Experienced foresters and horticulturists can identify hundreds of trees and shrubs in their local and regional areas of interest. Systematic botanists organize plants according to their natural—evolutionary—groupings. Some students may find it helpful to utilize the fruits of the labor of systematic botanists to come to understand the phylogenetic relations existing among the trees and shrubs of a particular region. “Handbook of Evolutionary Dendrology” presents the most prominent genera of North American softwoods and hardwoods in accord with the findings of evolutionary plant researchers.
