Customer Reviews

Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is useful in many ways: as a field guide, reference, habitat identifier,uses of plants such as food or medicine (e.g. by local Native Americans), soil types, animals present, etc. It opens up the tremendous beauty of the steppe-shrub-sagebrush deserts of the West. Lovely photos. This so-called "barren land" is teeming with amazing diversity and color. It is also helpful for those of us attempting native plant (indigeous) gardens. I highly recommend it.

I have used this book in two places: the Columbia Basin sagebrushcountry just east of the Washington cascades, and in south-central Idaho. For the Columbia Basin this book is very good. Anything that catches your eye is likely to be included, despite the book's slimness. In central Idaho the coverage is not so good, and you will end up wondering if what you're looking at is in the book. Just remember, as with all small, easy to use plant guides, there are probably five times as many plant species on the ground, even in the Columbia basin, as there are in the book.

The natural history coverage is reliable but not terribly extensive.

In Washington I have found it's nice to have this in combination with the authoritative but unfriendly and jargon-ridden Hitcock and Cronquist flora. Taylor will get it for you if it's a reasonably common plant, or give you a good starting point for wading around in H&C, if there's any doubt.

No this book is not as comprehensive as Hitcock and Cronquist but it is so user-friendly that it is an essential for travel in sagebrush country, anywhere in the great basin. It serves as a great starting point to find a genus when a more comprehensive resourch is available for further clarification. The addition of natural history (ecosytem descriptions) and some ethnobotany make it even better. The color photos are great for quick ids of more common plants. Here in Central Oregon it is excellent. With this book along with Andy MacKinnon's books, you can give you pretty good id coverage for most of the Northwest. Websites can fill in gaps and details effectively for most of us. Great for gardeners who use native plants as well. If you even know about this book, you will love it. All the copies I have seen have been well-used. It is a great bargain too. Highly recommended.

I have had this book for nearly 10 years and have referred to it frequently! I first used in the high desert of Elko County NV and it couldn't have been a better fit!! My only comment or wish for this book is a reprint with new pictures!! (I'd buy it!!) It presents the beauty of the high desert sagebrush communities!

This is a great reference for both beginning and advanced botanists. - Also a great size for your field pack or an addition to the plastic crate of books carried around in your rig for those impromptu botanizing adventures!

Excellent primer on the flora of the dry side of the Cascades for those from the green side.

I lost my first copy of this book, so I had to replace it before the wildflowers started blooming. This is a wonderful book to have if you live or plan to visit the desert.

This is an ok field guide to some, though certainly not all, of the flora in sagebrush communities. It offers good to mildly satisfactory photographs of the plants, and keys to help identify them should one get stumped (pun not intended).

I found this book on Amazon and found a super price and it was delivered at top speed to my house just as I was heading out to Washington State to check out the sagebrush country. This book was such a wonderful companion!