Product Description

Here are descriptions and illustrations of 1,492 species from 77 families - virtually all of the wildflowers found from British Columbia to Baja California, from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Grouped by color, each species description includes field marks, size, habitat, range, flowering season, and common and scientific names.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64500 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

About the Author
Dr. Theodore F. Niehaus became interested in plants at an early age: his father, a U.S. forest ranger, taught him the names of the plants at the Sierra Nevada ranger stations where they lived. He has since studied plants throughout the Pacific states and in Alaska and Latin America and has discovered and named a number of new species. He holds a doctorate in taxonomic botany from the University of California at Berkeley and has taught at Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. Now engaged in writing and research, he is the author of "Sierra Wildflowers", "A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers" (no. 32 in the Peterson Field Guide Series), and several scientific papers.

Roger Tory Peterson, one of the world"s greatest naturalists, received every major award for ornithology, natural science, and conservation, as well as numerous honorary degrees, medals, and citations, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Peterson Identification System has been called the greatest invention since binoculars, and the Peterson Field Guides® are credited with helping to set the stage for the environmental movement.

Charles L. Ripper, one of the world's leading wildlife and nature artists, has illustrated dozens of books and magazine articles and has also painted stamps for the National Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Postal Service. His work has been published in many forms and is in many private collections.

Customer Reviews

Excellent Field Guide to help identify Wildflowers
I take this guide (and the Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers-- west) on all my field trips to identify wildflowers. Though Peterson has fewer real photos, it does have better aids to identify specific wildflowers, as it is organized by color, as well as number and types of petals. The sketches help me do a preliminary id on the wildflower.

A Field Guide to Western Wildflowers
Personally, I think the Peterson Guides are far more helpful than the Audobon publications. As mentioned in other reviews, Peterson uses illustrations organized by color and flower configuration. The illustrations are very well done. Audobon uses photos. The idea is that you match your specimen to the photo it most closely matches and follow further identification from there. The books are complimetary and work well together; however, if you can only choose one-- get the Peterson book. Overall, I have had much better success keying out plants with Peterson and repeatedly have found the plant I am looking for overlooked in the Audobon text. The truth be known, I doubt I will ever buy a Audobon plant book again-- perhaps they are better with birds.

A Useful Tool
Though this title may be a little pricy, it is a must have for residents of California, Oregon, and Washington. At any rate, any family within which there is a flower collecter, should have a copy of this excellent resource. Though my family originally purchased this title because of a biology project assigned to my daughter, it has since opened up an interesting world of the natural plant life of this area and even those farther away.