Tree identification

This article at Art of Manliness has a terrible title but excellent information, especially for urbanites and suburbanites who are just able to tell the difference between a pine tree and a not-pine tree.

the not-pine trees don't drop not-pine-cones on my not-head when I am trying to sleep in the forest.

you know, I was camping back at the end of summer in the high Sierras ... had not been there in a while. mostly it was just me out there. and I'm dozing off and then "BOOM". So I wake up thinking ... WTF was that??? It was one of those huge pine cones dropping off the tree and hitting the ground at night. They make a big sound. You forget if you haven't been out there for a while. If one of those suckers hit you fair and square on the head - it would not be a good trip :-)

Pete2

Big oaks make functional lightning attractors. This is not a good thing if you are near them at the time.

The article is a good beginning, but it is basically limited to the eastern US. There are lots of useful plants in the west, like pinyon pine and yucca, and most of them are not big trees. Even Texas has useful plants, I understand. Plant lore is useful to anyone working outdoors.

Big trees are nice, but they don't make the best campsites. There is a good reason falling tree limbs are called "widowmakers." I have seen eucalyptus trees drop quite healthy, but potentially lethal branches, quite spontaneously, on a clear, calm day. Look up before you pitch than tent or start that fire.