Flowers of the Southwest Deserts [Paperback]

Natt Noyes Dodge (Author), Janish (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0911408657 | ISBN-13: 978-0911408652 | Publication Date: January 1985 | Edition: Later Printing

Field guide to over 100 of the most common flowering desert plants of the Southwest, emphasizing those likely to be found in National Park Service areas. Detailed line drawings for identification.

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Western Natl Parks Assoc; Later Printing edition (January 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0911408657
• ISBN-13: 978-0911408652
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #813,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent day-hiker's guide to Sonoran desert plants, May 13, 2000

By 

Robert O. Corley (Globe, Arizona, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flowers of the Southwest Deserts (Paperback)

This Sonoran desert guide to common plants is published by the Southwest Parks and Monuments Assoc. It is an excellent guide to keep in your day pack as you hike southwestern deserts. Black and white illustrations are well done and are a great help in identification. Plants are organized by color of flower blossoms which makes it easier for the everyday hiker who is not familiar with botanical taxonomy. The book includes commons species of cacti, desert trees, shrubs, annuals, and perennials. I particularly enjoy the inclusion of details about medicinal and/or edible uses of the plants by native Americans of the area. My appreciation of our desert plants is greatly enhanced when I understand how the plants have been used -- and can still be used today. I am a 30-year veteran educator, and use information from this book regulary when on nature hikes with students of all ages. The book has only 4 pages of color photos of plants. I would rate the book as 5-star if it had more color-photo pages. Other desert plant I.D. books have more color pages, but are also much more expensive.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Introduction to Southwestern Desert Plants, July 1, 2011

By 

David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flowers of the Southwest Deserts (Paperback)

I remember the first edition of this booklet by Natt N. Dodge, which must have come out in the 1950s when I was growing up in Yuma County, Arizona. "Flowers of the Southwest Deserts" was, I believe, the first in a series that later included "Flowers of the Southwest Mesas," "Flowers of the Southwest Mountains", and similar booklets on the shrubs and trees and mammals. About the year I acquired my first copy, which was dogeared before long, we had a rare heavy winter rain that resulted in the sandy desert near Yuma being covered with a carpet of white evening primrose (not covered in this guide, except by the new addition of a color photo on p. 55!), sand verbena and ajo lilies (both represented). Thus I found the names of two of the most enchanting (if rarely seen) flowering plants of the Sonoran Desert. Despite the limitations of the book, which was published by the Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, it was a great introduction to a flora not easily found in the guidebooks then available. I thus still have a fondness for this little guide, which was first published with no color photos at all. The line drawings were (and still are) very clear.

I have a few minor gripes about the most recent edition, mostly having to do with coverage (I think that if they are going to include a photo of the white evening primrose, they should also add a description!), but on the whole this is an excellent and cheap beginning text on the flowering plants of the desert for someone just encountering them for the first time. Many of the most showy species will be identifiable and if the reader's interest is sharpened, there are now many newer books on the subject that will help.

4.0 out of 5 stars Still useful after 15 years, November 27, 2009

By 

Robert C. Ross (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flowers of the Southwest Deserts (Paperback)

The Western National Parks Association keeps this excellent hiker's guide in print and available at their online shop. I agree with the other Review: although there are no color photographs, the strong textual identifications and excellent black and white photographs make this very useful on the trail.

Good binding, small size, handy and accurate -- a great companion on the trail in the Southwest.

Robert C. Ross 2009