Wildflowers Grasses and Other Plants of the Northern Plains and Black Hills

Rating:
Summary: A handy guide you can carry in your daypack
Review: The book describes 312 species of flowering plants, chosen from among about 2000 species of flowering plants native to a region that "includes the western parts of Minnesota and Iowa, all of North Dakota and South Dakota and Nebraska and the eastern parts of Montana and Wyoming." In other words, it's a guide to the most prominent flowering plants in the large geographic sector called the Grassland Province, which is a wide north-south belt of grasssland extending from Alberta and Saskatchewan south to Texas.

The books presents a color picture, usually about 2-inches by 2-inches square, for each species. It also gives the common name and scientific name, as well as a paragraph of the most important information about each species.

A particularly useful feature is that the book is divided into separate sections for grasses and ferns, yellow flowers, white flowers, red flowers and blue flowers. So, if you find a plant whose name you don't know, all you have to do is whizz to the section for flowers of that color. And there you are, unless it's a rare plant.

There's a good index and a small but useful bibliography.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent companion for wildflower walks in the high plains
Review: The latest edition of l992 is an excellent companion for wildflower and grass identification on the high plains of Montana. The photos, descriptions, text and organization make it easy to use for the amateur wildflower enthusiast.