Customer Reviews

A Flora of San Diego County California

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"Several plant taxa reach their northern distribution limit on the coastal lowlands of San Diego County... several taxa ... occur in the San Diego County mountains as the southern limit of their ranges." Beauchamp makes this modest observation in his exhaustive catalog of the flora of San Diego County, California, one of the most biologically diverse areas in the United States, if not the world. The book is a wonderful resource for anyone fascinated with this diversity. Beauchamp's catalog has no photos or drawings of the plants, and minimal descriptions. Latin taxonomy is used; where common names are mentioned, it is in a most general way. For these reasons, whether you are a botanist or an interested novice (like myself) you will want supplemental resources. However, the illustrated field guides, although easier to obtain, are less thorough. Beauchamp's Flora also lists areas in which the various species are found, and does so in a less general way than do the popular field guides. The location specificity can be very helpful, if, for instance, you find yourself questioning whether Wild Buckwheat occurs in the wild Bucksnort Mountains (but you will need to know that California wild buckwheat is more precisely known as Eriogonum before you can look it up). The book also lists the frequency of occurrence in cited locations.

This volume may be hard to find, but it is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the region's botany.