Product Description

This is the most complete, comprehensive and informative field guide ever published on the flora of this region. Sponsored by the Tennessee Native Plant Society, this labor of love has been 14 years in the making. The result is a landmark achievement that brings the beauty and uniqueness of wildflowers to amateurs and experts alike. The focus is on Tennessee, but the Ohio Valley and Southern Appalachians are covered, encompassing all or parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. 800 color photographs, 96 line drawings, 3 full-color state and region maps.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41664 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781551054285
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
A first-rate new guide to more than 1200 species. Photos are easy to use; reproduction quality is excellent. --Chattanooga Times Free Press

About the Author
Dennis Horn is an engineer, naturalist, amateur botanist, and wildflower photographer who makes his home in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He is currently vice president of the Tennessee Native Plants Society and also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Rare Plants in Tennessee. For over 40 years, Dennis has traveled from the Mississippi River to the Blue Ridge Mountains studying and photographing Tennessee wildflowers. Dennis was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the State of Tennessee in 2003 for his conservation efforts.

An interpretive naturalist and writer, Tavia Cathcart brings extensive knowledge of ethnobotany, folklore, and mythology of plants to this book. A native of Middle Tennessee and an active member of the Tennessee Native Plants Society, her search for plants and their stories has taken her from the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to rarely visited coves in the Smoky Mountains. She has run her own award-winning consulting and writing business, Cathcart Media, for nearly two decades, specializing in teaching and environmental projects. Her writings have been published in national and regional journals, anthologies, and conservation magazines.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book at a Great Price
There are several things that set this book apart from other field guides. The plasticized cover, heavy stock paper, and page size make for an excellent and robust field guide. The quick color guide in the front makes short work of identification. The photos are taken from the aspect at which you would discover the plant, also helping with identification. Descriptions are will written and complete.

But the thing I like most is the ethnobotanical aspect of the book. Each plant has a historical description of its role in human activity. Gaining an understanding of its use by different cultures over the ages is a real treat.

Don't let the price fool you, this book is well worth twice the price. If I am not mistaken, some of the proceeds go to the Tennessee Native Plant Society, so obviously compiling this book was a labor of love.

May all your weeds be wildflowers, enjoy!

Hands-down Favorite Smoky Mtns/TN Wildflower ID Book
I've been cataloging thousands of wildflower photos over the past six years and probably own or have "borrowed" most wildflower field ID guides that are out there. This book is easily my favorite. Why?

Easy to use: A color key w/thumbnail images for more than half of the flowers in the book makes finding the right flower much easier if you do not know which family of flowers to search in. If you do have to browse all the pages then the placement of flower photos along the outside edges of the pages makes thumbing thru the book easier than most. The pages are substantial enough to make for easy browsing too.

Ethnobotanical info: Most flowers have a special paragraph about the historical and current usages of the flowering plants for purposes other than visual pleasure, i.e. medicinal, food, ceremonial, dyes, etc.

I'd been using Jack Carman's book "Wildflowers of Tennessee" as my "bible" for TN wildflowers but now this book with a similar name is my favorite. I still use the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers as a "family locator" because of its easy-to-use key (flower color plus bloom type) when searching for that unknown flower. One big aggravation with the Audubon book is that the details are in the "white pages" somewhere in the back of the book. The Wildflowers of Tennessee book has all of the info right there on the same page as the photo.

For newbies the color key makes this book user friendly--even though the flowers are grouped by family, genus then species (as are most wildflower field guides).

Downside? There are still many, many species flower flowers that have only a description rather than an actual photograph. However, this book is small enough to be practical in the field.

The price is great! I paid almost thirty dollars for the Carman book and it was worth every penny. I don't know how they can sell this fabulous book for such a low price.

Highly recommended. If you want to buy only one wildflower ID book for the Smokies then this is it.

W O W what a book!
This is the absolute book for wildflowers. Pictures are clear and precise, the information is a bonus. What a book!