Winter Twigs: A Wintertime Key to Deciduous Trees and Shrubs of Northwestern Oregon and Western Washington

by Helen Margaret Gilkey

Winter Twigs has long been respected and widely used as a unique guide for wintertime identification of the deciduous plants of northwestern Oregon and western Washington (many of the species covered are also found in British Columbia and Alaska). The first edition of this book has been used by thousands of botany students and other interested individuals to identify plants during the months that they lack the leaves and flowers that most field guides rely on. Intended for use by teachers, students, scientists, amateur botanists, and outdoor enthusiasts, Winter Twigs brings together in one convenient volume the information necessary to identify all of the native deciduous woody plants likely to be encountered in the region, as well as many of the more common escaped cultivated species, Also included are certain species which are normally evergreen but may be deciduous during severe winters. Covered are 82 species representing 35 genera of 17 plant families likely to be found between the Cascade mountains and Pacific Coast in Washington and Oregon as far south as the Umpqua divide, and keys to all species that can be readily identified by winter characteristics. The glossary of botanical terms and more than 100 line drawings that highlight the identifying features of various plants will be especially valuable to students and beginners. To make this new edition as accurate and up-to-date as possible, the nomenclature for 22 species has been updated to conform to the latest scientific literature, with contributions by the Oregon Vascular Plant Checklist Project.

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1962

About the author

Helen Margaret Gilkey (1886–1972) was an American mycologist and botanist. She was born on March 6, 1886 in Montesano, Washington but moved to Corvallis, Oregon with her family in 1903. She died in 1972 at the age of 86.

Reviews

[Fernleaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting field guide, not your usual find. This handy little book gives you the tools (with the help of a sharp pocket knife and a hand lens) to identify the more common deciduous trees and shrubs of our region. Looking at bud/leaf patterns, bud scales, pith shape and other attributes I wouldn't have noticed before, you can reasonably identify many bare twigs down to at least the genus level (with some exceptions.) While this book does contain botanical jargon it also contains a glossary to define the terms and many line drawings to assist. The basic form of this book is the dichotomous key in the beginning of the book, but there are also descriptions of families, genera, and species.

This guide is great for those who have a good grounding in botanical terms and are familiar with using a dichotomous key, less great for the rank beginner or the easily frustrated. I test-keyed a few shrubs my yard that I already knew, thus allowing me to double-check my work by working through the keys backward if need be. Some of the steps in the key are a bit tricky, and even with my 10x hand lens I had trouble seeing and identifying all of the features that were necessary. The leaf bundle scars in particular were small and hard to distinguish.