Welcome to Shrubs of the Eastern Massachusetts Area, Mike Kriegal and Jenny Burgman's electronic field guide to shrubs of the Massachusetts state region.

This guide features photographs and documentation on over forty species of shrubs, either native or transplanted to the Massachusetts area, studied during the fall of 2005. All the plants mentioned within this site were located at either the Brandeis University campus, Cold Spring Park, and the Harvard Arboretum in the fall of 2005. While this field guide is by no means a comprehensive listing of the shrubs within this region of the United States, it does provide a sampling of plants from the aforementioned sites.

By using this website, you can familiarize yourself with the basics of some of the shrubs in this area, specifically with their description, native habitats, and other useful facts concerning the plant, such as its edibility or its use in society. The shrub compilation in this field guide can be explored using either their common, family names or scientific names, and even browsed through based upon the location in which a specific shrub was spotted.

In addition, you also have the option to search via a comparison of the properties of different species in the species comparison section.

If at any time you feel confused or lost by any of the field guide content, stop by the help page for tips and information on how to best utilize this site. The glossary will provide you with definitions to unfamiliar terms, typically highlighted as a link within the species pages. Furthermore, if you have any questions as to what makes a plant a shrub, be sure to visit "Shrubs" for an answer.

Well? As the Head Knight of the Ni said in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "We want a shrubbery!"

Enjoy.