Customer Reviews

Field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Texas

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Overall a very interesting book, with lots of good information on taxonomy, history, photographs, and discussions on a number of topics. It does, however, have one real drawback - geography. It starts with the opening chapter where it states "...many of the 252 counties of Texas.", but there are 254 counties in Texas. Then, the first orchid I looked up was the truly rare Hexalectris grandiflora, which it states was recently found near Dallas (which is true, and in Dallas County), but the distribution map indicates a location three counties to the west. So, if you are interested in distribution, you might want to have another reference handy. It is still a book worth having.

Although this does give a more recent treatment of Texas orchids than Liggio's Wild Orchids of Texas, this guide is somewhat limited in its utility as a field guide. As stated by other reviewers there are significant errors in geography on the distribution maps for many species, and so potential readers should be advised to consult other sources for more accurate distribution information for some species (particularly the Hexalectris, as mentioned elsewhere). Keys and general information in the text are of greater use, and Part 3 on References and Resources contains information that can help in difficult issues of taxonomy, habitat and chronology. However, I would recommend in future editions a greater care in documenting distribution to make this a more accurate technical resource.