Native Trees of the Southeast: An Identification Guide - Tapa blanda

Preface
Native Trees of the Southeast is for the identification and appreciation of the 229 trees native to the southeastern United States, including all those except the ones limited only to the more tropical portions of southern Florida. Our choice of which species to include as small trees, or to exclude as large shrubs, was somewhat arbitrary and may differ from the opinions of other authors. Size and form of individual trees vary regionally with genetic diversity and environmental conditions, and the distinction between trees and shrubs based solely on size is not absolute. In general, we include those woody plants that reach 15 ft. or more high, that commonly have a single trunk or stem 3 inches or more in diameter, and that are topped with an upright crown of branches. Native trees are considered here as those that occurred within the southeastern region prior to European settlement. Introduced and naturalized trees have been excluded from the keys and descriptions, although some commonly encountered species and their distinguishing characteristics are presented in an appendix.
           
This book provides summer and winter keys (using a minimum of technical terms) and photographs of leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, and twigs. The descriptions include maps, important identification characteristics, discussion of recognition difficulties compared to other trees, and accounts of habitat and economic, landscape, and wildlife uses.
           
The summer keys begin with a key to several large groupings of plants. This first step narrows the pool of potential genera based on several diagnostic traits that are easily observed. The key to conifers, in summer or winter, is given as the first group under the summer keys. Keys to genera, or to species if there is only a single species of the genus in the Southeast, are given for each group. Keys to species in genera that have more than a single species in the Southeast are provided within the treatment of the families, which are arranged alphabetically throughout the book. Winter keys are arranged similarly. A glossary and an index to scientific and common names of families, genera, and species are provided.
           
Taxonomy and nomenclature generally follow Flora of North America or Wunderlin and Hansen (2003) but not always, because Flora of North America is incomplete. Common names are based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plants database, http://plants.usda.gov, but include additional familiar expressions. Only the most commonly encountered synonyms are provided and do not reflect complete taxonomic treatments.