Page 4 - Forest Trees of Maine

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In 1908 the Maine Forest Service released a booklet titled Forest Trees of Maine.
In his 1910 Commissioner’s report, Forest Commissioner Edgar Ring wrote of the
popularity of the new publication: “For the Forest Trees of Maine there has been a large
and constant demand which will very soon exhaust the edition. Possibly in order to meet
the demands for this pamphlet it will be considered wise and money well spent to issue
another edition.” Now, 100 years later and in its 14th edition, Forest Trees of Maine
remains the Maine Forest Service’s most popular publication.
Since 1908, all editions of Forest Trees of Maine have had the same objective: to
relate accurate information and to keep pace with new findings. As those who are
familiar with Forest Trees of Maine will immediately notice, we have departed from the
traditional format for this edition.This has allowed us to include color photographs,
which have long been requested. For those who prefer the tried and true Forest Trees
of Maine format, it will still be made available.
For the first time, range maps have been included.The maps are based on those
of those of the legendary US Forest Service dendrologist, Dr. Elbert Little, who
assisted with the 7th edition. The maps indicate the parts of the state where you
are most likely to encounter each tree species. No map is perfect, and it is certainly
possible to find a species outside of its indicated range.
The keys have been revised and, for the first time, a winter key has been
included. To help you use the keys, sketches have been added to the glossary which
illustrate many of the terms used.The keys are limited to the trees in the publication.
For information on more complete keys, see Selected References on page 174.
The book contains information on 78 different tree species,including all of Maine’s
commercially important native tree species, as well as a few of the more common and
important introduced trees. As with previous editions, no attempt has been made to
include all the species in complicated groups, such as willows and hawthorns. When
deciding which species to include in this edition,emphasis was placed on trees that occur
in Maine’s forests.With a few exceptions (e.g.,horsechestnut,blue spruce,black walnut),
species limited to ornamental plantings were excluded. Other introduced species were
included if they have been commonly used in forest plantations (e.g., Norway spruce,
Scots pine) or have escaped cultivation and are reproducing in forested areas (e.g.,black
locust,Norway maple).Several species are included that occasionally grow large enough
to be considered small trees (e.g., bear oak, witch hazel, rhododendron, mountain
laurel), but are more commonly found as shrubs.
Scientific names in this publication follow the Integrated Taxonomic Information
System database: www.itis.gov.
Historic photographs found throughout the book are from the Maine Forest
Service Archives and the Maine State Museum.
For more information about this publication or the Maine Forest Service,
call 207-287-2791, e-mail us at: forestinfo@maine.gov or visit our website at:
www.maineforestservice.gov

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