Tree Finder: Identifying Trees by Their Leaves in Eastern North America

by May Theilgaard Watts

Overview

Identify trees east of the Rocky Mountains—across most of the United States and Canada—with this pocket-size guide.

You can appreciate and enjoy beautiful native trees, plus some widely planted non-native trees, of eastern North America! If you’re curious about the trees that you see, then Tree Finder by May Theilgaard Watts is just what you need. With the handy, easy-to-use booklet, you can identify trees east of the Rocky Mountains.

The book provides a dichotomous key to identifying trees by their leaves. Simply answer a series of simple questions about the size, shape, and appearance of the needles or leaves. Along the way, May’s professional illustrations help to guide you to a positive identification.

This guide is applicable to Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana (eastern), Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

Book Features:

• Step-by-step guide to tree identification
• More than 150 species of trees
• Professional line illustrations with key markings for identification
• Small format that fits into a pocket or pack

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780912550442
Publisher:	Wilderness Press
Publication date:	04/08/2025
Series:	Nature Study Guides
Edition description:	3rd Revised ed.
Pages:	64
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 3.80(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

May Theilgaard Watts was an esteemed naturalist and celebrated ecologist, as well as a writer, poet, illustrator, and educator. She served as a naturalist at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. She taught natural history classes and shared the stories written on the land by wind, rain, and fire; by animals and plants; by time; and by history. In 1963, she was credited with proposing a plan that would ultimately become the national rails-to-trails program. She was the author of such books as Reading the Landscape of America, Flower Finder, and Tree Finder, which has exceeded 150,000 copies sold. May passed away in 1975.

Read an Excerpt

[Symbol A]

If the leaf is small and white-downy beneath on a small tree, it is Scrub Oak / Bear Oak Quercus ilicifolia

If the leaf is not like above, go below to [Symbol C]

[Symbol B]

If the tip end of the leaf is narrow and long (about 0.3 to 0.5 the length of the blade), it is Spanish Oak Quercus falcata

If the leaf is not like above, go on page 57 to [Symbol D]

[Symbol C]

If the leaf is thin, firm, smooth beneath, 5–9" long; with lobes that taper toward their tips, usually has more than seven lobes, it is Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra

If the leaf is thick, leathery, usually widening toward the tip, usually has seven lobes, and somewhat hairy beneath (the tree usually has several different forms of leaves); and the buds are angled, it is Black Oak Quercus velutina

Table of Contents

How to Use This Key

The Distribution of Native Trees

Habitat Symbols

Shapes

Begin Here (Identification Guide)

Index

Other Books in the Pocket-Size Finder Series