Feb. 26, 2009 – Dockside Bookshop will host a book signing of "Tropical Trees of Florida and the Virgin Islands," by author T. Kent Kirk from 1-3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 27.
"Tropical Trees of Florida and the Virgin Islands" by T. Kent Kirk, Pineapple Press Inc., West Indian Nature, pp. 208, $22.95
Covering over 90 species and with over 500 color photographs, this book has been long awaited by both tree professionals and anyone who wants to identify a tree in the Virgin Islands or south Florida.
Rare for field guides, this user-friendly book provides for all the species the same categories of complete text: form, leaves and bark, flowers, fruits, habitat and uses. Also, for each species there are photos of the whole tree, bark, leaves, flowers and fruit.
The organization of the book makes it easy to identify a tree. The trees are divided into sections primarily based on how the leaves are arranged on the twig. So you can look at a twig and decide in which section of the book you should search for it.
In addition to the 90 main species covered completely, there are many more that in some way relate to the main species are mentioned. Though most of the trees are native, many exotics that have been introduced are also included, as many of them are now widespread, particularly in south Florida.
