An identification guide compiled by the Virginia Department of Forestry employees in addition to outside experts. The drawings and photographs allow easy identification of the many plants native to Virginia. Included is also detailed a map of forested trails in the Commonwealth. A useful paperback to have in your backpack while foraging for mushrooms.

This book describes the most common native shrubs and woody vines found in Virginia. Woody plants are those that develop hard tissue, especially in their stems, and they have parts surviving above ground for multiple years. A shrub is usually defined as a woody plant with multiple stems and a mature height of 15 feet or less. There is some “gray area” in separating small trees from tall shrubs. A vine is a plant whose stem is not erect, but that climbs or scrambles usually with support from other objects.

This book is intended to be a beginning tool for identification, rather than a comprehensive listing or technical manual. Therefore, non-technical descriptions have been used whenever possible. For those who wish to learn more technical terms or clarify definitions, a glossary is included.

Published by the Virginia Department of Forestry.