Laird R. Blackwell. b>Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley (1999) and Wildflowers of the Eastern Sierra and adjoining Mojave Desert and Great Basin (2002). Lone Pine Publishing.

These are outstanding field guides as I would expect from Lone Pine book. However, I am a bit frustrated by having two different ways of grouping plants. In Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley, plants are grouped into their plant family but in Wildflowers of the Eastern Sierra and adjoining Mojave Desert and Great Basin, the flowers are organized by color, number of petals and where they tend to grow. Since the 2nd book uses a more detailed way of organizing plants, I wish Lone Pine would put out a second edition of the first book rearranged to follow the grouping of the second book.

Book Content

These books are beautifully illustrated. They provide some pictures of the plants in their natural habitat along with close-up pictures of the plants. The descriptions are clear and easy to read. Even an amateur should be able to identify the plants in these books from both the written descriptions and the photographs.

The books provide generalized habitat information and discussion of plant parts. The photographs, charts, and maps further assist the reader in understanding the text. There are even miniature pictures in the front to help guide the reader to the correct information further back in these books.

Recommendation

Lone Pine is the publisher of field guides for the 21st century. You will never regret purchasing one of these books. They may be purchased at amazon.com using the links below.