A Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Southern Appalachians

Extending through the Carolinas, Georgia, and eastern Tennessee, the southern Appalachian Mountains are home to a rich diversity of plant life. This convenient and comprhensive field guide contains detailed information on 130 genera and 280 species of trees, shrubs, and woody vines―all but thevery rarest species―including those found along the popular Blue Ridge Parkway and in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Based on more than 5,000 plant specimens collected by the author in a decade of hiking that totaled more than 5,400 miles, this guide covers all the common native species, and many of the rare ones, that grow not only in the forests but also in the high-mountain meadows, on heath balds, in long-abandoned fields, and along fencerows and roadsides. In addition to the plant descriptions, the guide contains illustrated keys to both summer and inter traits―that is, twigs, bark, and winter buds as well as leaves―so that readers can collect and identify specimens at any time of year. More than 150 meticulously executed pen-and-ink drawings―mostly the word of Fransces Swanson, the author's wife, who accompanied him on many of his plant-hunting trips―provide important aids in identification.

Robert E. Swanson is a graduate forester and former senior editor with the Soil Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.