Florida Wild Flowers: And Roadside Plants

by Bryan J. Taylor and C. Ritchie Bell

Book Overview

Florida boasts an extremely diverse flora, ranging from tropical species in the south to Appalachian Mountain remnants in the panhandle. Florida Wild Flowers and Roadside Plants is a helpful guide to identifying 500 species of Florida plant life, including rare as well as common wild flowers and characteristic trees, shrubs, vines, and ferns. Each description includes both common and scientific names, a range map, symbols to show the season of bloom, and a useful summary code of nine key plant, leaf, and flower characters, to aid in identification. With rich color photographs and brief, nontechnical notes to accompany each species, this handbook is a valuable reference for tourists, residents, students, and anyone interested in plants in all seasons of the year, from Pensacola to the Keys.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0960868836
• ISBN13: 9780960868834
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent reference for amateur botanist

If the photo is not sufficient to quickly identify the plant, the descriptions are concise and tell you exactly what you need to know. Differences with similar species are often noted, along with blooming time and habitat. Also, the author describes the different habitats in florida and if the plant is not native, the author calls that out. I very much enjoyed using this book in the field to identify plants.

Good Guide But Not the Most User-Friendly

The inside cover has a great chart on how to identify flowers (petal number, leaf shape, etc.). In the back it has an index that helps you narrow down which flower it is by starting with its color and then looking at its other character traits. I'm a beginner simply wanting to identify the wildflowers in my yard. It took me an hour to identify my first flower. I'm used to wildflower books that are divided by color. This guide isn't. It does have nice photographs and a simple description.

Gorgeous photographs, excellent information, easy to use

This book is a very useful guide to a large variety of Florida plants, as well as a superb collection of truly stunning photographs. It can be used for simple visual identification, but its organization by family and its binomial key make it user-friendly for the botanist as well.