Trees of Indiana: First Revised Edition (Publication No. 13, Department of Conservation, State of Indiana)

In Short

Trees of Indiana: First Revised Edition is a comprehensive botanical survey designed to document, classify, and preserve the state’s native and naturalized tree species. Charles Clemon Deam compiles detailed keys, geographic distributions, and anatomical descriptions based on real specimens gathered across Indiana's ninety-two counties. The work traces every major tree family in the region, noting timber quality, environmental habitats, and economic value. Commissioned by the Indiana Department of Conservation, it has endured as a foundational text in Midwestern forestry because of its scientific rigor, unyielding field accuracy, and practical focus on conservation and land management.

The Story

The book unfolds not as a fictional narrative, but as an exhaustive scientific pilgrimage through the forests, river bottoms, swamps, and sand dunes of Indiana. It opens with an administrative mandate from the Department of Conservation, framing tree identification as an urgent public necessity for agriculture, education, and forestry. The author establishes a systematic structure, beginning with botanical keys that guide the reader through families and genera based on leaf shapes, bud structures, and fruiting bodies.

From these diagnostic keys, the work moves directly into the individual species accounts, traveling systematically from primitive gymnosperms to complex angiosperms. Deam begins with the conifers, documenting the rare stands of native white pine, the scrubby jack pines hugging the Lake Michigan dunes, and the southern jersey pines. The inventory then expands into the vast deciduous canopy that defines the state. The narrative of the landscape emerges through meticulous county-by-county tracking: the poplars along moist bottomlands, the diverse birches, the massive shellbark hickories prized for tool handles, and the vast oak family that dominates the state’s timberlands.

As the text progresses through the middle sections, Deam details smaller understory trees, wetland specialists, and introduced species. He surveys the thorny hawthorns, the brilliant spring-blooming redbuds, the versatile maples, and the native wild cherries whose valuable mahogany-like wood led to over-harvesting by early settlers. He carefully charts localized micro-habitats, such as the dense bald cypress and Drummond red maple swamps of the lower Wabash Valley, as well as isolated colonies of sourwood perched on single ridges in southern Indiana.

The closing sections turn from visual taxonomy to empirical measurement and land stewardship. Deam catalogs species excluded from the native flora, lists record-breaking individual trees measured across the state, and presents a precise mathematical index detailing the specific gravity and weight of Indiana woods. The book concludes with a comprehensive index, leaving the reader with a stark picture of a landscape transformed by logging and a clear, scientific baseline designed to guide future reforestation and woodlot management.

How It Unfolds

The scientific foundation is set The Department of Conservation outlines the overwhelming public and educational demand for an accurate forestry guide, establishing photographic reproductions of dried herbarium specimens as a new standard for identification.

Conifers and sand dunes are surveyed The taxonomic survey begins in the extreme northern edge of the state, charting rare pine species like the jack pine that persist exclusively within three miles of Lake Michigan's shore.

Hardwoods and timber giants are mapped The text systematically covers major canopy trees including hickories, poplars, and oaks, recording specific county collections while documenting how pioneer logging rapidly depleted the state's finest primeval timber.

Understory flora and wetlands are explored Deam investigates smaller native trees like the redbud, wild plum, and various hawthorns, alongside specialized swamp species found in the lowlands and river bottoms of southwestern Indiana.

Physical data completes the record The survey concludes with concrete physical statistics, providing tables of specific gravity for dried timber alongside measurements of the largest surviving individual tree specimens in the state.

The People

Charles Clemon Deam The state forester and author whose relentless field work drives the entire publication. He travels to nearly every county in Indiana, personally collecting, verifying, and preserving thousands of plant specimens in his herbarium to establish an accurate record of the state's flora.

Richard Lieber The Director of the Indiana Department of Conservation who authorizes the revised edition. He views the cataloging of Indiana's natural resources as a vital educational tool to stimulate public interest in forestry and achieve practical conservation results.

Harry F. Dietz A photographer from the Division of Entomology who creates a new visual standard for the book. He meticulously photographs the actual dried plant specimens from Deam's herbarium to replace generic artistic illustrations with precise visual evidence.

Mrs. Charles C. Deam The author's wife and field companion who contributes directly to the state survey. Her independent collections, particularly from counties like Hancock, Marion, and Shelby, are cited throughout the text as official scientific records.

In Its Own Voice

"This edition was exhausted within five days after its publication was announced, and thousands of requests for it could not be filled."

Richard Lieber explains the overwhelming public demand for an accessible, accurate state forestry guide in his preface.

"In Indiana it is found only on and among the sand dunes in the immediate vicinity of Lake Michigan, and in no instance has it been seen more than three miles from the Lake."

Charles Deam notes the hyper-specific geographic distribution of the Gray Pine within the state's northernmost counties.

"The wood of wild cherry from pioneer times has been a favorite wood, and for this reason the tree soon disappeared and today large trees are very rare."

Deam reflects on how heavy logging and early settlement drastically altered the abundance of valuable native timber trees.

What It's Really About

Beneath its dry taxonomic keys and anatomical descriptions, the book is a quiet lament for the lost primeval forests of the Midwest and a pragmatic manifesto for habitat restoration. Deam's rigorous tracking of species distributions exposes the profound environmental impact of settlement, showing how cleared land, over-harvesting, and livestock grazing fragmented native ecosystems. By emphasizing slow-growing hardwoods like hickory and oak, the work argues that forestry cannot be treated as a quick crop, but requires long-term public stewardship. It insists that conservation must be grounded in precise empirical truth rather than vague sentiment, offering exact botanical knowledge as the prerequisite for saving what remains of the natural landscape.

Why Read It Today

Trees of Indiana appeals to naturalists, historians, botanists, and anyone fascinated by the ecological history of the American Midwest. Reading it feels like walking through early twentieth-century woodlands with a exceptionally observant guide who notices every leaf vein, bark fissure, and soil condition. The prose is clear, unsentimental, and remarkably dense with factual information, free from decorative fluff or romantic prose.

Modern readers must navigate technical botanical jargon, including complex structural descriptions of leaf margins, catkins, and floral samaras, as well as extensive Latin nomenclature and exhaustive lists of county records. It is a reference work rather than a narrative, requiring patience to digest. However, what stays with you is the sheer scale of Deam’s dedication. His meticulous records preserve a snapshot of an era when conservation science was actively taking root, offering a historical baseline that remains invaluable for contemporary ecological restoration.