Written in a friendly and accessible style, this guide contains keys to all the orchid genera in the region and most of the orchid species. Includes a discussion of orchid structure and ecology, plus 240 stunning color photos and over 200 line drawings.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A quality publication but not for everyone...,
By Jungle Boy (Costa Rica) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama (Comstock Book) (Paperback)
Living in Costa Rica, I purchased Robert L. Dresser's: "Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama" to help me to identify the orchids in the wild, in my collection and in the collections of others.
While I have in fact been able to use the book to this end, this publication doesn't give up its answers easily and I couldn't recommend it to anyone who gets frustrated easily, is intimidated by technical terminology or to anyone who has the slightest propensity for impatience. Identifying an orchid with this book requires one to answer one to a great many questions about the plant you are trying to identify. Each answer directs you to another page and set of questions. Sometimes, there are black and white line drawings next to a set of questions to help you make your selection. Eventually, the query ends and the scientific name (though not an image) of the orchid is finally revealed. An example is: A. Lip ovate, longer than wide, reflexed, forming a 45 degree angle (this is followed by a series of cryptic abbreviations and measurements for things like size, habitat and colors) .............this apparently identifies this particular orchid as: Epidendrum mantis-religiosae If this does not sound like your orchid, you are presented with option B. B. Lip subcircular to kidney-shaped, not markedly longer than wide, not reflexed.....(at which point you are referred to another page, set of questions et. al.) More often than not, one finds oneself flipping a great many pages unable to actually identify the plant. One proceeds through the query wondering if they actually understood the proceeding questions and if they are in fact on the right track. Many of my searches ended in failure and frustration. Further, after all of this effort and technical analysis, there isn't the reward of a picture waiting at the end to provide a positive identification. Therefore, one ends up looking at the scientific name wondering if you have in fact identified your orchid. I found it to be rather unrewarding. While there are in fact color plates, they represent about 1% of the orchids described in the book. If one were a student or professor or biology or botany I would recommend this book. If one is dedicated amateur who is willing to put forth a lot of time effort towards familiarizing oneself with technical terminology I would also recommend this book. For the amateur who hopes to identify orchids hailing from Costa Rica and Panama I would suggest looking for a user-friendlier alternative.
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