Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City

Imagine an urban oasis with hundreds of thousands of trees and whose mayor wants to plant a million more. That sylvan place is New York City, and this is a guide to the diverse trees that line its streets.

Field Guide to the Street Trees of New York City acquaints New Yorkers and visitors alike with fifty species of trees commonly found in the neighborhoods where people live, work, and travel. Beautiful, original drawings of leaves and stunning photographs of bark, fruit, flower, and twig accompany informative descriptions of each species. Detailed maps of the five boroughs identify all of the city’s neighborhoods, and specific addresses pinpoint where to find a good example of each tree species.

Trees provide invaluable benefits to the Big Apple: they reduce the rate of respiratory disease, increase property values, cool homes and sidewalks in the summer, block the harsh winds of winter, clean the air, absorb storm water runoff, and provide habitat and food for the city’s wildlife.

Bald cypress, swamp oak, silver linden, and all of New York’s most common trees are just a page turn away. Your evening walk will never be the same once you come to know the quiet giants that line the city’s streets.

Leslie Day is a New York City naturalist and the author of Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City, also published by Johns Hopkins. Dr. Day taught environmental science and biology for more than twenty years. Today, sheleads nature tours in New York City Parks for the New York Historical Society, the High Line Park, Fort Tryon Park Trust, Riverside Park Conservancy, and New York City Audubon. Trudy Smoke is a professor of English at Hunter College, City University of New York, and a talented writer, photographer, and illustrator.