Subject: [Tweeters] RE: RFI Off Topic Wildflowers field Guide
Date: Jun 16 16:51:54 2008
From: Randy Smith - cousythecat at centurytel.net


I have at least a dozen wildflower guides that cover this area. I'd
like to add my personal favorite to Wayne Weber's recommendations. It's
the idiosyncratic "Trees, Shrubs, & Flowers to Know in British Columbia
and Washington" by C.P. Lyons and Bill Merilees. It's now out of print,
first published in the 1950s, and last published in an updated version
in 1995, but available from used book stores and online.

Lyons has more useful information about habitat and location than just
about any other book (although Turner and Gustafson have county range
maps that can be very helpful). Lyons has a knack for drawing your
attention to useful identification characteristics. It has very useful
line drawings, but the photos are quite small. Turner is the book to
use for the latest botanical names and the best photos. But Lyons has
given me the information I need in the field more times than I can
count. It's particularly useful east of the Cascades, which many other
books don't cover very well. I now usually carry both Turner and Lyons
on field trips, and then use other books for further reference once I'm
home. I also rely on the superb website maintained by the UW's Burke
Museum: http://biology.burke.washington.edu/herbarium/imagecollection.php

The most current comprehensive flora for west-side, wet-side plants is
Kozloff's "Plants of Western Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia."
It's excellent, but it's a hefty tome that won't find its way into your
pack.

Randy Smith
Vashon Island

Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:14:18 -0700
From: "Wayne Weber" <contopus at telus.net>
Subject: RE: [Tweeters] RFI Off Topic Wildflowers field Guide
To: "DAWN BAILEY" <dawnsdog at rainierconnect.com>, "TWEETERS"
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Message-ID: <006001c8cfd4$69d32200$3d796600$ at net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Dawn and Tweeters,

I would make two recommendations for a wildflower field guide for the
Pacific Northwest:

(1) Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest by Mark Turner and Phyllis
Gustafson (Timber Press, 2006)

(2) Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast by Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon
(Lone Pine Publishing, 1994)

These are both outstanding guides. I have both, and I use them constantly.

The Turner & Gustafson book covers more species (1220 are illustrated), and
covers a wider area-all of Washington and Oregon, plus southern BC and
northern California. However, it omits trees, most grasses and sedges,
mosses, liverworts, and lichens, all of which get a lot of attention in
Pojar & MacKinnon. The latter book covers areas west of the Coast and
Cascade Mountains from south-central Alaska south to the Oregon-California
border, but does not cover eastern Washington or Oregon at all.

There are lots of other books covering more restricted areas which are very
useful, e.g. "Wild Plants of the San Juan Islands", "Wildflowers of the
Columbia Gorge", "Wildflowers of the Western Cascades", etc. However, the
above two books, in my opinion, are the most useful over a wide area of the
Pacific Northwest. Of course, you will also need a detailed flora such as
"Flora of the Pacific Northwest", or a couple of helpful botanist friends,
to help you identify the many species that aren't covered in those two
books!


Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net







From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Dawn Bailey
Sent: June-15-08 9:48 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] RFI Off Topic Wildflowers field Guide



Hi Tweets,



I am looking for the best Wildflower Field Guide for the PNW.
Recommendations?



Dawn Bailey
Eatonville, WA
http://vulturecafe.blogspot.com
dawnsdog at rainierconnect.com