your_comforting_company
08-17-2010, 06:28 AM
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/National-Wildlife-Federation-Field-Guide-to-Wildflowers-of-North-America/David-M-Brandenburg/e/9781402741548/?itm=75&USRI=wildflowers
So my mom picked up this book, and wanted to go with me on a "wildflower adventure" this weekend. We had a great time enjoying nature, looking at the small things most folks just ride by and never notice.
The key is organized by color, making it quick to find the right key for the flower you are examining, but the book itself is organized by family, so that if you can throw it into a family, you can flip through pictures of those plants.
Of all the books I own, and know how to use, this one excells at speed! With very little prior experience, my mom was able to identify all but one of the plants we looked at, most of which were not species specific in any of my books.
It contains over 2200 pictures and descriptions of plants of North America. The downside is that it does NOT include edibility information, although it DOES contain toxicity information on the deadliest plants.
Although I've only used it for one day, I will be getting myself a copy of this book for less than $15 very soon, because I was so impressed with the ease of use and format. It is less than half price of my "Weeds" book, less than the Peterson guides, and more complete than all my books put together, sans edibility information.
For anyone beginning to identify plants, I recommend this as the starter guide, and suggest you supplement it with the other guides that DO include edibility / medicinal information and preparations. Keep a journal of identified plants and look them up online when you get back home.
I was so impressed, I just had to post a small review of it. Thanks for reading!
So my mom picked up this book, and wanted to go with me on a "wildflower adventure" this weekend. We had a great time enjoying nature, looking at the small things most folks just ride by and never notice.
The key is organized by color, making it quick to find the right key for the flower you are examining, but the book itself is organized by family, so that if you can throw it into a family, you can flip through pictures of those plants.
Of all the books I own, and know how to use, this one excells at speed! With very little prior experience, my mom was able to identify all but one of the plants we looked at, most of which were not species specific in any of my books.
It contains over 2200 pictures and descriptions of plants of North America. The downside is that it does NOT include edibility information, although it DOES contain toxicity information on the deadliest plants.
Although I've only used it for one day, I will be getting myself a copy of this book for less than $15 very soon, because I was so impressed with the ease of use and format. It is less than half price of my "Weeds" book, less than the Peterson guides, and more complete than all my books put together, sans edibility information.
For anyone beginning to identify plants, I recommend this as the starter guide, and suggest you supplement it with the other guides that DO include edibility / medicinal information and preparations. Keep a journal of identified plants and look them up online when you get back home.
I was so impressed, I just had to post a small review of it. Thanks for reading!