Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers
This book is one of the better field guides I have owned for prairie wildflowers.It is helpful that it is organized according to flower color making it easier and faster to find the flower you are seeing.I would appreciate having a drawing or another photo of each plant showing what it looks like when not in bloom or as a definitive way of making sure that each plant is correctly identified.The range descriptions are good but a small map with the approximate range would make it more clear as to where one might expect to find each plant.Overall I would recommend this book for beginners and experts, as well.

Great book for plant identification
We live in South Central Iowa and are letting our hay and pasture farm revert to praire.It is surprising how many original plants will recover if given a chance.We use this book to identify plants we have never noticed before since their numbers were so low and are now, after four years, becoming commen.This book has clear pictures and discriptions that have allowed us to identify our native plants and even some invasive species that we thought were native.We highly recommend this book.

CYLK
A great reference guide to native prairie grasses. The book came in excellent condition and I am very satisfied with my order.

Super!
I am a Park Ranger in Ohio and this book has helped me with identification in our natural and man made prairies.Some of our plants are state listed endangered or threatened.They are all identified in this book.I piggy back this prairie book with Flora of West Virginia and everythings covered!

This prairie guide has excellent photos and good descriptions.I have bought a second copy to keep on my desk.

What a Find!
I purchased this book along with another book on Kansas Wildflowers in order to have a complete reference guide as I learn about the wildflowers and plants of Kansas and the Midwest.This book has been very helpful to me in naming the various wonderful wildflowers that I see while traveling around Kansas.Anyone with a love of nature and flora of the Midwest would love this book.I take it with me whenever I go on the road so I can look a plant up if I see something I haven't seen before!I would even buy this as a gift for someone who loves traveling and photography. ... Read more

Product Description
Featuring more than 1240 stunning color photographs, this comprehensive field guide will remain a trusted, authoritative trailside reference for years to come. It describes and illustrates 1220 commonly encountered species, both native and nonnative, including perennials, annuals, and shrubs. Encompassing the Pacific Northwest from southern British Columbia to northern California, from the coast to the mountains and high desert, this handy book is perfect for hikers, naturalists, native plant enthusiasts, and anyone wishing to learn about the amazingly diverse wildflowers of the region. Organized by flower color and shape, and including a range map for each flower described, it is as user-friendly as it is informative. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Best first guide to PNW Wildlfowers
This spring we started photographing and trying to identify the wildflowers in our area, southern Oregon. Turner's has been the most helpful book for us. Excellent photos, thorough knowledgeable descriptions, maps. I think you are very likely to quickly find prominent wildflowers in this book. An earlier review criticized the lack of foliage in some photos; this is a hard need to address in a single photo. Often Turner's descriptions enable us to differentiate between species with similar flowers and different leaves.

Remember, all field guides are a compromise between portability (size), inclusiveness, and degree of expertise required of the user. This one requires little expertise, because the photos are organized by color.

For more extensive coverage, try A Field Guide to Pacific States Wildflowers: Washington, Oregon, California and adjacent areas (Peterson Field Guide) by Theodore Niehaus, which depicts most species with line drawings sorted by color and flower type, and color drawings of a few species. It saves space for illustrating more species, by giving shorter descriptions and no distribution maps. It also includes flowers from a wider area (adding in California). Drawings can depict foliage side by side with flowers, and arrows indicate points of distinction. But color photos, with Turner's being of the highest quality I have seen, have a unique value. Also just enjoyable to browse through!

Turner, the author is working on an iPhone/iPad app of this book, which will be definitely something to look for too.

Very Informative
The book has great pics & well written descriptions of the flowers. Much easier to use than other guides that only have drawings of the flowers.

Invaluable
Anyone who is serious about wildflowers and lives in the Northwest will not want to be without this.

enjoyable book
Some pictuers have only flower part. I want to see leaves because of similars. Couldn't find many wildflowers.
I am enjoying this book for reading, and want a book contains more kinds and less explanation.

Pacific Northwest Wildflowers in pictures and words
The book "Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest" by Mark Turner and Phyllis Gustafson is both beautiful and informative, and succeeds in simplifying wildflower identification with its clever organization.
After a description of the growing conditions in the Pacific Northwest, the book organizes the wildflowers by color. Each color category is further divided into petal formation (number of petals, irregular, symmetrical, etc.).
There is a stunning photo of each wildflower, its formal and common name, a brief description of where and when to find the wildflower, followed by more detailed information. ... Read more

Product Description
This book describes more than 600 species of the most common Texas wildflowers, trees, shrubs, and cacti in a well illustrated, easy to use format. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Gift for friends
Bought this as a gift for friends who were moving from California to Texas. They have used it to find out what all the birds are in their new country home.

Excellent Gift
I purchased this item as a thank you gift for my aunt. She has expressed how helpful it is many times over in identification and just wonderful pictures of Texas flowers, trees and shrubs. ... Read more

Product Description
All around us there are wild plants good for food, medicine, clothing, and shelter, but most of us don't know how to identify or use them. Delena Tull amply supplies that knowledge in this book, one of the first focused specifically on plants that grow in Texas and surrounding regions of the South and Southwest. Extensively illustrated with black-and-white drawings and color photos, this book includes the following special features:∑ Recipes for foods made from edible wild plants.∑ Wild teas and spices.∑ Wild plant dyes, with instructions for preparing the plants and dying wool, cotton, and other materials.∑ Instructions for preparing fibers for use in making baskets, textiles, and paper.∑ Information on wild plants used for making rubber, wax, oil, and soap. ∑ Information on medicinal uses of plants.∑ An identification guide to hay fever plants and plants that cause rashes.∑ Instructions for distinguishing edible from poisonous berries.∑ Detailed information on poisonous plants, including poison ivy, oak, and sumac, as well as herbal treatments for their rashes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

A Disappointment
I was so looking forward to receiving this book!The title led me to believe it was exactly what I was needing.Alas, not so!This book is crammed with somewhat random information and might be very appealing to those looking for help with natural fibers and dyes, but I wanted details on edible and medicinal wild plants of Texas and this book is a very poor reference guide for that purpose.An appalling lack of photographs and only average black and white line drawings make it almost useless as an aid in field identification.It is not well organized from a practical standpoint and only if you already know the name of the plant (why would I need such a book if I already knew?) is it easy to find.Directions for harvest and use are sketchy, at best.Sadly I must say I do not recommend it.

Good book for Texas
This book goes into really great detail on the use of a few of the plants in Texas. For someone living in Texas and wanting to find edible plants, there are better books. This book, however, would be really useful to people interested in how the local Native Americans lived and survived in Texas or someone wishing to be self sufficient in the region. A good, general reference.

Don't waste your time
This book has no redeming value as a guide for anything other than natural dyes. It is poorly illustrated, relying on description rather than photographs except for a few color plates that are poorly organized and of dubious value.The information on edibility and other usefulness is limited, often speculative and not to be relied on.

Edible and Useful Plants
I am pleased to have this book, and I appreciate that it was sent promptly and in good condition.

Great Book
This is a great book for anyone who is wanting to learn about plants in Texas.If you want to learn about what plants are edible, what certain plants can be used for and even a few recipies then this is the book for you. ... Read more

Product Description
"This is definitely the book I've wished I had on visits to the coast! . . . Beachcombers, naturalists (amateur and professional), some fishermen, students, cottage owners, and perhaps especially birders will want this book."--Tom Wendt, Curator, Plant Resources Center, University of Texas at AustinMany visitors to Texas beaches see only the sands between the surf and the first low dunes. Because few plants grow there, it's easy to get the impression that Texas beaches consist mostly of barren sand--while just the opposite is true. Beyond the dunes grow an amazing variety and abundance of native plants. Many of them, like Indian Blanket, Goldenrod, and Seaside Gerardia, produce great splashes of flowering color. Others display more modest flowers or are interesting for their growing habits. In all, over seven hundred species of flowering plants grow on Texas beaches and islands. This handy field guide will aid you in identifying some 275 common and/or noteworthy flowering plants of the Texas beaches and islands from the Rio Grande to the Louisiana border. Each plant is illustrated by a color photograph, accompanied by a description of its appearance, habitat, and blooming time. The plants are grouped by families, which in turn are arranged according to relationships and similarities for easy reference. An introduction to beach habitats and plant life, references for further reading, and a glossary of terms make this book fully useful for everyone who wants a good, general understanding of beach plant life and wildflowers. Alfred Richardson is Professor Emeritus of Botany at the University of Texas at Brownsville. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Texas Wildflower Guide
This is an excellent guide book for wildflower enthusiasts. The unique limit of the book to coastal flowers is tremendously helpful when trying to identify a flower in a state as large and varied as Texas. Dr. Richardson did an excellent job providing accurate scientific knowledge in an understandable manner. A Very good resource!

Wildflowers and other Plants of Texas Beaches & Islands
A beautiful and informative book. The pictures are well taken and useful for identification.The descriptions are well arranged with headers, making the information easy to compare between two species. The excellent descriptions also make it a useful study guide. The only deficiency is the lack of a key which makes it less useful as a field guide.However, for the experienced professional or amateur botanist who can often guess the family, the excellent pictures make it useful for identification.
This book should be in the library of any serious student of botany who is interested in Texas or Gulf Coast plants.

Wildflowers and Other Plants of Texas Beaches
[Wildflowers and Other Plants of Texas Beaches and Islands by Alfred Richardson], Native Plant Society News, 20 (May-June 2002): 9.

As summer approaches, the lure of the Texas shoreline intensifies.It is hard to resist the seaside's arresting sunrises, whispering breezes, rustling surf, and expansive sand dunes crowned by swaying sea oats (Uniola paniculata) or seacoast bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium).In such a vast setting, however, it is easy to overlook the subtler features of the landscape, specifically the often quiet array of coastal native flowers.This more restrained floral texture of the coastal terrain of our state is the subject of Alfred Richardson's lavishly produced Wildflowers and Other Plants of the Texas Beaches and Islands.

Many who already own a Texas wildflower field guide may wonder whether they also need this particular work when identifying coastal plants.This is a reasonable question.So I compared Richardson's Wildflowers with Theodore F. Niehaus's Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers, Geyata Ajilvsgi's Wildflowers of Texas, Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller's Texas Wildflowers, Delena Tull and George Oxford Miller's A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Trees and Shrubs of Texas, and especially James H. Everitt and D. Lynn Drawe's Trees, Shrubs and Cacti of South Texas.My comparison disclosed that there were a large number of plants included in Richardson's book that appeared in only one of these other useful volumes.For the purpose of identifying these particular plants, in other words, you would need to own (and carry) all five of these guides.

Equally persuasive concerning the value of Richardson's Wildflowers are the considerable number of plants it lists that are not found in any of the other five volumes.Exclusive to Richardson's book are, for example, the tiny pink pyramid flower (Melochia pyramidata), the blue funnels of Ojo de Víbora (Evolvulus alsinoides var. hirticaulis), the yellow-eyed fringed disks of Corpus Christi fleabane (Erigeron procumbens), the marigold-looking false dandelion (Pyrrhopappus pauciflorus), the sun-splashed branches of seaside goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens), and the lemony disks of showy nerveray (Tetragonotheca repanda).There are other plants that could be named here as well, but even this short list suggests that native-plant enthusiasts heading for the coast would benefit immensely from owning Richardson's book.

His volume is also handsomely produced, a pleasure to peruse even at home.The close-up photographs of 275 plants are large in scale, extraordinary in detail, and rich in color.The size and lucidity of these 316 photographs will facilitate efforts to identify flora in the field.As befits a field guide, moreover, the explanatory text is presented succinctly in an outline format: plant family, scientific name, leaf description, flower profile, fruit identification, habitat summary, bloom period, and overall observation.Most of the textual entries are comprised of a single sentence or simply a few words.

Richardson's book is so attractive and rewarding that I am reluctant to express my slight caveat.The volume is arranged by floral families, and these families are associated in terms of their inter-relationships and similarities, with their respective genera presented alphabetically.Such an organization appeals to the botanist's desire for taxonomic order.But for the average person in the field, a guide with flowers grouped by color tends to be more efficient and effective in enabling the identification of a plant.However, I want to affirm that this disadvantage is very minor and in no way measurably detracts from the considerable value of Wildflowers and Other Plants of Texas Beaches and Islands.At once beautiful and useful, this field guide is the perfect "beach book" for nature enthusiasts.

William J. Scheick, a former NPSOT vice-president, is also a member of the Central Texas Horticulture Council and a frequent contributor to Texas Gardener. ... Read more

Product Description
For two decades and counting, Texans have relied on Texas Wildflowers to identify the common and rare flowers we see along the roadsides and in the pastures, fields, and forests of our state. Compiled by naturalists Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller, with the technical assistance of Lynn Sherrod, Texas Wildflowers is an authoritative field guide with a personal touch in the many notes the Loughmillers included about the plants they described and photographed. This new edition of Texas Wildflowers retains the charm of the Loughmillers' book while emphasizing 61 additional species and bringing the plant taxonomy and nomenclature up to date. Like its predecessor, it includes all the features you need to identify the wildflowers of Texas:• 381 full-color, close-up photos that show every wildflower in the book, including over 200 photos that are new to this edition.• 370 species accounts that include the plant's scientific and common names, a description of its appearance, and its range, habitat, and blooming season.• Descriptions of 73 wildflower families, from Acanthaceae to Zygophyllaceae.• Indexes to help you identify flowers by their Latin name and common name.• A guide to taxonomic updates in this edition.• A map, glossary, illustrated glossary, and bibliography for further reading.Lady Bird Johnson, author of the first edition's foreword, says of this new edition of Texas Wildflowers, "How delighted I am the University of Texas Press and the Wildflower Center are preserving Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller's legacy by revising and updating this beautiful and invaluable book about Texas wildflowers! Not only does it contain a wealth of knowledge, it also awakens our awareness of the splendor of nature and joyous lift of spirit it brings." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not as good as Wildflowers of Texas
The biggest problem with this field guide is it's organization and it is much harder to use than the color coded Wildflowers of Texas.The photographs are not as good either.

Good reference
This book has good coverage, small pictures next to the text, and reasonable descriptions.However it is arranged by scientific name so it will not be easy to use this to find the name of that pretty little yellow flower by the roadside.Look at "Wildflowers of Texas" by Geyata Ajilvsgi for a similar field guide but that is grouped by flower colors.

Know Your Flowers By Name
This guide helps Texans (and visitors to Texas) to identify the common and rare flowers seen along the roadsides and in the pastures, fields, and forests of the state. Also included among the pages are 381 full-color, close up photos and 370 species including a description of its appearance, range, habitat, and blooming season.
Texas is famous for its bluebonnets, and they are a sight to see in the spring!This book shows how many more lovely flowers decorate the state.My favorite is seeing red indian paint accenting a swath of bluebonnets.Stunning.
Get this book to learn the names of all the flowers.

Still the best, after all these years.
I received a copy of "Texas Wildflowers" when I was in middle school, in preparation for a class assignment to collect, identify and preserve a variety of Texas wildflowers. I have held on to my copy for the past 18 years, and it's still the best book for identifying Texas wildlflowers!The photos are superb, and the location and identifying information for each flower is informative and interesting.

My only complaint is the book isn't bound in a weatherproof binding so I can bring it along on my annual wildflower photography visits to Texas locales such as Lyndon B. Johnson State Historical Park; McKinney Falls State Park; Inks Lake State Park and Burnet, Texas.

Un excelente libro de campo
Texas Wildflowers es un excelente libro para el biologo de campo, ya que cuenta con bellas fotografias de los ejemplares revisados en el libro. Es una ayuda para los estudiantes de botanica de Texas y el Noreste de Mexico. Solo le falta un indice por especie y uno por color de flores para su mejor manejo en campo. ... Read more

Product Description
No other single volume on native plants has such comprehensive horticultural coverage as Native Plants of the Northeast: A Guide for Gardening and Conservation. Nearly seven hundred species of native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, grasses, and wildflowers from the northeastern quarter of the United States and all of eastern Canada are included. Of course, the natural ranges of many of the plants extend beyond this area, and the book is an essential resource for everyone interested in gardening with native plants of all kinds, as well as those who need the information provided here for habitat restoration and enhancement of biodiversity for the sake of conservation.

Natural plant communities of eastern North America are described, providing a foundation for the choice of plants for different areas and climates---or a variety of sites in the garden---as well as for restoration of native plant habitats. Illustrated throughout with color photographs, the encyclopedic portion of the book includes practical advice on cultivation and propagation in addition to descriptions, ranges, and information on hardiness. An appendix recommends particular plants for difficult situations and for attracting butterflies, hummingbirds, and other wildlife. Written from the unique perspective of an author who has professional credentials in horticulture, botany, forestry, and ecology as well as hands-on practical experience, this book is the most trustworthy single source for all who wish to cultivate native plants. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (19)

Native Plants of the Northeast
Well organized review of native plants (trees, shrubs, perennials).Plant profiles are succinct but useful.Photos are of high quality.This book is the perfect quick reference book for those interested in native plants.

My Lifesaver!
I have scoured websites for information on non-invasive, native plants and find that overwhelming. Just received this book and it is clear and very helpful. I am a novice. I know little about gardening. But I want to be responsible in our landscaping. This book is a user friendly guide. I had purchased a shrub at a local nursery having been told by the owner that it was native and non-invasive. The shrub was not included in this book. That prompted me to go on the internet to find out more. Granted, I found out on the internet that the plant I bought is very invasive and non native but it was this book that prompted my concern.

I think this a valuable reference.

Concise, straightforward, and thorough
This book is a must for landscape architects and anyone involved highway beautification.It is also an excellent book for anyone looking to plant more of our beautiful native plants and eliminate non-natives on their land.

Nearly every plant description is paired with a full color photo of the plant in it's natural state.

Although this book is primarily designed for the Northeast, it also good for the Southeast and parts of the Midwest.

I would only make one suggestion to the author if he gets the chance to do a reprint; please include a section on the nuisance plants - poison ivy, poison sumac, stinging nettle, and the like.They may not be of use to many, but there are many of us that would like to find out more about them.

Good info but too much Latin
This book has some excellent information, but the author has labeled all photos only in Latin. All plant description heading are also primarily in Latin, with small type below the Latin name that indicates the common name. This makes the book much more difficult to use for most people - only professional botanists could possibly benefit from this arrangement.

I have a Masters in Environmental Science, so I am quite accustomed to the role of scientific names.The purpose is not to replace common names or show off what a smarty pants you are, as this author appears to be doing. When there is a widely-used common name for a plant or animal, that name should be used, with the scientic name referenced afterwards. I'm sorry, but referring to a plant as Podophyllum peltatum when you could just say Mayapple is unforgivable. Further, if learning the Latin names is so darned important, then tell readers how to pronounce the Latin name.

I wonder how often the author says, "Oh look, the Odocoileus virginianushave been eating my garden." (That would be whitetail deer). At any rate, I am in the annoying position of having to jot down the common names under the pictures in the book so I can more easily learn the plants.

Incredibly useful book on native plants for gardening
This is an absolutely wonderful book on native plants of New England.It has just about every native plant I've ever heard of, with beautiful pictures, detailed descriptions, useful information.Every plant has the zones it will grow in, soil preferred (including moisture - very useful!) and the light the plant will tolerate.In addition, it describes the plant attributes, how to propagate, the natural range of the plant, and most plants have specific cultivars picked out as superior, and sometimes what roles the plant plays in the ecosystem.Almost every plant has a photograph.Incredibly useful.

I love how the book is organized - by type of plant (fern, grass, shrub, tree, vine, etc), then by latin name.There's a comprehensive index if you don't know the latin name.Also incredibly useful is the set of lists in the back - plants that tolerate wet soil, plants for dry soil, plants that tolerate shade, plants for butterflies and hummingbirds, plants with fruits for birds, plants with fruits for mammals - all organized by the light tolerance of the plant and plant type. Also useful was the introduction, which describes the different kinds of plant communities.

There are more detailed reference books out there, but as far as a good reference for the ordinary gardener, with COLOR pictures, this is the best! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

True to its title
This useful book has a simple but adequate key, and hundreds of excellent photos of the wild flowers of New England.See flower, note color, guess at family (gets to be easier the more you do it), skim pictures until you find a match.Then you will find a wealth of information, all on one page. Very handy!
It's very likely that you can find the plant you want, as it does cover the common wild flowers, whatever habitat you visit. Introduced flowers that have successfully "gone wild" are included, along with natives.
There is a good index, and enough technical material that you can later go on-line or to the library for "all the details".
OTOH, the book is just a bit too big for the pockets on my coat; maybe I should get a new coat.

Perhaps we could convince the author/ photographer to write another book on how to identify plants later in the season, when what we have to work on is the fruit, leaves, or bark.I'm sure he would do a better job than the elaborate guides that exist now.

New England Wildflowers
Great reference Book. Easy to find and identify flowers. Colors are crisp and descriptions clear.

The Best Guide I Have
New England Wildflowers by Frank Kaczmarek is the best field guide I own. I wish I had it years ago as I puzzled over line drawings, latinate verbiage and incredible length of other wildflower guides. I've already given this one to lots of friends from the Mid-Atlantic up through New England. The photos are fabulous and the crisp text is interesting and reliable on what these wildflowers have been used for and other lore. Get it now!

Robert K. Musil, author "Hope for a Heated Planet"

Longing for Spring
This easy to use reference is a "must have" on your next woodland outing. For all those instances when you just can't put a name to a flowering plant or have found one unfamiliar to you, this guide will help alleviate your frustration.The introduction, especially the basic biology of flower color, was an interesting read and a great preface to this guide. The author's comment section for each species gives the reader some unique perspective on how these plants were first used by Native Americans and early Colonists.By the way, great photography! ... Read more

Product Description
Using a simple question and answer format, this informative and user- friendly book focuses on the Lower Midwest, and includes everything you need to know about gardening with plants and wildflowers native to the region. It explains methods of planning, site and soil preparation, garden design, plant selection and propagation. Illustrated with 125drawings and 100 color photos, this is the must-have book for Midwestern gardeners. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Ignore 1 star reviews
I almost did not buy this book because of the 1 star reviews.Fortunately I was able to look more closely at the copy I checked out of the library to see that these reviewers were totally incorrect.The invasives and non-natives they referred to were in the "Outlaw the Outlaws" chapter.I found the book to be thoroughly researched and reviewed by experts - and a charming read!

Native plants???
Invasive plants are an increasingly big problem in the US costing tax payers millions of dollars. I'm not too thrilled with a book titled "Go Native!" that appears to be promoting exotic invasive species of any type in a North American Landscape... but then the author's title did additionally state ":Gardening With Native Plants and Wildflowers in the Lower Midwest". Many people assume all wildflowers are native plants. This is simply not true. Many wildflowers are extremely undesirable invasive plants that have naturalized and are wreaking havoc in our environment. Native plants don't naturalize because they belong in the environment in which they occur. The term naturalized is almost exclusively used for exotic plants that can quite successfully outcompete native plants. If one is really concerned about the environment and wants to "Go Native", it might be best to consider selecting a more appropriate book.

Native? Are you kidding?
This book lists several severely invasive, nonnative species in its table of contents.Euonymus alatus, Berberis thunbergii, and lythrum salicaria are all extremely invasive plants across the country.It is illegal to sell lythrum salicaria (purple loosestrife) in several states. At least thirty states list it as invasive.Berberis thunbergii, or Japanese barberry is listed by 45 states as a noxious weed.Don't support a book that sells invasive species as native "wildflowers."

Good reference, not so good layout
I find this a useful book that I refer back to time to time, as I innately trust the author's advice.There is excellent info in here on a plant's propagation/division and planting requirements. I haven't found anything better.

There are problems: 1) I wish it was more exhaustive in the number of plants it covers, although for a primer it picks really good candidates.2) It commits the common sin of putting the photographs in their own section instead of with the text, substituting nearly useless line drawings next to the text.3) The book is topically organized -- plants for shade, using ground cover, developing woodland gardens, etc. I find this rather annoying, and I can never find what I want right away.I'm forever referring to the index.4) It's presented on cheap paper stock in an amateurish paragraph format, with no page divisions for different plants.This makes it needlessly difficult to use as a reference.

In sum, there is a lot of great info in here, enough to recommend it.I just wish the layout was better.

native plants can thrive in abundance with just a little stewardship
"Go Native...", written more as warm personal narrative, is as extensive as an encyclopedia without being dry, includes superb drawings and gorgeous color photos. It is a great help if one personally chooses to prepare for the low maintenance stewardship of our natural "wildlife" environment, maybe heeding Thoreau's simple joys of nature. "Perhaps it is time for each of us to consider taking a single step" suggests Harstad.
Even a modest land plot can be a natural theater of brilliantly sunlit landscape in constantly changing shadows and colors. Some, albeit greatly scaled down, might be reminiscent of those scenes from the 19th Century landscape artists, such as the Hoosier Group and the Hudson River School, that at the beginning of the 20th Century inspired today's goals in Conservation and Habitat Preservation. Or, as I can imagine, your own "...Brigadoon...look in your heart and there it will be."
Carolyn Harstad writes that native plants and wildflowers have the ability to thrive and survive on their own and when the "pioneers" came "...they wrote glowing reports... that the land through which they were traveling looked like an immense flower garden." Can we assume that similar sentiments inspired George Washington, Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark among others of America's early visionaries?
Here is a small but highly pertinent cross-cultural reference: Eva Cassidy sings of seasonal moods in her typically heartfelt manner: "Autumn Leaves", "Fields of Gold", "What a Wonderful World", and "Blue Skies" on the cd "Live at Blues Alley". ... Read more

Product Description
The first comprehensive pocket-size guide to medicinal plants shows how to identify 500 of these plants. Each one is illustrated with a line drawing, and nearly half are also shown in color photos. The text includes information on where the plants are found and detailed descriptions of all their known uses, both folk remedies and those that have been scientifically proven. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants by Foster and Duke
For those who are interested in the historical as well as the current possible medicinal uses of plants, and, especially for those who want to be alerted to toxic qualities of plants, this is an excellent reference. It covers flowers by color and then goes on to deal with shrubs, trees, vines, ferns, and grasses. What more could you ask for? It is a great field guide, but it is so much more than that. Compact and authoritative, authored by leading figures in the field, and well organized for easy use (the index is divided into 2 sections: one for plants; the second for medical topics), this gives simple explanations to the lay and professional alike. Even further potential uses are noted, as with chicory, where they point out that the root extract affects heart rate and it is suggested to "... be researched for use in heart irregularities."

Good, but NOT a Great Book
Depending upon how seriously you are studying plants - this book is a bit too generic.The pictures are pretty but not enough detail.Mostly hand drawn and one plant looks just like another with no real info for determining differences.Bottom line, if you're not sure about a plant, leave it alone.

That said, this is an excellent book for the very beginner in herbal studies.Establish a solid library before delving into this world. You will be amazed at what cures are living in your own backyard!

Very nice.
This is excellent reading at home and on the go. You'll want to buy two of these just so you have one at home, and one you can really rough handle on the road. :) If you're into medicinal herbs or you just love knowing what's what out in the wild, this guide is number one! A MUST! You need it now.

Most Interesting Book You'll Ever Find!!
This book was so fabulous, in fact, I give it more than five stars, I give it twenty!It is because of this book that I now want to be an ethnobotanical chemisist.This book has such pep and drive, just the Introduction and Preface make you want to go outside start a weed garden, picket the FDA, and go to college for seven years to get your degree in botanical chemistry.You don't believe me, but I'm serious.READ THIS BOOK!If not the whole book, at least the Introduction and Preface.It'll give you SO much energy.

An outstanding field guide with uses, drawings and photos
This is one of the better field guides available for identifying and determining the usefulness of many medicinal plants found commonly in the Eastern and Central US.This guide is recommended for beginners and experienced medicinal plant enthusiasts alike.A must have book for the novice in this field. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Spectacular!
This book would make the perfect gift for anyone who lives in Georgia and loves flowers, or for someone who has just visited Georgia and would like to take home a beautiful visual memory. The photography is wonderful, with some flowers shown close up and others as fields or wide views. The photos are grouped according to the section of Georgia in which they were photographed, and there is a wonderful introduction about the areas of Georgia and some information about the camera and lenses used.

Wildflowers of Georgia
"Up close and beautiful"- Those words describe this botanical masterpiece. Wildflowers of Georgia is a feast for the intellect and the eyes. The book contains information relating to Georgia's wildflowers and their native habitats, as well as suggestions for hiking trails and other sites where one can view them.The common and scientific names of the plants, as well as location and season pictured, are meticulously documented. However, It's the high impact vivid photography that makes this work delightful.The authors spent eight years traveling the state searching out and capturing these flowers on film. They are as lavishly showcased as if in a floral show. For many of them the display may be a rarity. Human activity and development have placed their survival in danger.The eighty-six photographs presented in the book are divided into four physiographic regions. The authors introduce each region with explanations and anecdotal experiences. Their writing style gives the reader a feeling of comfortable companionship. One can sense community within these pages as we are invited to share in the comaraderie of viewing and enjoying Georgia's most colorful and dramatic resource. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive, region-by-region guide to selecting and gardening with exceptionally beautiful, easy-to-care-for, ecologically beneficial native North American plants. The definitive reference for an important new concept in gardening. 4-color photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Cullina's book is better
Interesting plant descriptions, with lots of information on hardiness zones, landscape uses, height, culture, etc.However, Cullina's books are more exhaustive and generally superior in all areas.There are puzzling omissions, such as wintergreen, and this is probably because the book is biting off a lot of territory.

The introductory travelogue on the regions of the United States is outstanding.When it comes to the plants themselves, though, Cullina does this book one better.

Don't Pass This One By
If you are interested in wildflowers, natural habitats, or just plain curious about what this country has to offer you and the world in native plants, this is THE BOOK. It has become my resource of first choice whenever I need data about native plants (and as a professional garden writer and environmental landscape consultant, this is frequent). Everything you need whatever your level of garden experience to plan a landscape of any size including native plants. Great ideas for problem sites, too!

Clear, easy to understand, divided by geographic region in the front, and by plant type in the plant list section (annual, grass, shrub, etc.)in the back. Packed with info and a wealth of well labeled photos, plus mature plant dimesions, soil requirements, wildlife interest and even fall color notes! Outstanding.

An outstanding primer on North American native plants!
This book gives an excellent overview of horticulturally useful and interesting plants native to North America, particularly the United States, and the number of species described is very extensive.

The pictures givean excellent idea of the plants described in the text.The text is alsovery helpful, providing not only the expected information pertaining tocultivation but also engaging observations by the author concerning theplants described.

An awesome all around book
This book is wonderful from pictures to text.An invaluable over-all text on native american plants. ... Read more

Product Description
Interest in California's beautiful native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers is at an all-time high. Yet identification and classification of the state's vast and varied flora can be challenging for both amateurs and professionals. This book provides a superb way for learning to identify California's native and naturalized plants by learning to recognize plant families. The heart of the book contains user-friendly keys and descriptions of seventy major families prominent in wildlands. With this book in hand, anyone will be able to identify common native and naturalized species throughout California's majestic floristic province extending from southwestern Oregon into northern Baja California and to the western side of the major mountain ranges. ... Read more

Product Description
How do you know when you're face to face with a fringe-leaf ruellia? Is that particular flower button gayfeather or dotted gayfeather? And what about the pod clinging to your pants-could it have come from a pointed-leaf tick-trefoil?

For anyone venturing out into the wilds of Kansas and contiguous states, identifying plants just got a whole lot easier. This is the first book on Kansas wildflowers or weeds to appear in 25 years. It supersedes earlier guides not only in the number of species it includes-plus its coverage of grasses-but also in its spectacular, true-to-life color photos.

Michael Haddock has assembled a guide to 264 wildflowers along with 59 grasses, sedges, and rushes. These comprise many of the state's most common and conspicuous species-as well as some seldom encountered or listed in field guides-and include many that are found throughout the Great Plains.

Wildflowers are arranged first by dominant color groups for quick identification, then by family within each color category so that the user can compare a species with similarly colored flowers. Each entry for flower or grass includes a complete profile for any given plant: scientific name, family, common name(s), flowering period, height, distribution and habitat, life span, basic morphological characteristics, and notes on historical food and medicinal uses where applicable.

The book also features "finding aids" that allow one to narrow a specimen to a smaller number of possible matches-sometimes more quickly than by comparing it to the photos. These lists were created with the non-specialist in mind and are based on basic vegetative and floral features that are usually easy to determine.

Perfect for backpack or glove compartment, Wildflowers and Grasses of Kansas offers a wealth of quick-access information graced with color that leaps off the page, making plant identification a joy rather than a chore. It's a book guaranteed to send even chronic homebodies out into the Great Outdoors in search of these elusive blooms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Easy to use
I love this book. My kids and I use it quite often to identify plants in our yard or where ever we may be. It's easy to look stuff up. You can search by flower color which makes it really easy to use. The pictures are beautiful also.

Wildflower Bible
I purchased this book since I am new to Kansas and have been photographing all the wonderful wildflowers that I see every day.This book will go with me when I travel around Kansas to be used as a reference guide.The pictures in the book are nice and clear and I find I refer to it numerous times while out on a photography excursion.I am also learning a lot about Kansas!

A Field Guide for the Prairie Enthusiast
I am a Saint Louis MO resident, and purchased this book after visiting nearby Shaw Nature Reserve this fall. Portions of the reserve are dedicated to Midwestern prairie restoration, and I intend to return with this excellent book in the spring to attempt to gain a better understanding of our historic landscape. The photographs, mostly closeups of blooming plants, are crisp and definitive. I would have preferred a few additional contrasting photos of these same plants in the fall with distinctive seed heads and foliage to further aid in identification. I especially enjoyed the comments on native medicinal uses of the various grasses and wildflowers.

Awesome Guide for Plants that are "In Bloom".
This is a fantastic book for those that love the wildflowers of the Kansas Prairie.I have not found and easier guide to help me learn and ID Kansas wildflowers.However, if you are interested in the taxonomy and ID prior to or beyond the flowering stage, of those plants that interest you, this book may disappoint you.I would not fail to recommend it to like minded associates.Peace! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Comprehensive with beautiful photos
This book is a great guide to planting wildflowers. It is full of the information you need to ensure a successful planting. It has a full encyclopedia of wildflowers, but it also has wonderful color photos, making it different from your average planting guide book. It is specific to WestCoast climate, great for California gardeners. ... Read more

Product Description
This standard-setting, state-of-the-art field guide to the wildflowers of Indiana (and surrounding states) includes all 1,568 herbaceous species recorded in the state. It contains 640 color photographs, along with helpful explanations and numerous drawings of the characteristics that separate each of the individual species.

This Field Guide replaces every previous guide to Indiana wildflowers. With an emphasis on completeness, strong visual presentation, and simplicity of terminology, this book will be invaluable to anyone, amateur or botanical professional, interested in Indiana's diverse wildflower population. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

OK book for information.
This is NOT the book for identification of an unknown plant/flower. It's more for confirmation. It's system is very complex. One must already have a good idea as to what the flower/plant is in order to use this book. I recommend buying another field guide for identification purposes.

A must have for those of us in Indiana who want to save the flora!
This book is an excellent source of native information. I combined it with several other books I have, along with additional photos of plants I am particularly interested in which I downloaded from Yahoo images. The only draw back to the book is that I needed more pictures to help identify the plants but as you can see, it was easily fixed!

A much needed field guide to Indiana wildflowers
This field guide to Indiana wildflowers should be a valuable reference for both the professional and amateur botanist. The species descriptions given are adequate to distinguishsimilar species in most cases. The ranges given for several species appear to be inaccurate. ... Read more

Product Description
First published in 1987, Ralph W. Tiner s A Field Guide to Coastal Wetland Plants of
the Northeastern United States soon established itself as the definitive work on its subject. Now Tiner has prepared a revised and expanded edition, broadening the coverage both botanically and geographically. It emphasizes plant identification and includes descriptions of over 700 species and illustrations of approximately 550 species. More tidal wetland types are covered (beaches, rocky shores, and tidal swamps) and the geographic scope extends as far north as Canada s Maritime Provinces. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

plants . . . where they came from and howthey were moved across the world
The Plant Hunters
Author - Carolyn Fry
Favorite Features -
*includes more than 100 images from the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as well as drawings/sketches of plants from across time and around the world
*enclosures throughout with facsimiles of documents, books and more really add a nice and special touch to this book
*fascinating information on Tulipomania
*covers first known transfer of plants from one place to another and follows it through the centuries
*explains how plants were perused for pharmacies and profit and documents the exploitation of people for plants like sugar cane, rubber and tea
*encourages conservation of plants
*warns of invasive plant species

As the author says, this book, "tells how plants were moved across the world". Before reading this book I never realized the power, wealth and control that came with owning and transporting plants. Not only is The Plant Hunters a genuinely lovely book with all the drawings, photos and sketches of incredible plants, but it is also fascinating to read and get a glimpse into where plants originated, how they were moved around the world and the history associated with it all - both positive and sadly, negative. This is a wonderful gift for the person on your list who loves plants and history and makes a lovely and interesting coffee table book. Tremendously well done!
... Read more