Tree-spotting: A Simple Guide to Britain's Trees

by Ros Bennett, Nell Bennett

A beautifully illustrated guide to the marvellous and varied world of trees, and a fascinating introduction to the hidden secrets of 52 British species.

Botanist and ecologist Ros Bennett has spent a lifetime helping people understand and identify plants and always hoped her daughter Nell would grow up to share her love of the natural world.

During Nell's childhood years they spent much time exploring the local woods together. Here Nell discovered the visual and tactile beauty of trees. She learnt to spot the important differences. Even at an early age she could pick out subtle differences in the pattern of veins in a leaf or the shape of a bud emerging from a twig.

In Tree-spotting, Ros and Nell have combined their background and talents to show you – through Ros' long experience and Nell's exquisite illustrations – how to identify 52 British trees simply and confidently.

A beautiful and captivating insight into the wonderful world of trees, Tree-spotting burrows down into the history and hidden secrets of each species. It explores how our relationship with trees can be very personal, and hopes to bring you closer to the natural world around you.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Science Nature, Science, Reference

256 pages, Hardcover

First published August 4, 2022

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Botanist Ros Bennett has designed this as a user-friendly guide that can be taken into the field to identify 52 of Britain’s most common trees. Most of these are native species, plus a few naturalized ones. “Walks in the countryside … take on a new dimension when you find yourself on familiar, first-name terms with the trees around you,” she encourages. She introduces tree families, basics of plant anatomy and chemistry, and the history of the country’s forests before moving into identification. Summer leaves make ID relatively easy with a three-step set of keys, explained in words as well as with impressively detailed black-and-white illustrations of representative species’ leaves (by her daughter, Nell Bennett).

Seasonality makes things trickier: “Identifying plants is not rocket science, though occasionally it does require lots of patience and a good hand lens. Identifying trees in winter is one of those occasions.” This involves a close look at details of the twigs and buds – a challenge I’ll be excited to take up on canalside walks later this year. The third section of the book gives individual profiles of each featured species, with additional drawings. I learned things I never realized I didn’t know (like how to pronounce family names, e.g., Rosaceae is “Rose-A-C”), and formalized other knowledge. For instance, I can recognize an ash tree by sight, but now I know you identify an ash by its 9–13 compound, opposite, serrated leaflets.

Some of the information was more academic than I needed , but it’s easy to skip any sections that don’t feel vital and come back to them another time. I most valued the approachable keys and their accompanying text, and will enjoy taking this compact naked hardback on autumn excursions. Bennett never dumbs anything down, and invites readers to delight in discovery. “So – go out, introduce yourself to your neighbouring trees and wonder at their beauty, ingenuity and variety.”

Originally published, with images, on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Alasdair · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a practical handbook, it's pretty great. The leaf identification keys are really easy to use even for the botanically inept (read, me). Turns out there's trees all over the place - who knew!

It's really neat to be able to know that the trees out the front of our flat aren't just 'trees with weird fruit' but a wild cherry tree and a blackthorn, the trees in the churchyard next door that I would have understood as, at best, evergreens of some sort, are yew trees, and that the big wavy trees down by Iron Bridge are probably rowans.

I have now become the exact sort of insufferable person who can annoy my partner by telling her what trees are. Given she bought me this book, she only has herself to blame.

[Tilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Although I am a huge nature lover, I am somewhat a tree novice and so I was looking forward to reading this book and learning something new, which I definitely did!

Tree-spotting is a wonderful small hardback book that is both an informative read but also incredibly useful as a field guide. You can take this out with you on a walk and it will definitely help you identify the trees around you by using their leaves but also their twigs and buds.
The book is split up well, with some longer passages and chapters at the beginning looking into the UKs most familiar trees, plant chemistry, fungi and the history of forests in the UK. Then the book leads onto different chapters on identification which although an informative read, is more useful as a guide when out and about than a sit down read as it is just impossible to take in that amount of information! It was a little dense at times but I think when used as a field guide it would be better.

The writing is great, with the first sections before the ID chapters being really interesting to read and I learnt a lot. I also loved all of the illustrations although I wish the book had had a middle section of photographs of the 52 trees they focused on as this would have been helpful. Most nature books have this photo section and I think it was definitely missed in this book.

Overall, a great book for tree novices and anyone interested in learning how to ID trees. Highly recommend and I will definitely be dipping into this book many times in the future!

Please note that I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Steve Mitchener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given to me as a joke Christmas present by my mischievous children, I turned the tables and read this guide to Britain’s trees. Wow! It turned out to be one of the most interesting science books I have read for long, long time. Perhaps I should have known from my school biology that flowers have ovaries, but I certainly did not know a tree’s root system is extended significantly by an underground network of fungi cooperating in symbiotic partnership. In return for photosynthesised, energy-rich, carbohydrate, the fungal (mychorrhizal) network almost doubles a tree’s capacity to acquire water and nutrients from the soil. Fungi enable trees of the same species to pass sugars between them, ensuring a tree deprived of adequate light receives adequate nutrition. This network also enables trees to communicate with one another, transmitting messages (chemical signals) to warn of a pathogen attack. Many metabolites used by trees for their own protection, have anti-pathogenic properties, useful to humans and increasingly used in medicine, nutrition and aromatherapy. Indeed, we are probably relearning in the 21st-century what our forebears new millennia ago. The author, Ros Bennett does a wonderful job to explain how the evolution and expansion of trees is crucial to life and has led the way for mankind’s own development. Having laid out this fascinating background, she outlines how trees may be identified from their leaves and even their twigs. Truly illuminating. Sorry kids, you’ll have to try harder next year. Meantime, I’m off to do some forest bathing!

[Amie Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive guide into the standard trees you would see in our landscape. The illustrations help a great deal when discussing species locations. The book itself is small, designed to fit in a jacket pocket to whip out at the first sign of something green-ish. Supremely helpful 🌱

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very useful field guide with clear illustrations and key identification tips. A good book to carry in your backpack when out for a walk.