How to Identify Trees in Southern Africa

Tree identification is generally perceived as being difficult, all the more so in a botanically diverse region such as southern Africa, where about 2 100 species occur naturally, not to mention several hundred more that have been introduced from elsewhere in the world. How to Identify Trees in Southern Africa– a first of its kind for the region – provides the background knowledge essential for tree identification. The book promotes an approach that will equip readers to use any field guide to trees with greater ease and more confidence. Part One of the book describes and illustrates the various parts of a tree and their significance for identification. Part Two features a key to 43 tree groups based on easy-to-observe stem and leaf features, with explanatory notes on group characters and tips on species identification. For each group, a selection of tree species is described and illustrated, and a list of all the southern African plant families represented (greater coverage of species is featured in the authors' Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa, 1997).