to turn over rocks and find insects, and all such things did not include me sadly. But she grew up to get her first degree in Environmental Biology and worked for the larger NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx for a number of years.

I'd writing all this to hopefully reach out to all tree lovers, teachers, workers, scientists in NE share this, tell their local libraries and schools to add a copy to the children's section!

[Dan Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not only an excellent field guide, but also provides much more detailed information about the structure and biology of tree bark than any of the other tree books I have read. The illustrations are clear and well labeled. The photos are likewise very clear and useful.
If I were to have one complaint about the book, it would be that I wish it were formatted in a slimmer form (a la the Audubon field guides) so as to better slip into a pocket for carrying into the woods.
If I were to have another complain, it would be that I wish it covered Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region. (Maybe some other grad student will take this book as a strong hint to undertake such a book on this region.)

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great handbook to have in concert with one or two others for identifying trees. It goes close up to the tree trunk like I like to do, but it knows what it is looking at and describes it with enough visual clues that, using the photo and the text I can feel more certain when I am guessing at what kind of tree I am standing before, even in midwinter.

As with all of the books and as with accomplishing anything in life, practice improves my eye, my skill. But this book helps a lot.

[Lauren]

I read this book for a Fisheries and Wildlife field techniques class, so I will not rate it, but I thoroughly enjoyed it while also learning more in the process. I did already have a background in a lot of it, after taking a Dendrology course a little over a year ago, so it was nice to make connections there and also see new trees. I also enjoyed that it focused on bark as a key identification tool, since in the past I have heavily relied on twigs and buds, and occasionally leaves.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but I feel like it is REALLY hard to distinguish some trees by their bark alone. Given that the appearance of bark may be very different on a young, mature, or old tree, I think the author should have provided some guidelines on tree sizes for the various stages.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and interesting, fresh take on tree identification!

[Krystal Truong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to start and learn how to identify trees. Categorizes and explains the differences in bark characteristics.

[Heidi Kuchta · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like trees, you'll love this little book with its myopic focus on tree bark. I'll admit I skipped right past all the technical, scientific factoids straight to the up-close shots of bark, accompanied by its species name, habitat, and other notes. Delighted and lulled by the variant patterns and vast array of brown shades, I must say I never knew tree bark could be this good. I also really like the blurbs by each photo. They read like poems, "Gray to brown. Ridges become rough, more rounded or peaked, and intersect to form long, diamond-shaped furrows." "Color ranges from bronze to yellow to silver-grey. Lenticels become thicker. Curls of peeling bark are more abundant and may appear shredded. Inner bark retains its wintergreen smell and taste." Clearly there is way more life going on in tree bark than I've ever given it credit for.

[A.a. Grapsas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will really give you a new appreciation for the wonderful outer layer of trees. You will never walk by a friendly tree again without thinking how the bark was formed, what conditions led to the tree's development, and, just possibly, identifying what tree is sharing your world space.

[Earle Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. A usable key

[Dov Zeller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learned a lot about bark formation, which is explained beautifully and endlessly interesting. Whether or not I will be able to identify trees by their bark, that is another question.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

the section on bark ecology is fascinating! absolutely expanded my understanding of trees

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guide and the chapters are very interesting too.
How did he get the quarters to stick to the trees?

[J. D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I look forward to foeld-testing this book.