An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees: 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland (Center Books) [Hardcover]

Melanie Choukas-Bradley (Author), Tina Thieme Brown (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2004 | Series: Center Books

A thorough yet user-friendly companion to the authors' popular paperback Sugarloaf: The Mountain's History, Geology, and Natural Lore -- both books are the result of a ten-year collaboration -- this volume is an exquisitely illustrated guide to 350 eastern woodland wildflowers and trees found on site at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland. Many of these plants also thrive across a wide region of the eastern United States and Canada, making this guide a remarkably helpful resource for both mid-Atlantic naturalists -- amateur and experienced -- and botanical enthusiasts across North America.

Author Melanie Choukas-Bradley and illustrator Tina Thieme Brown have teamed up once again to create a practical tool for answering the age-old question frequently raised by visitors to the woods: "What is that plant over there?" At the same time, Choukas-Bradley and Brown aim to educate by presenting the plants grouped by family, so that the observer will learn to anticipate the presence of certain plants based on an understanding of their family characteristics. The text describes each plant's flower, leaf, and growth habit, gives its ideal habitat and range, describes similar species that might be confused with the plant, and gives an herbal history where applicable. And because plants are organized by family and genus, the scholarly reader can build on his or her botanical knowledge.

An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees includes a user-friendly key, an illustrated glossary of frequently used botanical terms, and is packed with nearly 400 elaborately and artistically detailed pen-and-ink drawings to make plant identification simple and fun.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Melanie Choukas-Bradley is the coauthor of City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, D.C. and a contributor to the Washington Post. Tina Thieme Brown has been a landscape artist and environmentalist for twenty years. She currently serves as campaign director for Solutions Not Sprawl, a regional alliance working to protect open space.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: University of Virginia Press (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813922518
• ISBN-13: 978-0813922515
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,346,746 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Melanie Choukas-Bradley, Author and Naturalist

www.melaniechoukas-bradley.com

Melanie Choukas-Bradley is the author of City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, D.C. (illustrated by Polly Alexander). The book has been in continuous print for 29 years in three editions. The newest edition is published by the University of Virginia Press. The Washington Post Book World called City of Trees: "A splendid field guide--practical, botanically sound, and filled with good stories." Melanie is the author of two highly acclaimed books about Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland (illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown) and she has been a long-time free-lance contributor to The Washington Post and many other publications. Melanie leads tree tours and field trips in and around Washington, D.C. for the Audubon Naturalist Society, the U.S. Botanic Garden and Casey Trees and she teaches summer wildflower identification for the Natural History Field Studies Program of the Graduate School and the Audubon Naturalist Society. She lectures widely and has been a guest on the Diane Rehm Show, All Things Considered, the Kojo Nnamdi Show and Metro Connection (on the Washington, D.C. NPR affiliate WAMU). She is Vice President of the Maryland Native Plant Society and serves on the Chevy Chase Tree Ordinance Board.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE GOOD WORD, July 15, 2004

By 

Jeri Metz (Cabin John, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees: 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland (Center Books) (Hardcover)

This is from the July issue of Pomegranate Seeds
[e-mail]

THE GOOD WORD:
A New Field Guide to Eastern
Wildflowers, Trees and Shrubs
by Jeri Metz

I just purchased the most authoritative and readable field guide to wildflowers, herbs, shrubs, vines and trees for the Mid-Eastern United States. An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees by Melanie Choukas-Bradley, illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown, is eminently readable and includes all the local native and naturalized species that grow abundantly here without any help from us. This is the perfect book for anyone who is interested in gardening with Mother Nature, creating a water-wise native plant garden, or just identifying the local plants while out walking and hiking. The author describes the plants with expert plant taxonomy, humor, and personal anecdotes, throwing in folklore and history where appropriate. She includes specifics on habitat and range, as well as bloom time and where the plants can be found when walking the trails of Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland. The illustrations, drawn from life, are simple and beautiful, appropriately delicate when describing fragile spring wildflowers, richly detailed and imposing when capturing the hardier species. They compliment every page they are on.

The book is a love letter from two naturalists to their adored Sugarloaf Mountain, where they spent ten years hiking and painstakingly identifying the plants. They view the mountain as a rare gift and "a learning laboratory." But this guide is so much more than the plants on Sugarloaf Mountain. It covers every plant I could think to look up. It includes a very readable botanical key and a comprehensive illustrated glossary. There are suggested readings. But what makes it unique and exceptional in my library of field guides, is the personal touch in both the writings and drawings. The love that Choukas-Bradley and Brown feel for these plants jumps from the pages and I can feel and see how wondrous and magical each plant is for them. By sharing their reverence and respect for all these plants, they inspire while they educate.

An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees; 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland, by Melanie Choukas-Bradley. Illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown. University of Virginia Press. $39.95 through the Audubon Naturalist Society and bookstores and on www.amazon.com.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent field guide with exquisite illustrations., July 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees: 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland (Center Books) (Hardcover)

This book is far more detailed than any other wildflower guides I've seen but is written in simple language that I can understand. The illustrations are beautiful and so detailed that it makes it easy to identify wildflowers I find on Sugarloaf Mountain and in walks along the Potomac River. I like learning about medicinal uses of native plants and the book is filled with herbal lore. It's a friendly book that is scientifically accurate and detailed but also contains personal anecdotes in which the author's love of trees and wildflowers comes through. I carry both this book and the companion volume--Sugarloaf: The Mountain's History, Geology and Natural Lore on my hikes.

One of my favorite things about the book is that the plants are organized according to families, with information about each plant family. It's fun to find members of the lily family and the rose family growing in the woods. The book helps you understand relationships between plants in a meaningful way. I like thinking about how this onion that I'm eating is related to the trout lily that grows along Sugarloaf Mountain's streams! Plus, its illustrated glossary is an extremely helpful learning tool.

I recommend this field guide to everyone, from novice to experienced botanists.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully illustrated book on an equally as beautiful mtn, July 16, 2004

By 

Frank Babcock (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees: 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland (Center Books) (Hardcover)

This is the second in a series of 2 books on the Sugarloaf Mountain region in Barnesville, Maryland. A must-have for any local resident to Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia, you will literally feel like you are up on the mountain in the pages of this book, whose gorgeous illustrations and writing bring the mountain to life in any reader's mind as vividly as the real thing! More importantly, the beauty throughout the pages of this book will drive you out Hwy 70 right over to and up the mountain to see it first hand. One of the North-east's best kept treasures, Sugarloaf Mountain was once the runner-up for what became Camp David, this field guide provides readers with a truely tangible appreciation for why it was also among FDR's favorite resting spots! Make it yours too, beginning with this book!