Review – Common Weeds of the United States – Dept of Ag
“Common Weeds of the United States” is a traditional id guide to 224 weeds of the continental United States. There are no control measures listed, just the id of the weeds. Chosen for inclusion are weeds that are “prevalent weeds in croplands, grazing lands, noncroplands and aquatic sites.” The introduction states that this set of weeds was selected by weed scientists largely from the composite list of 1,775 weeds published by the Weed Science Society of America in WEEDS 14: 347-386, 1966. Thus, if the reader wants to identify down to the species, the reader should further id the weed in more complete manuals. But this is a good guide to get close.
The scientific nomenclature is that of the Weed Science Society of America. The organization is the traditional evolutionary order of the plant families and then alphabetical by scientific name., genus then specie. Common names, as listed by the Weed Science Society of America, are listed also.
Each weed has two pages. On one page is a scientific description of the weed. The introduction states: “The descriptions are semi technical, with the terminology simplified wherever possible.” This is true, compared to say, Gray's Manuals. But the reader will need basic knowledge of the scientific descriptive terms and style of descriptions of botany. The drawings are drawings. There are not photographs. The drawings are good, but of the old botanical drawing school. Once the reader adjusts to drawings instead of photographs, the drawings are clear and distinct. The details of the seeds are very good.
This is an excellent, traditional guide to common weeds. Considering the cost of updating this to color photography and printing and the most likely audience of trained professionals, this is a good tradeoff. For the layman, or common person who idly wants to know what that weed is, this is a little too scientific.
Amazon lists another book by the same name and publisher from 1971, so this is an ongoing series of editions.
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4.2 out of 5
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Outdated, outdated, of historical interest perhaps
I picked this book up secondhand to add to my collection of similar volumes. Mostly I use Weeds of the Northeast (Comstock books) and also National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers--E: Eastern Region - Revised Edition, but quite a few others as well, some out of print. This one is so outdated that it's basically useless.The drawings are detailed, yes, and there is one for almost every plant. Very nice. There is no listing at all for Heracleum / Giant Hogweed, which has become a health hazard in some areas. Poison ivy and poison oak are listed as completely separate species with no indication of the range of appearance -- and no mention of the "Toxicodendron" taxonomy now preferred. (Regarding poison ivy, I very much like this book: The Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac Book: A Short Natural History and Cautionary Account.) The lack of attention to detail in getting the names right is appalling. I must admit that the listing for "hemp" (Cannabis sativa) is pretty cute. I would like to be able to field ID hemp dogbane, which we do have in my area, but I can't yet, and the entry in this book isn't any help either. I suspect that for some plants nothing replaces a living person pointing out that first example.The book has a copyright date of 1970 but really feels more like a relic of the 1950s. I am writing this in 2010. Aside from the cute listing for "hemp," and the historical value of the range maps, I can see no reason for this book to take up shelf space as an actual field reference item. Not to say people may not find it of value as part of a collection of USDA titles, or for the drawings. It's useless to me. I wish they'd come out with an updated version.
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