Book Description
Carnivorous pitcher plants, pygmy conifers, and the Tiburon jewel flower, restricted to a small patch of serpentine soil on Tiburon Peninsula in Marin County, are just a few of California's many amazing endemic plants--species that are unique to particular locales. California boasts an abundance of endemic plants precisely because it also boasts the richest geologic diversity of any place in North America, perhaps in the world. In lively prose, Arthur Kruckeberg gives a geologic travelogue of California's unusual soils and land forms and their associated plants--including serpentines, carbonate rocks, salt marshes, salt flats, and vernal pools--demonstrating along the way how geology shapes plant life. Adding a fascinating chapter to the story of California's remarkable biodiversity, this accessible book also draws our attention to the pressing need for conservation of the state's many rare and fascinating plants and habitats.
148 outstanding, accurate photographs, more than 100 incolor, illustrate California's diverse flora
Covers a wide range of locations including the Channel Islands, the Central Valley, wetlands, bristlecone pine forests, and bogs and fens
Provides selected trip itineraries for viewing the state's geobotanical wonders
Includes information on human influences on the California landscape from the early Spanish explores through the gold rush and to the present
Customer Reviews:
Superb.......2007-03-24
This is the best intro to the soil-plant interface that I've read. It's very well written, documented, researched, and also just fun to read. The author's enthusiasm for his subject area is contagious. Focussing on unique substrates such as vernal pools, serpentine formations, dunes, deserts, and so on, the author shows how geology even more than climate determines which plants grow where in California, especially in the case of serpentine derived soils, which are very poor in nutrients and high in magnesium. Overall a wonderful book on the subject and one that should be in every botanist's library. Be aware that some previous geology and understanding of rock types and minerology is a big help in understanding the text, but you don't have to be a "hard rocker" to benefit from it.
Book Description
This book is a helpful guide to identifying 500 species of Florida plant life, including rare as well as common wild flowers and characteristic trees, shrubs, vines, and ferns. Each description includes both common and scientific names, a range map, symbols to show the season of bloom, and a useful summary code of nine key plant, leaf, and flower characters, to aid in identification. With rich color photographs and brief, nontechnical notes to accompany each species, this handbook is a valuable reference for tourists, residents, students, and anyone interested in plants in all seasons of the year, from Pensacola to the Keys.
Customer Reviews:
Gorgeous photographs, excellent information, easy to use.......1998-11-24
This book is a very useful guide to a large variety of Florida plants, as well as a superb collection of truly stunning photographs. It can be used for simple visual identification, but its organization by family and its binomial key make it user-friendly for the botanist as well.
Book Description
The savannas, pinelands, and hardwood forests of the Atlantic Coastal Plain constitute one of the eastern United States' richest wildflower destinations. Botanists, naturalists, and wildflower enthusiasts alike are drawn to the region for its stunning array of flowering plants and for its extended blooming season. Few regions of the country match its ecological diversity. Atlantic Coastal Plain Wildflowers will serve as a guide to the botanical treasures that can be found in this fascinating landscape. Perfect for both novice and professional, this valuable reference will enhance any visitor's next journey into the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This easy-to-use guide features: detailed descriptions and color photos of more than 300 plants, an introduction to the area's habitats and ecology, a tough, water-resistant cover and extradurable binding, made to withstand field use, a glossary of botanical terms, and a primer on plant characteristics.
Customer Reviews:
Know Your Florida Wildflowers.......2006-10-31
I can't get over the amazing range of wildflowers growing in Central Florida. Finding this book was a thrill, as now I can identify them all. There's forsythia salvia, pinkish horsemint, beach sunflower, pine lily, and so many more.
For each flower, he provides the scientific and common names, a brief description, flowering time, habitats, geographical range, color photo, and miscellaneous comments.
a look at "Florida Wildfloers".......2000-12-13
The Guide to Florida Wildflowers by Taylor has been most helpful to me, a photographer, in identification for cataloging of my images. The book is well organized and probably one of the most complete on the subject of Southeastern wildflowers that I own or have been able to borrow. The only drawback, which presents itself as a major problem at times, is that many of the images in the book are ill-defined. The flowers in some of the images are either out of focus (ex: Buttonweed, pg. 105) or so small in relation to the picture (ex: White Lobelia, pg. 107) that even a magnifying glass is of no use. Overall though, I give the book a very good rating. I have read a great many books on the subject of wildflowers and have yet to find anything to replace it. MAB
Great for novices and non-novices alike.......2000-01-31
The organization of this book (by flower color) makes it so incredibly easy for you to find the flower you're looking at or for. The photos are clear and helpful, as is the writing. A very handy guide to finding sturdy, attractive, and low-maintenance flowers for a butterfly garden or easy-care back yard as well as being a superb field guide.
Excellent for identifying flowers.......1999-07-25
I have used this book to identify many wildflowers in my neighborhood and undeveloped areas. It is well-organized by flower colors. Also included are excellent and clear sketches regarding flower parts. I highly recommend it for the natural hobby botanist.
Book Description
This guide features stunning color photographs of 300 common wildflowers from Everglades National Park and the Corkscrew, Big Cypress, and Fakahatchee Swamps. Detailed descriptions and line art aid the reader in identifying plants in the field.
Customer Reviews:
Rated by an Everglades Wildlife Biologist - Robert King.......2006-04-18
As you might tell from the above title I am quite proud of my professional attachment to the glades. I deeply love the glades and am angered by the deplorable condition that politicians, government and our American culture have allowed this unique ecosystem to degrade to. Americans, especially Florida residents, must be motivated to demand that politicians and government do whatever it takes to recover and nurture what is left of the Everglades. Anything less is shameful! Look for the book I am completing on the Everglades.
Roger L. Hammer's Everglades Wildflowers book is an outstanding work, both by him and the publisher The Globe Pequot Press (Falcon).
Knowledge of wildflowers is not a personal strength of mine. I needed a book that I was confident contained clear, accurate information on the wildflowers that are found in the glades. I'm very curious for any unusual characteristics that are not commonly known about species. Mr. Hammer gave me both. Example: The Horned Bladderwort is a very small yellow aquatic flower that is common to the Everglades marsh. But it was not until I got a copy of Mr. Hammer's book that I learned that this flower is a predator! It is the only aquatic carnivorous plant in North America.
This glossy paged book has color plates, a glossary and something that took me by surprise - a very informative description of Everglades natural history including habitat descriptions.
This is a book of unusually high quality. If you're an Everglades naturalist I think you'll want to add this one to your shelf.
A fine guide to the budding and experienced naturalist.......2003-07-28
I believe that this book will be valuable to the budding naturalist struggling to keep up on a wildflower hike and to the seasoned ranger in Everglades National Park. Arranged by color, the book is easy to use while giving a tour with interesting anecdotes that you can study beforehand. A great addition to anyones Nature Guides.
Book Description
This guide to the common wildflowers found in the lush Florida Keys features 250 beautiful color photographs. Detailed plant descriptions and line art aid in plant identification for botanists and novice enthusiasts alike. Each species description is accompanied by a "Comments" section giving lore about the plant, its uses, or its name.
Customer Reviews:
a wonderful reference.......2005-11-12
Like his book on the flowers of the Everglades, Roger Hammer has again produced a clear concise text on flowers, but this time from the Florida Keys. This is a wonderful reference for anybody that is interested in ecotouring the American tropics. The photographs are great, and the color printing is top notch. The layout, which is organized according the flower's color, rather than botanical family, makes it easy to use in the field.
What a great guide!.......2004-05-16
I am a naturalist in South Florida and I love to identify different plants. Roger makes the plants accessible to the beginner naturalist and entertaining with historical facts about the different plants he has included.
Customer Reviews:
Very Informative.......2005-07-01
I love the colorful names of orchids (green adder's mouth, ghost orchid, gentian noddingcaps). This guide covers native and naturalized orchids in Florida plus introduced, escaped and waifs.
The detailed descriptions (1 page each) and multiple photos of each orchid were very helpful. The description gives the origin, details to identify the plant, the leaves, the flower, habitat, flowering period and a paragraph of additional information relating to the rarity of a plant. A map shows the counties where it might be found, plus a drawing of the plant is included.
It contains handy resources like a 9-page checklist,orchid statistics, a glossary, 16 pages clearing up confusion over misapplied names and synonyms, and a bibliography.
Orchids of Florida.......2002-06-06
The book is well done and put together. The only issues I noted are that the author does not give photogrpahic credit to several contributors. Least of which is Carlyle Luer. The author has used several copied photos right from Dr. Luers "Native Orchids of Florida" without permission or proper credit.
Some of the taxonomic changes and listing are not as accurate as they could be, but the overall work is complete and covers all known species to occur in Florida. One helpful note, future books should follow the Luer style for various stories and all photos should have dates taken and county listings.
Finally, a guide to Florida orchids.......2002-04-14
I had been hoping for a Florida orchid book for a long time to help me understand and identify native orchids. This book goes beyond my expectations. It is wonderfully thorough, with each species covered on two full pages. One page describes the distribution, identifying characteristics, habitat, flowering period, and has a Florida range map and plant illustration. The facing page has several photographs of the plant, showing growing habit, flower close-up, and different color forms. I particularly appreciate the range maps identifying all the Florida counties where the plant has been found. I was able to easily go through the book and make a list of all the species found in my area. The photos are very good and the variety of scales really helps. Reading this guide, it seems like there are orchids all around just waiting for the trained eye to notice them. A must have for your field guide collection.
Customer Reviews:
Florida Wildflowers.......2007-07-23
Very good reference and wonderful photos! A must for any native plant grower or nature lover!
Useful when paired with a key-style field guide.......2006-07-17
This guide gives a good overview of the plant communities and the wildflowers found in them, as opposed to being a field guide whose only purpose is plant identification. The arrangement by community is very handy, and there are many fine photos. While you will get a nice education on habitat from this book, the lack of a key may be off-putting to some people.
The missing key does force one to know what community he or she is in (which is the point of the book) and then requires flipping through the pictures, which makes the book a bit unwieldy for me to use in the field. Since I can finally use a key fairly well, I will likely use Taylor's guide as a supplement to my favorite keyed guide.
Not Very Helpful.......2003-04-15
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.......2002-04-13
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.......2000-06-26
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.
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General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Introduction to California Chaparral (California Natural History Guides)
Field Guide to Plant Galls of California and Other Western States (California Natural History Guides)
Field Guide to Beetles of California (California Natural History Guides)
Geology and Plant Life: The Effects of Landforms and Rock Types on Plants
Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions (California Natural History Guides)
