Northwest and Rocky Mountain Trees and Shrubs

Northwest and Rocky Mountain Trees and Shrubs is a field guide to Northwestern woody plants. It covers the ecoregion stretching from Vancouver Island to Wyoming's Wind River Range, and from the northern Oregon Coast Range to Jasper National Park in Alberta.

Adapted by Daniel Mathews from his books "Cascade-Olympic Natural History" and "Rocky Mountain Natural History", this electronic version is so content-rich, you can think of it as an e-book and an app in one.

You'll learn what makes the Northwest's forests the global superstars that they are, and what threats they face from climate change, epidemic pests, loss of their top predators, encroaching development, fire, suppression of fire, and loss of their top predators. You can also find medicinal and food uses, biographies of the naturalist-explorers the plants are named after, help with pronouncing and understanding the scientific names, and more.

176 species are illustrated with three times that number of full-screen photos, including habitat shots and close-ups of bark, leaves, fruit, or flowers (depending on species).

Earthrover Software's field guide interface is easier to use and more stable than other iPhone field guides. Choose among several paths to your plant: just check off your location and then scroll through thumbnail photos by color; use flower structure and leaf features for a precise search; browse in the index, viewing your choice of common names, scientific names, or both mixed together; look for them by plant family; or enter keywords and let the app search for those.

The app resides in memory. Hey, when you're off in the mountains you don't want to be dependent on a signal, do you? But when you're back on a network, you'll find direct links from the species pages to online resources.

This guide covers a small enough range to be able to speak with a Northwest voice, from enough regional experience and familiarity to get geographic details right.

Here's some of what other writers have to say about Mathews's books:

"Highly literate and ceaselessly entertaining . . . a grand read, wise and comic, and indispensible to anyone who cares about the Northwest." -- David Guterson


"Pick it up anywhere and be fascinated."
-- Dr. Arthur R. Kruckeberg

"So much more than a field guide." -- Saul Weisberg, Exec. Director, North Cascades Institute

The region's herbaceous plants are covered in "Northwest Mountain Wildflowers".