"The modest aim here is to provide the novice with an elementary guide to a friendly acquaintance with some of the trees that are near at hand and under whose shade we often wander. After that, the reader whose interest is aroused may move ahead to wider and richer researches in field and forest. . . .

"This continent is fortunate in its wealth of trees and we have variety as well as abundance. There are well over a thousand different species of trees native to North America and there are many introduced species that either have been here so long or have been so widely planted that they are now accepted, like, other good immigrants, as naturalized citizens.' You will find some of these introduced trees in this book because they so often meet the eye along the city street or down the country lane. A few shrubs also have been included for various reasons. One is that the dividing line between shrubs and trees often is merely a matter of form. A species that is a tree in one region may shrink to shrub size in another region. But more important that that is the fact that shrubs, like their loftier relatives, attract the notice of the walker in the fields and woods and it's natural to be curious about the names of the more common ones that are often encountered."

[from the introduction by the author]

Michael H. Bevans, whose magnificent illustrations so greatly enhance the attractiveness and usefulness of this book, has an established reputation as a painter of nature subjects. The pictures of trees and shrubs in this volume are the result of many field trips and painstaking sketching. For authenticity and accuracy we believe these tree portraits are the finest ever made.

From the dust jacket