Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Wormsloe Foundation Publications, No 20) (Hardcover)

~ Wilbur H. Duncan (Author), Marion B. Duncan (Author) "Leaves usually pinnately or palmately netveined; floral parts, when of definite number, typically in sets of 5, often 4, seldom 3 (carpels often fewer); embryo..." (more)
Key Phrases: thin pinelands, stable dune areas, thin upland woods, Appal Mts, Amaryllis Family, Bladderwort Family (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An excellent guidebook for anyone who appreciates the beauty of our natural environment. The marvelous photographs make the book a real bargain."--Bowling Green Daily News

"An important reference for people who enjoy discovering and identifying native nonwoody plants."--Charlotte Observer

"Impressive . . . A must-have book on the shelf of anyone interested in nature in Florida."--Tampa Tribune-Times

"A useful guide to more than 1,000 species . . . very appealing visually."--Choice

"Succinct yet complete. That's what sets this book apart. . . . Small enough to fit in a backpack, this guide is one of the best you can find.”--Baton Rouge Sunday Advocate Magazine

Product Description

Richly illustrated with over 600 color photographs, this guide describes more than 1,100 wildflowers that can be found east of the Mississippi--in our woods and parks, along mountain trails or dunes, and even floating in streams. Whether you are a resident or a visitor, an amateur naturalist or a professional botanist, this guide will be a welcome addition to your library, classroom, or backpack.

Wildflowers of the Eastern United States is

• Thorough: Covers more than 1,100 species of wildflowers found from Maine to northern Florida, including forbs, grasses, rushes, and sedges. More than 700 of these species also are found west of the Mississippi.
• Useful: Includes both common and scientific names. The succinct descriptions and color photographs provide the most easily recognizable characteristics necessary for positive identification of each species.
• Accessible: Keeps language as simple as possible so that hobbyists as well as specialists will find the book accurate and easy to use. A glossary and line drawings define and illustrate botanical terminology, and the authors provide a brief guide to plant structure.
• Informative: Describes range, blooming season, and typical habitat for each species. A list of plants with unusual characteristics is a further aid to identification.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: A Wormsloe Foundation Publication; 1 edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0820321079
• ISBN-13: 978-0820321073
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #878,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best single book for the serious enthusiast, July 25, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Marietta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews

Wilbur Duncan is professor emeritus of botany at the Univeristy of Georgia, and with his wife, Marion, have travelled extensively through the eastern US photographing and studying the plants. This book is essentially an update to his 1978 Wildflowers of the Southeast United States, expanded to include the area east of the Mississippi River.

Note to begninners and novices: this is a pretty heavy-duty book, no shortcuts to get to the flower by color or leaf. If you ID the "thumb-through" method, it will take time as there are 630 species with photographs. That's a lot to thumb through. The first portion of the book is descriptions of the species (631) arranged by family and genus. So a working knowledge of scientific names at the family and genus level is a very big help. All the photographs are labelled ONLY with scientific names. Trying it out on a total beginner and a novice taught me that scientific names are a hindrance to easy learning, BUT, if you really want to know what species you are looking at, it is an absolute necessity. That's why it's for the SERIOUS enthusiast.

Scott Ranger

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book For This Beginner, June 6, 2006

By	Frank Dutton (Many, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I echo the previous review - this book is heavy duty for beginners and there are a lot of pictures to thumb through. However, I'm a beginner beginner and I had a lot of flower pictures I had taken that I wanted to identify. This book was a great help, along with Audubon's Field Guide to North American Wildflowers. This book covers much that theirs doesn't - not a whole lot of overlap between the two - so they're very complementary. If you don't mind taking the time to go through the EXCELLENT pictures, this is a very good reference - especially for someone who know next to nothing about wildflowers such as myself.