Book Description

Brimming with intriguing and practical details and illustrated with 250 beautiful color photos, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Orchids provides everything the enthusiast needs to know about this most colorful and elegant blossom.

An informative introduction gives such useful information as morphology of the flower, ecology, classification, and cultivation. The individual entries that follow describe over 160 cultivated species and offer visual symbols for the temperature and light necessary for optimum growth, as well as whether a particular species has a scent. Simon & Schuster's Guide to Orchids is a spectacular and authoritative reference to this exotic and fascinating flower. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Good, Basic Information
This is a handy little book if you need a quick source of basic cultural information about a particular orchid. The book contains 250 color photos over 160 types of orchid species and hybrids. This makes it a valuable aid in identifying those mystery orchids that we all seem to come across. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent Introduction for new wildflower enthusiasts
This small book provides attractive color pictures of every wildflower that it covers.The first time or sometime enthusiast will enjoy this book much more than the more broadly focused Jaeger and Munz classics that have fewer color plates and devote most of their coverage to the Mohave Desert.1998 has been an extraordinary spring wildflower year.I have attempted to use all three books and found that my success with this one was such that I was able to find and identify about 3/4 of the flowers in the book just from my trips to Borrego Springs, Mecca Road (Box Canyon), Joshua Tree and the Colorado River. ... Read more

Book Description

You'll find them throughout the year in Houston--lyre-leaf sage, Drummond skullcap, silver-leaf nightshade, snow-on-the-prairie, lemon beebalm, scarlet pimpernel, plains wild indigo, spring ladies'-tresses, deer pea vetch.These wildflowers and hundreds of other species flourish in this part of Texas, but until this book was published in 1993 no guide had focused exclusively on the Houston area. John and Gloria Tveten spent years seeking out both the common and the rare flowers. They describe here more than 200 plants. A color photograph of each one will make identification easy.The guide is arranged by color, with each entry tracing the history and lore of a species. Many plants--for example, prairie Indian plantain and self-heal--were used by Native Americans for medicinal purposes. Others, like pokeweed and wapato, are edible. Southern dewberry and giant ragweed are used as natural dyes. And some, like rattlebush and milkweed, are poisonous.At the end of each species account is a list of key identifying characteristics for quick reference in the field. Summaries of plant families are also included, as well as tips on where and when to look for wildflowers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wildflowers of Houston and Southeast Texas
I had to have this book!!! I really enjoyed the beautiful pictures, even thought a lot of these wildflowers are actuallly considered a weed in the Houston and surrounding areas. I've lived in this area and never really knew the names of the flowers and found this book very helpful. It also will let you know which plant is poisonous and which is edible. And it is about the size of a field guide. ... Read more

Book Description

Beautifully illustrated with more than 250 full-color photographs, this authoritative and easy-to-use field guide identifies and describes more than 250 wildflowers of the eastern United States. ... Read more

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated book introduces readers to 125 frequently encountered wildflowers and other plants that grow in coastal habitats from Massachusetts to central Florida. Drawn from the authors' many years of studying, photographing, and teaching others about plants and their habitats, this handy guide will appeal to everyone from the budding naturalist out to enjoy a day at the beach to the professional scientist seeking accurate, current information about coastal plants.

Organized by plant family, the guide provides the scientific and common names for each species, notes about its range and habitat, and a detailed botanical description that includes information about its growth habits and life history, flowers and fruits, human uses, and importance to wildlife. An exceptional color photograph accompanies each entry. Other features include a section on planning field trips to coastal areas, a glossary, and a list of selected natural areas to visit. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Enhanced with a section on planning field trips
Coastal Plants From Cape Cod To Cape Canaveral showcases 125 commonly encountered wildflowers and plants native to coastal habitats ranging from Massachusetts to central Florida. Each entry includes the plant's scientific and common names, notes about its range and habitat, and a color photograph. Detailed species descriptions cover growth habits and life history, flowers and fruits, human uses, and importance to wildlife. A very highly recommended addition to any personal, professional, academic, or community library plant and horticultural reference collection, Coastal Plants is enhanced with a section on planning field trips to coastal areas, a glossary, and a list of selected natural areas to visit.

A Fantastic Book!
"Coastal Plants from Cape Cod to Cape Canaveral" is a wonderful addition to the botanical literature! For both novices and confirmed botanists, this book provides a great look at the plants of the Atlantic Coast. As someone who knows little about plants, this book provided me with clear and informative descriptions that I could easily use to identify the plants in my area. Obviously meticulously researched, this book is the first to provide such comprehensive coverage of the topic. The photographs are beautiful, helping to illustrate both the plants and their associated habitats. I highly recommend this book both to own and to give as a gift! ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Best Wildflower Book Ever
This is the best book for identifying wildflowers that I have ever used. It works!! The blossom pictures are clear and make matching my finds to the pictures certain. My old copy was damaged. Since I was getting a new edition, I took the old copy to work. My coworkers liked it as much as I do. Several are buying their own copies for home use. This book is terrific!

A valuable resource
This is a valuable resource for the naturalist as well as the wildflower enthusiast which describes 600 wildflowers found in Arkansas. Color photographs are provided for 484 flowers. Plants are arranged by family; this may seem awkward at first, but the book is well indexed. A glossary, state map showing regions, and diagrams of plant parts are other helpful tools provided in the book. This book is a must for me while hiking or driving the highways and backroads of my state. The only way Hunter could have improved this resource, is by providing a color guide for quicker idntification.

A wonderful addition to any natural history library!
I imagine Mr. Hunter worked long and hard on this project. I recommend this guide without reservation-- great pictures, text, and layout by evolutionary relationship. Compared to the Peterson Guide covering this region, this is far superior for its geographic specificity. Whether your interest lies in other areas, such as birding or butterflying, or general natural history appreciation, this guide will improve your knowledge of Arkansas wildflowers and their associated fauna ten-fold. The best wildflower guide for the region, period. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Not Very Helpful
This book is very limited. You have to look at each page to ID the flower. Some pictures are not very clear, and some do not show the leaves. If the plant you look at is not excatly like the book's pix you can't be 100% sure of the plant's ID.

Handy field guide
I like to take this book in the field. The organization allows me to quickly scan what flowering plants I can expect to see in the habitat I'm in. This is especially useful for a lay person who doesn't yet know how to identify family or genus by sight.

A must have guide for anyone interested in wildflowers of Fl
This is an easy to use guide that provides quick identification of Florida wildflowers. The organization is intuitive. Each species treatment is thorough and the photography is top notch. This user highly recomends this book.

A well organized and easy to use field guide to FL flowers
This reference guide is nicely divided into 8 terrestrial communities: Pine Flatwoods, Sandhills and Clayhills, Scrubs, Temperate Hardwood Forests, Coastal Uplands, Rockland Pinelands, Rockland Hardwood Hammocks, and Ruderal Sites. Each community is described and further subdivided. The descriptions and pictures of the typical plants in each community are are good and nicely organized. ... Read more

Book Description

From Jeffrey Shootingstars to Woodynymph and Piper's Bellflowers, hikers will have fun matching their wildflower finds with their names .This compact field guide features 92 flowers commonly seen in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains. Flowers are grouped by color and general location with the Latin and common names given. Information on flowering season, features , habitat, and distribution is given in the distinctive voice of Harvey Manning, author of many of The Mountaineers Books' popular hiking guides. Detailed, enchanting color photographs by Bob and Ira Spring make wildflower identification a breeze. Includes tips for photographing wildflowers. ... Read more

Book Description

With full-color photographs and descriptions of flowering seasons, toxicities, and propagation methods, this book helps readers identify more than 100 tropical plants that are found in the United States. ... Read more

Book Description

An acclaimed nature writer reveals the secret life of flowers.

In Anatomy of a Rose, Sharman Apt Russell eloquently unveils the "inner life" of flowers, showing them to be more individual, more enterprising, and more responsive than we ever imagined. From their diverse fragrances to their nasty deceptions, Russell proves that, where nature is concerned, "wonder is not only our starting point; it can also be our destination." Throughout this botanical journey, she reveals that the science behind these intelligent plants--how they evolved, how they survive, how they heal--is even more awe-inspiring than their fleeting beauty. Russell helps us imagine what a field of snapdragons looks like to a honeybee; she introduces us to flowers that regulate their own temperature, attract pollinating bats, even smell like a rotting corpse.

In this poetic rumination, which combines graceful writing with a scientist's clarity, Russell brings together the work of botanists around the globe, and illuminates a world at once familiar and exotic. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Explains and Explores the secret life of flowers
Twelve poetic essays in which a nature writer draws on botanical research, theories of evolution, and her own emotional experiences to explore the roles flowers play in our lives. Throughout this poetic meditation, Russell ( When the Land Was Young , 1996, etc.) maintains that people need blossoms for both ecological survival and personal well-being. She eroticizes the physical features of flowers throughout (speaking, in one vivid passage, of how "pansies wait expectantly, their vulviform faces lifted to the sky"), and these impassioned descriptions, reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings, may offer some amusement to botanists while enlightening amateur gardeners. There are descriptions of flowers' complex romances with their pollinators that reveal how both blossoms and bugs have evolved to accommodate each other. We are even introduced to various species of fleurs fatales whose seductive charm lures naïve pollinators to their deaths-including a hermaphroditic water lily that, during its female stage, murders the trusting hoverflies it once fed. While Russell cites Charles Darwin and other famed biologists, her lyrical ruminations do not provide new insight into biological evolution. Still, her unique interpretations of natural selection provide some dramatic scenes, for example, when bumblebee thieves attack flowers for nectar. More personal stories of Russell's friends dashing home to view the rare blossoming of their cereus cacti and accounts of prehistoric humans burying their loved ones with flowers support the author's claim that all people have an intrinsic fascination with flowers. But her argument for the protection of endangered species, although valid, is flimsy in comparison to authoritative studies, like David S. Wilcove's The Condor's Shadow (2000). A modestly satisfying read for flower fanatics.

The Little Book That Shakes Your World
I found this little book extremely powerfull in changing the way I look at life....for the good mind you...it gave me an awareness and sensitivity to the natural world around me and an awe of what has come before and how we arrived here on this planet....
Reccomend for readers of all ages...even children can grasp the concepts put forth here and will open the eyes just a little wider for all who read it!

Excellent book for the lay audience....
ANATOMY OF A ROSE: EXPLORING THE SECRET LIFE OF FLOWERS is slightly mistitled. The book has a few things to say about roses--a section on the scent of roses and a section about the commercial interest in concocting a blue rose. The subtitle best describes the contents of Russell's book--the secret life of flowers.

I'm a plant/gardening/nature enthusiast who is fairly well read but I learned a new things from Russell's book. For example, I did not know that the great taxonimist/plant classifier Linnaeus (born in 1707) acquired his love of and interest in plants from his relatives. Seems his great-grandmother was burned as a witch because she knew too much about plants. Linnaeus fared better probably partly owing to his ability to read and write about plants in Latin.

Russell has done a very good job of reviewing, selecting, organizing and distilling the current thinking on flowers --including the projected 7th Extinction which has already begun and will continue over the next 100 years. Like Rachel Carson's SILENT SPRING, this little book warns the reader.

Russell says only one percent of the known flowers have been fully studied, and many will become extinct before we understand them. Flowers hold the key to saving lives, promoting good health, and ensuring the survival of the planet as we know it. Russell tells of the discovery of a plant extract that can fight EBOLI; the discovery of Taxol in the fungus of trees cut down for the Taxol in their bark (the implication is that a really smart person would harvest the Taxol, not kill the goose that lays the golden egg!!); and the uses of many of other plants for medicinal purposes. Pharmaceutical companies are beginning to take an interest in preserving the wilderness--or at least preserving it for their uses.

The jury is still out on the affect of gentically engineered plants on other life forms. Gentically engineered corn has been empirically linked to the demise of Monarch Butterfly and too date it is not "off the hook" as another reviewer suggests, however, the "not knowing" is clearly an issue.

We have much to learn from the flowering plants. I recommend this book to any one who wants to become familiar with the current outlook for plants as well as the history of plants and their role in evolution. You don't need to be a botonist to understand Russell's clearly written and elegantly told story of the flowers and their connection to our own lives.

Anatomy of a Rose
This is a great book, full of fascinating natural history. The author shows her droll sense of humor at the same time as she presents the science.

I was disappointed to find, in the last chapter, a repetition of the urban legend about corn pollen killing monarch butterflies. It would have been easy for the author to check and find that the monarch populations have been increasing since the introduction of genetically modified corn.

Examines how the plants evolved, survive
Readers interested in the botany of flowers will enjoy Anatomy Of A Rose, a fine study, which examines how the plants evolved, survive, and how they interact with their environments. Roses aren't the only plants to be studied in this thoughtful presentation: all manner of flowers are considered in a lively tone blending science, scholarship and descriptive phrases. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

great for identifying unknown wildflowers during your hike
Of all the wildflower books I've seen, this one does the best job at helping you identify your unknown flower. This book uses a decision tree that guides you to the flower by answering questions about the flower's characteristics. e.g. if flower has regular shape go to p. 12, if irregular go to p. 15. Next, if flower has basal leaves, go to p. 20, etc. The book has an explanation and drawings of the terms used for identification. It has line drawings and written descriptions of the flowers. It is small and easily fits in your pocket for a hike.

Excellent flower book
My family has always been very nature oriented, which may explain why I have become the owner of several of the "finders" books. Since moving to Colorado, I have watched for flower books and been disappointed in two I purchased. This book is exactly what I was looking for. At a picnic in the mountain woods, a guest brought a strange stalk in from a hike. It was covered with little pumpkin-shaped pods. Finding Pine Drops in this wonderful pocket-sized book sold it to me on the spot. When I went back to the same location the next year, I looked for the plant but didn't find it. Now I know I should not have been looking for a green plant, but one without chlorophyll. Aren't plants fascinating! ... Read more

Book Description

This concise, user-friendly guide provides all the information necessary to identify the flowering plant families found in the wild or cultivated in northern temperate regions. Two hundred and eighty-six families are covered by the bracketed identification keys, which are accompanied by a comprehensive explanatory guide to their use. A fully illustrated discussion of floral structure and terminology precedes the keys and brief descriptions of the families (arranged according to the Engler and Prantl system) follow. A chapter giving advice on identification beyond the level of family, plus an annotated bibliography and glossary complete the volume. This new expanded edition features restructured morphology and terminology information, revised and improved keys, and more accessible and informative descriptions not found in previous editions. ... Read more

Book Description

This classic reference on flowering plants has sold over 30,000 copies. Full of gorgeous colour plates and authoritative yet wonderfully readable descriptions, this sumptuous volume is recognized as the definitive source book on Pacific Northwest wild flowers-everything from the Bachelor's Button and the Lady's Smock to Mouse-ear Chickweed and Rabbit-foot Clover.With comprehensive revisions and a new introduction by botanist John Trelawny, Wild Flowers of the Pacific Northwest contains more than 600 pages with over 550 vibrant colour plates, accompanied by a wealth of botanical and historical information on 782 species and sub-species of the flowering plants of the Pacific Northwest. It is both an indispensable reference and a perfect giftbook for gardeners, naturalists and lovers of the outdoors. "As a result of my work with conservation groups," wrote the late Dr. Lewis J. Clark, "I have become convinced that the first step in the development of an ecology oriented public is a familiarization with, and appreciation of, our plant and animal life. Concern for the preservation of that life will then inevitably evolve." His words still ring true today. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

not as comlpletely illustrated as I had hoped for
We have been searching for a guide to wildflowers specifically for New York State and this is the first such book we have found. While it does show and describe at least 350 varieties, we have found 2 wildflowers so far on our own property that do not seem to be in this book. The color photos show the flowers of the plant clearly but we feel that there should have been more effort to include the leaves of the plant in the photo or a pencil and ink drawing of the leaf next to the photo. The written description of each plant inlcudes a description, i.e. basal, etc. of the leaf and the plant growth but this is rather difficult to understand where a photo or drawing would have been easier. ... Read more