Linda S. Nagy

This is a sweet little field guide for flowers of the Rocky Mountain area. Here in northern New Mexico, I am just at the southern edge of that. Right off the bat, I recognized several flowers in this book. I love that the book itself fits easily in my small hands and this makes it perfect for packing on a hike or carrying around on slow stroll.

The book is cleverly organized by flower color. In fact the edges of the pages are colored so you can look at the closed book side on and see right away where to turn to for a flower identification. The book opens with some useful info that is succinctly given – no rambling, which is great. Clear illustrations provide info on the different parts of a flower, what different kinds of flower clusters are called, and various leaf shapes. I have a biology degree and these few pages taught me a few things about plants.

The description for each flower contains the Latin name, the genetic family, and the common names. The habitats, flowering season(s), and altitude zone is also given for each flower. sizes of both the flower and the plant are also given. I especially liked that several descriptions have a line or two about where the flower’s common name came from. It’s a cool piece of trivia for dinner parties and hiking buddies alike.

The photography is clear and sharp. The images often have insets so that you can see what the plant looks like from a few feet away and then what the flowers look like up close. The lighting in the images is pretty consistent throughout too which I think is an accomplishment. Obviously, not all 270+ flowers could have been photoed in the same day.

I am most pleased with this field guide and I think many folks and flower enthusiasts would find it useful. I appreciate the compact nature of this book all around – the concise descriptions and the physical size of the book. Definitely pick up your copy in time for wild flower season!



I received a copy at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.… (més)