Customer Reviews

Plants of the Coast Redwood Region

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book has nicely reproduced pictures, classification, and very readable and informative text on many of the trees and flowers of the northern coast of California. The text includes description, natural history, and special notes regarding native American uses of plants, edibility, or cautions regarding poisonous plants. Very nicely done!

I moved ten years ago to the Santa Cruz Mountains, and have found this book invaluable in helping me to identify and appreciate plants and trees on our property, particularly how they were used as medicines or as raw material for baskets, structures etc by the native Ohlone people. Also, her discussion about exotic, invasive species has motivated us to eradicate the invasive french broom and star thistle that were taking over our land. Now many of the native species she describes are returning.

This little book is an excellent survey of the most common plants in the redwood region. Definitely a wonderful introduction for beginning students of these plants. The book helps to identify these organisms at the same time as it adds some interesting information about each plant. Highly recommended. It appears as it now is out of print which is a pity. Please bring it back!

I, too, have moved into the Santa Cruz mountain region and have found this book invaluable for identifying what is on my acreage. The pictures are an enormous aid with their clarity. They sometimes illustrate the plants/trees in various seasonal forms, show pinecones, berries, flowers etc. This book is a real winner!

The book covers most things that it should, although there are a few that should have made the book but didn't. But I guess you have to draw the line somewhere. Also, poison hemlock should have been listed in the "exotic" section.

The lack of a taxonomic key might bother some, but I found the book short enough I could just run through it until I found what I was looking for.

One thing that really bothered me about the book, however, was the book's bluntly ethnocentric comment on page 21 that "evidently there was some merit" to the Indian use of California Bay as a treatment for rheumatism because "the settlers later adopted the treatment." (!)

Nevertheless, as a field guide it's quite useful.

I have used Kathleen Lyons' book for several years now as part of our youth program camping activities. Pretty much every plant in the state parks (Big Basin, Portola, Butano) or in the San Mateo County Parks (Memorial, Pescadero, etc.) are covered here. My only wish is that it had further modes of indexing so that it would be easier to use as an identification tool. I strongly recommend this book to any Scoutmaster who works with scouts on their path to 1st class.

Apparently the book is out-of-print but I've found it through alternative vendor sources.