Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada (Nature Study Guides) [Paperback]

Barbara Hallowell (Author), Anne C. Hallowell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Nature Study Guides | Publication Date: January 1, 2001

A pocket guide to identifying native ferns that grow in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast, and eastern Canada. Like other plant guides in the "Finders" series, "Fern Finder" is a dichotomous key, which leads the user step-by-step through a series of choices to the species being identified. Heavily illustrated with line drawings.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For some years, I've been using Barbara G. Hallowell's "Fern Finder" as my primary teaching tool when conducting fern identification workshops. The compact and concise "Fern Finder" is perhaps the most popular nontechnical guide to fern identification ever published in this country. --George Ellison, Asheville Citizen-Times, Oct. 17, 2009

From the Publisher

For this edition, naturalist Barbara Hallowell has updated range maps, based on information gathered over the past twenty years, and updated fern names to reflect current usage.

The bulletin of the American Fern Society called the first edition of this book ". . .concise, well-illustrated, and quite accurate." No other field guide to ferns provides so much information in such a compact, and inexpensive, package.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Nature Study Guild Publishers; Second Edition edition (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912550244
• ISBN-13: 978-0912550244
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Plants > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compact and Economical Guide to Ferns, August 2, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada (Nature Study Guides) (Paperback)

Among flowering plants, the flowers are often a crucial feature in identifying them. But then there are non-flowering plants, such as the Pteridiophytes, which include ferns. Those who know a lot about flowering plants can still be at a loss when it comes to identifying ferns. Some of the best books about wildflowers feature colorful pictures, and those can be a major aid to identification. But when it comes to ferns, with their tinier reproductive structures that are less showy than all but the smallest flowers, pictures alone are much less of a vital key to identification. Instead, one needs to observe details like clumped or scattered growth patterns, scaly or smooth stipes (the stems of fern fronds), and arrangement and shape of the sori (clusters of spore-bearing parts). This small but useful book is an excellent introduction to these and other features important in fern identification. Once you learn them, the book provides a key for sorting out what fern one is observing, using those features. This book best covers the ferns of the eastern and central U.S. and Canada. As shown on this site, there is also a Pacific Coast version of this book for those observing and hoping to identify ferns there.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of info in a graphic format, June 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada (Nature Study Guides) (Paperback)

This is a great book in a small package. Graphic icons convey useful information that is understandable at a glance. Excellent illlustrations. Good for beginner or intermediate fern student. I use it as a supplement to text-heavy fern guides.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fern identification mini booklet, August 24, 2008

By 

Spruce (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fern Finder: A Guide to Native Ferns of Central and Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada (Nature Study Guides) (Paperback)

This excellent little inexpensive booklet is a biological key to ferns.
For a beginner it is better than a complete guuide. Once you use this little gem for identification you can then move on to the joys of whole books about ferns.