Amazon.com has 507 titles of books about woody plants. This is too much! The following lists show the books we think are most useful for woody plant references.

Brenzee, Kathleen N., ed., 2001, "Sunset Western Garden Book," Sunset Publishing, Menlo Park, California, 768.
-- Perhaps the best all-around book for gardening in the west.

Brockman, C.F.,1979, "Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification," Golden Press, New York, 280 pp.
-- Drawings of hundreds of trees native to the U.S. with some introduced trees.

Coombes, Allen J., 1992, "Trees," Eyewitness Handbooks, DK Publishing, New York, 320 pp.
-- Even more detailed drawings of trees, with an identification key.

Dirr, Michael A., 1975, "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants," Stipes Publishing, Champaign, Illinois, 1187 pp.
-- The definitive resource for woody plants; has detailed information on over a thousand woody plants, many of which grow in northwestern Nevada.

Houghton, John G., C.M. Sakamoto and Richard O. Gifford, 1975, "Nevada's Weather and Climate", Nevada Bur. of Mines and Geol., Spec. Pub. 2, 78 pp.
-- Exhaustive publication on Nevada climates with lots of tables and maps.

Little, E.L., 1980, "Audubon Society Field Guide of North American Trees -- Western Region", Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 639 pp.
-- Photos of bark, leaves, flowers and fruits of hundreds of different trees; also has a very good description of each tree.

Mills, Linn and Dick Post, 2001, "Nevada Gardener's Guide," Cool Springs Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 431 pp.
-- Descriptions of hundreds of woody plants popularly grown all over Nevada.

Petrides, George A., and Roger Tory Peterson, 1958, "A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs", The Peterson Field Guide Series, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 431 pp.
-- Drawings of hundreds of trees and shrubs commonly grown, with keys and brief descriptions of each.

Storer, T.I. and R.L. Usinger, 1963, "Sierra Nevada Natural History," Univ. California Press, Berkeley, California, 374 pp.
-- A comprehensive book on natural history of the Sierra Nevada, with drawings and descriptions of many native woody plant species.

Sudworth, George B., 1908, "Forest Trees of the Pacific Slope," Dover Publications, New York, 455 pp.
-- A classic study of forest trees, with information about many natives which grow well here.

Zucker, Isabel, 1966, "Flowering Shrubs and Small Trees," D. Van Nostrand Company, Princeton, New Jersey, 380 pp.
-- Perhaps the best resource for shrubs and small trees, with black-and-white photos and comprehensive descriptions.

Out of Print

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Some books are either out of print or have never been printed for mass distribution. Nevertheless, these three can be very useful to people interested in woody plants in this area:

Haulenbeek, Rod, 1995, "Tree Adventures at Tahoe," Wide-eyed Publications, Carnelian Bay, California, 213 pp.
-- Road logs of trips around Lake Tahoe, describing native trees and including chapters on Reno and Idlewild Park. For availability, contact us.

Haulenbeek, Rod, 1994, "Tree Adventures in Yosemite Valley," Wide-eyed Publications, Carnelian Bay, California, 135 pp.
-- Road logs of trips around Yosemite Valley, describing native trees. For availability, contact us.

Reno Urban Forestry Commission, 2002, "Idlewild Park Trees: Self-Guided Walking Tours of Reno's Arboretum," 26 pp.
-- Map, leaf diagram and information on over 100 different kinds of trees in Idlewild Park, Reno.For availability, contact the Parks office of the City of Reno (775-334-2070) or online.

Ross, J.W., 1988, "A Tree Selection Guide for Reno," 55 pp. -- Tells which trees do well in Reno. For availability, contact the Parks office of the City of Reno (775-334-2070) or online.

Schaffer, Jeffrey P., 1975, "The Tahoe Sierra: A Natural History Guide to 106 Hikes in the Northern Sierra," Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California, 309 pp.
-- A hiking guide with descriptions of the geology and plants of the Sierra Nevada. Not in print, but commonly available in libraries and second-hand bookstores.