Timber Press Field Guide

An essential reference for mushroom enthusiasts, hikers, and naturalists Mushrooms of the Southeast is a compact, beautifully illustrated guide packed with descriptions and photographs of hundreds of the region's most important mushrooms. In addition to profiles on individual species, the book also includes a general discussion and definition of fungi, information on where to find mushrooms and collection guidelines, an overview of fungus ecology, and information on mushroom poisoning and how to avoid it.   • Fully illustrates 330 species and discusses more than 1,000 of the region's most conspicuous, distinctive, interesting, and ecologically important mushrooms • Covers northern Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia • Helpful keys for identification • Clear, color-coded layout Mushroom hunters and foragers rejoice! Mushrooms of the Southeast is the indispensable guide to finding and identifying the mushrooms in northern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.  Todd Elliott is a freelance naturalist, biologist, photographer, and forager. His research has led him to studies in fungal biology and taxonomy that have taken him to remote corners of the world to explore tropical rainforests, temperate woodlands, deserts, beaches, and high mountains on six continents.  Steven L. Stephenson is a research professor at the University of Arkansas. He has collected and studied fungi for more than three decades, and his research program has taken him to all seven continents and every major type of terrestrial ecosystem.      Introduction For the purpose of this field guide, the Southeast is defined as extending from northern Florida to Maryland and encompassing the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. This region includes portions of seven different physiographic provinces in eastern North America. A physiographic province is defined as a geographic region with a characteristic type of landscape and usually a different type of subsurface rock (e.g., sandstone or limestone). Both landscape and subsurface rock contribute to the development of what is often a distinctive type of vegetation. The Coastal Plain makes up the largest land area of the Southeast, extending from eastern Maryland southward to northern Florida and west to Louisiana. Virtually all of Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as major portions of southern and eastern Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, fall within this province. The Coastal Plain is characterized by a relatively flat landscape and sometimes poorly drained areas. Located west of the Coastal Plain is a second physiographic province, the Piedmont, which extends from eastern Alabama northward through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia to central Maryland. The Piedmont is composed of more rolling hills than the Coastal Plain. The southern Appalachian Mountains occupy portions of nine states in the Southeast and include three physiographic provinces. The Appalachian Plateau (or Cumberland Plateau, as it is known in Kentucky) occurs from western Maryland to northern Alabama; this dissected tableland is broadest in West Virginia, where it occupies more than half the state. Located just east of the Appalachian Plateau is the Valley and Ridge, which also extends from western Maryland to northern Alabama; this region consists of a series of well-defined alternating ridges and valleys trending from north to south. The Blue Ridge, situated between the Piedmont and the Valley and Ridge, occurs from Maryland to northern Georgia. The highest mountains in the Southeast are part of the B

A comprehensive field guide to the wildflowers of the Lone Star State In Wildflowers of Texas, Michael Eason describes and illustrates more than 1,100 commonly encountered species, both native and introduced. The book is organized by flower color, with helpful color coding along the page edges making it easy to navigate. • Covers all ecoregions of Texas • Describes and illustrates more than 1200 species • Includes perennials, annuals, and subshrubs, both native and nonnative • 1230 beautiful color photographs • User-friendly organization by flower color • Authoritative trailside reference   A must-have guide for hikers, naturalists, gardeners, and anyone wishing to learn more about the diverse wildflowers of Texas. Michael Eason is the head of the San Antonio Botanical Garden rare plant conservation department. He is also a conservation botanist for Texas Flora, a botanical consulting company. Eason has previously worked with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Millennium Seed Bank Project. He volunteers his time for organizations like the Wildflower Center, the Native Plant Society of Texas, and the Nature Conservancy.  Texas is a vast state. At nearly 269,000 square miles, it is second only to Alaska in size and comparable to Florida in plant diversity. With nearly 6000 taxa in the state's flora, you could spend a lifetime exploring and learning about the plants within its borders. Coastal Texas offers dune species; South Texas has sabal palm groves and night-blooming cereus cactus that can be several meters tall. Pine woodlands, orchids, and pitcher plants are found in East Texas, while extensive stands of yucca and ocotillo dominate in the arid lands of West Texas. Oak-juniper-pine woodlands characterize the upper elevations of the sky islands. Grasslands and canyon lands sweep through the Panhandle, and, of course, wildflowers line the country roads in Central Texas. Texas is fortunate to have such floral diversity. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, it also offers a wide range of habitats for fauna. The scope of this book primarily covers herbaceous flowering angiosperms. Trees, shrubs, cacti, grasses, sedges, rushes, and nonflowering plants (ferns and fern allies) are not covered. Occasionally, a few woody vines are included as well as semiwoody species, such as plumed tiquilia (Tiquilia greggii), as they fall into a gray area called subshrubs. Because Texas covers a large area and consists of such a variety of habitats, every effort has been made to ensure equal representation throughout the ecoregions and geographic areas of Texas. Of course, some locales have more plant diversity, and thus have more species represented here. I have also endeavored to include a wide range of plant families, and within larger families, examples of each genus. For the sake of space, many species had to be omitted; just a quarter of the state's herbaceous and semiwoody angiosperms are included. Nonetheless, a conscious effort was made to incorporate species that have not been included in other field guides. Both native and introduced species are described, as all of these are now part of the region's flora. When Europeans arrived in the area now known as Texas, they brought plants for medicinal, aesthetic, and agricultural uses. Over time, these plants have escaped and naturalized. Other species were accidental introductions-unintentionally spread via seed mixes or other sources of contamination. New species continue to arrive, whether as garden escapees or seeds inadvertently spread through human activity. The majority of species included in this book are common plants that can be found throughout Texas-roadside wildflowers, if you will. Uncommon species, such as Echeveria strictiflora, are also included, as well as rare plants. Some less-showy species have also been described. When one hears the term "wildflower" one immediately thinks of a large blousy f

Birding in the Pacific Northwest has never been easier! Birds of the Pacific Northwest describes and illustrates more than 400 bird species commonly encountered in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. This comprehensive, full-color guide is organized to follow the order in which groups and species are presented by the American Union. Range maps for each species provide valuable information for identification. • Detailed accounts of nearly 400 bird species, including common favorites and rare curiosities • More than 870 spectacular photographs of relevant plumages and birds in flight • Precise descriptions of voices, behaviors, and habitats • Top birding sites in the Pacific Northwest • Individual range maps, showing seasonal and migratory patterns • Easy to use for beginners and experts alike As a part of the Timber Press Field Guide book series, Birds of the Pacific Northwest is the essential guide for both experienced and beginner birders.  Lifelong birding enthusiast John Shewey is a veteran writer, editor, and professional outdoor photographer, with credits in Birdwatching, Portland Monthly, Northwest Travel & Life, and dozens of other magazines, and co-author of Birds of the Pacific Northwest, a Timber Press Field Guide. John has photographed birds from the mountains of Alaska to the jungles of Central America to the islands of the Caribbean, and his website chronicles many of these travels in rich photographic detail. Visit him at birdingoregon.com. Tim Blount has birded extensively in the United States and Europe. He is a director with the Oregon Birding Association and a board member of the Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Blount helps organize and conduct bird surveys on Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding areas and has guided numerous groups and individuals in Oregon, sharing his love of birds with beginners and experts alike.   Introduction: Birdwatching in the Pacific Northwest The corner of the world we know as the Pacific Northwest is home to an amazing array of bird life. From the southern borders of Oregon and Idaho, north to southern British Columbia, to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and east to the Rocky Mountains, almost 400 bird species occur. This includes nearly 300 breeding species, thanks to the region's incredibly diverse habitat types: open ocean, beaches and bays, coniferous forest, deciduous woodlands, mixed forests, high mountains, deserts, shrub steppe, rivers and lakes big and small, just to name a few. Such a rich and varied assemblage of habitats assures an equally varied avian population, from bird species that occupy very small enclaves of the region, to widespread generalists that occur in many habitats. Birding strategies here are diverse, as well-from a casual interest to the near-addictive pursuit of certain species. Indeed, birdwatching enthusiasts from the far-flung corners of the United States and beyond routinely travel to the Pacific Northwest to pursue their passion-and for good reason: they can see birds found few other places and they can observe substantial numbers of species that are new to them. We ourselves are Pacific Northwest lifers; we've lived in various parts of both Oregon and Idaho, and traveled substantially throughout the region. This is our home, and the amazing diversity of birds and habitats in the Northwest is a big reason why. This guide is the culmination of our passion for birds, the Pacific Northwest, and in particular, Pacific Northwest birds. Our hope for Birds of the Pacific Northwest is to serve all levels of birdwatchers, whether you simply enjoy feeding songbirds in your backyard or are an ardent enthusiast who considers birding your primary hobby. Carry the book with you in the field, keep it handy on your bookshelf, study it and learn more about your favorite species and birds that are new to you. Above all, enjoy it and embrace the wonder of North

An essential reference for wildflower enthusiasts, hikers, and naturalists Wildflowers of New England is a compact, beautifully illustrated guide packed with descriptions and photographs of thousands of the region's most important wildflowers. It includes annuals, perennials, and biennials, both native and naturalized.  • Covers Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont • Describes and illustrates more than 1,000 species • 1,100 beautiful color photographs • User-friendly organization by color and shape • Authoritative trailside reference from the region's wildflowers experts As a part of the Timber Press Field Guide book series, Wildflowers of New England is the must-have book for simple, accurate regional flora identification. Ted Elliman has been engaged in plant conservation in the Northeast for forty years. As a plant ecologist at the New England Wild Flower Society in Framingham, Massachusetts, he conducted botanical inventories, natural community surveys, and invasive species control programs. Elliman worked as a contract ecologist for the National Park Service, and he has written numerous articles on botanical subjects for conservation organizations, scientific journals, and state and federal environmental agencies.  Founded in 1900 as the Society for the Protection of Native Plants, the Native Plant Trust is the nation's oldest plant conservation organization and a recognized leader in native plant conservation, horticulture, and education. The Society's headquarters, Garden in the Woods, is a renowned native plant botanic garden in Framingham, Massachusetts, that attracts visitors from all over the world. From this base, 25 staff and more than 700 volunteers work throughout New England to monitor and protect rare and endangered plants, collect and preserve seeds to ensure biological diversity, detect and control invasive species, conduct research, and offer a range of educational programs.  Introduction This field guide describes 1100 wildflowers and small flowering shrubs that occur in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont-the six New England states. Most of these plants are herbaceous, that is, they are species with conspicuous flowers whose stems die back in winter. Others are small, woody-stemmed shrubs, primarily those that grow no more than 3 feet in height and also have conspicuous flowers. Trees and large shrubs are not included; neither are grasses and grasslike plants, nor nonflowering plants such as ferns, horsetails, and club-mosses. The selected plants represent a high proportion of the region's flora that we think of as "wildflowers." Most grow in natural habitats-in the forests, meadows, wetlands, hills, mountains, valleys, and coastlines throughout the region. Others have found favored niches along roadsides, railway beds, and in pavement cracks. Many of them are common in the region and some are rare. A number of species are distributed throughout New England, while others are found only within a small area of a single state. Some grow only in particular conditions, such as an alpine meadow or sphagnum bog, while others flourish in a wide variety of habitats. Most of these wildflowers occur in other parts of the northeastern United States and in southeastern Canada as well as in New England. Only a few species are entirely limited to New England in their range. Plants that are native to New England and plants that are nonnative to the region are described. The common thread is that all of them grow in self-sustaining populations independent of human cultivation. A native species is one that has continuously grown in the northeastern landscape since before the time of European colonization. A nonnative or introduced plant has been brought here, accidentally or deliberately, from outside the region, and now grows here in natural conditions. Today, approximately two-thirds

A must-have for naturalists and plant lovers in the Pacific Northwest Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest is a comprehensive field guide to commonly found woody plants in the region. It features introductory chapters on the native landscape and plant entries that detail the family, scientific and common name, flowering seasons, and size. This must-have guide is for hikers, nature lovers, plant geeks, and anyone who wants to know more about the many plants of the Pacific Northwest. • Includes photographs and descriptions of 568 species of woody plants • Covers Oregon, Washington, northern California, and British Columbia • Introductory chapters discuss the ecoregions, habitats, and microhabitats of the Pacific Northwest • User-friendly organization by leaf type As a part of the Timber Press Field Guide book series, Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest is the must-have book for accurate identification of regional flora. Mark Turner is a professional photographer who has been photographing gardens and native plant environments in the Pacific Northwest for over 25 years. He brings a strong sense of photographic design, attention to detail, and curiosity about both native and garden plants to his work.  Ellen Kuhlmann is a professional botanist with extensive experience with Northwest flora. She has a background in fire ecology, rare plant research, and plant community ecology. She worked for the U.S. Forest Service for many years, and for six years was the project manager for Seeds of Success, Washington Rare Plant Care and Conservation (Rare Care), a program sponsored by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Ellen lives in Bellingham, WA.  Preface Anyone who has spent time outdoors in the Pacific Northwest has likely marveled at a giant old-growth Douglas-fir and cursed a thicket of devil's club. Alpine explorers may have been surprised to stumble upon dwarf willows no taller than the toe of their boot.      Trees and shrubs are almost everywhere in the Northwest. Maybe we take them for granted. We know that we once did, lumping understory shrubs into one homogenous "boring shrub layer" while searching for wildflowers or barreling up a trail in pursuit of an alpine summit. But the reality is that there is a great deal of diversity among our trees and shrubs, thanks in large part to the wide range of growing conditions in the Northwest. A few species, like Douglas-fir, western serviceberry, chokecherry, and common snowberry, are found in almost every county or regional district. Others, like our two rockmats, are very narrow endemics found in only a few places. The Klamath-Siskiyou Range is home to more conifer species than almost any other similar-size chunk of geography in the world.      When we began the journey that resulted in this book, we knew there were a lot of trees and shrubs to cover. Some-particularly those of the North Cascades, where we live-were familiar friends to revisit on each hike. Others, like the willows, had a vague familiarity but were often passed over because they were challenging to learn. Neither of us started on this book knowing everything we would discover along the way.      It stands to reason that our largest trees grow where the most rain falls each season. It takes a lot of water to produce a coast redwood, Sitka spruce, western redcedar, or Douglas-fir. Go east of the mountains to the Columbia Plateau or the Great Basin and you'll find a landscape dominated by sagebrush, bitterbrush, rabbitbrush, and other small shrubs. In this arid part of the Northwest, what passes for old growth may be barely shoulder high.      Chaparral only touches the Northwest, with its northernmost examples just crossing the border from California into Oregon. It's a dense, nearly impenetrable shrub environment with many oaks, manzanitas, and ceanothus that were new to both of us.      We joked at the outset of writing

In Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest, Steve Trudell describes and illustrates 493 species of the most conspicuous, distinctive, and ecologically important mushrooms found in Oregon, Washington, southern British Columbia, Idaho, and western Montana. With helpful identification keys and photographs and a clear, color-coded layout, Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest is ideal for hikers, foragers, and natural history buffs and is the perfect tool for loving where you live. Ideal for birders, hikers, foragers, and natural history buffs, Timber Press Field Guides are the perfect tools for loving where you live. This completely revised edition of Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest features all-new photographs, updated nomenclature, and additional safety information. Steve Trudell is affiliate curator in the Burke Museum Herbarium at the University of Washington. He belongs to the Mycological Society of America, North American Mycological Association, and International Mycorrhiza Society. He writes for several mycological publications and frequently serves as foray mycologist and lecturer for mycological societies.

Finding wildflowers has never been easier! Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast is an authoritative trail-side reference for hikers, naturalists, gardeners, and anyone wishing to learn more about the region's diverse flora. This comprehensive guide describes and illustrates more than 1,200 species, including perennials and annuals, both native and naturalized non-native. More than 1,300 superb color photographs, 1,200 range maps, and a user-friendly organization by color and other observable traits make identification easy. • Covers Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and southeastern Pennsylvania • Describes and illustrates more than 1200 species • Includes perennials and annuals, both native and naturalized non-native • 1337 superb color photographs, 1218 range maps, 1 regional map • User-friendly organization by flower color and other, easily observable plant features An indispensable guide to finding and identifying the wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast. Laura Cotterman has worked as both a professional botanist and an editor. She received an MS in plant ecology from NC State University and a BS in biology from Vassar College. She began her career as a seasonal botanist/ecologist for the North Carolina Plant Conservation Program and then a botanist/data manager for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program. She was publications and publicity coordinator for the North Carolina Botanical Garden from 2003 to 2014. Damon Waitt has broad responsibility for overall leadership and management of the North Carolina Botanical Garden and for ensuring that the garden fulfills its mission to inspire understanding, appreciation, and conservation of plants and to advance a sustainable relationship between people and nature. Waitt holds a PhD in botany from the University of Texas in Austin, an MS in botany from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and a BS in biology from Tulane University. Alan Weakley is a plant taxonomist, community ecologist, and conservationist specializing in the southeastern United States. He holds a PhD from Duke University and a BA from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He has worked as botanist and ecologist for the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, and as regional and chief ecologist for The Nature Conservancy and NatureServe. Since 2002, he has served as director of the University of North Carolina Herbarium, a department of the North Carolina Botanical Garden.

A must-have for nature lovers in the Pacific Northwest   Butterflies of the Pacific Northwest is an easy-to-use and beautifully illustrated field guide to more than 200 of the region's most common and distinctive butterflies. Profiles include preferred common name for both genus and species, conservation status, the look and distinguishing traits of each butterfly, habitat and range, and much more. Additional information includes a brief introduction to how butterflies work and details on ecology and conservation. • Covers Washington, Oregon, western Idaho, northern California, and British Columbia • 17 illustrative plates for comparing and identifying species • Nearly 200 range maps • Clear color-coded layout • Essential reference for nature enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels A comprehensive guide to the butterflies of the Pacific Northwest from the region's foremost butterfly experts.  Noted lepidopterist and writer Robert Michael Pyle is the founder of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and the founding chairman of the IUCN/SSC's Lepidoptera Specialist Group. A Yale-trained ecologist and Guggenheim fellow, he is a full-time biologist, teacher, and speaker, and the author of numerous books. Pacific Northwest native Caitlin C. LaBar was born with a fascination for insects, which has developed into an interest in studying the habitats and life histories of butterflies. A geographer and GIS technician by training and a conservationist by nature, she enjoys photographing and collecting local butterflies and working on various butterfly mapping projects.  Introduction In the summer of 1967, I was a 20-year-old undergraduate at the University of Washington. Instead of returning to a summer job as a Denver postman, I remained in Seattle to try to teach a class on the natural history of butterflies. In the half-century since, I have taught hundreds of such classes, but back then the idea was a novel one; no one knew what to make of it. At the first class meeting, only one student showed up: a rising Garfield High School junior named Jonathan P. Pelham. It soon became apparent that Jon knew as much about butterflies as I did, and much more about the local species. I dropped the pretense of the class, got a job with the Sierra Club, and became instant field colleagues with Jon-a relationship we have now enjoyed for 50 years. Before long, we decided a Washington butterfly book was needed. Starting with Ben Leighton's 1946 checklist, and with the assistance of all the local collectors, we began the Northwest Lepidoptera Survey and a book project. Jon Shepard, then at the University of California at Berkeley, contributed his large set of records. Grant W. Sharpe, my postgraduate professor in the College of Forest Resources, enabled me to write an interpretive field guide to the state's butterflies as a master's thesis. Hazel Wolf and Earl Larrison paved the way for it to be published in Seattle Audubon Society's Trailside Series as Watching Washington Butterflies (WWB) in 1974. Jon Pelham became Curator of Lepidoptera at the Burke Museum and proceeded to build a superb reference collection and data base. Not only WWB but also my 1976 doctoral thesis on the ecogeography of Washington butterflies and Washington Butterfly Status Report and Conservation Plan (1989) owed a great deal to Pelham's data and review. Around 1978, a group of lepidopterists (Jon Pelham, Jon Shepard, John Hinchliff, Dave McCorkle, and I, and later Paul Hammond) came together as the Evergreen Aurelians, with a view toward expanding the Northwest Lepidoptera Survey by assembling records from scores of collectors, and through further field work. The labors of the Evergreen Aurelians came to fruit in the form of atlases of Oregon and Washington butterflies, edited and prepared by master datakeeper and mapmaker John Hinchliff (1994, 1996). These works summarized the distributional knowle

A must-have for mushroom hunters in the northeast The Northeast is one of the best places to find mushrooms, they are both abundant and spectacularly diverse. Mushrooms of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada is a compact, beautifully illustrated guide packed with descriptions and photographs of more than 500 of the region's most conspicuous, distinctive, and ecologically important mushrooms. • Covers Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Ontario, and most of Quebec • More than 550 superb color photographs • Helpful keys for identification • Clear, color-coded layout • An essential reference for mushroom enthusiasts, hikers, and naturalists An indispensable guide to finding and identifying the mushrooms of the Northeast.

A must-have for wildflower enthusiasts, hikers, and naturalists in the rocky mountain region Wildflowers of the Rocky Mountain Region-from the Denver Botanic Garden, the region's recognized leader in horticulture-describes and illustrates more than 1,200 species commonly encountered in the region. • Covers entire Rocky Mountain range from Canada south to New Mexico, separated into Northern Rockies, Middle Rockies, and Southern Rockies • Describes and illustrates nearly 1200 species • Includes perennials, annuals, biennials, vines, shrubs, and subshrubs, both native and non-native • 1245 superb color photographs, 1189 range maps, 1 ecoregions map • User-friendly organization by flower color and petal count • Authoritative trailside reference Featuring more than 1245 stunning color photographs, this comprehensive field guide is the must-have portable reference for the wildflowers the Rocky Mountain Region. Green inside and out, Denver Botanic Gardens began in 1951 and is considered one of the top botanical gardens in the United States and a pioneer in water conservation. Accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Gardens' living collections encompass specimens from the tropics to the tundra, showcasing a plant palette chosen to thrive in Colorado's semiarid climate. The Gardens offer world-class art exhibitions, education programs, and important plant conservation and research initiatives. For more information, visit botanicgardens.org. Introduction The Rocky Mountains have been famous as magnets for winter sports for decades, but the appeal of the Rockies has grown exponentially in the summer months as well, as residents of the burgeoning Front Range flee the summer heat by driving to the heights on weekends. Tourists in droves from across North America and the world pay homage to the numerous national parks that stud the region. The incomparable displays of wildflowers that bloom reliably throughout the growing season are a large part of the draw. Crested Butte has celebrated a Wildflower Festival for decades, but truth be told, the Mardi Gras of flowers in the Rockies is never-ending, beginning in late winter and extending to the last days of fall. Thirty years ago, Denver Botanic Gardens published Rocky Mountain Alpines, a coffee-table tome with authors from around the world celebrating the unique flora of this region. Since then, the native plant collections at the Gardens have expanded enormously. They have become a focal point of interest for keen gardeners who visit. This book is a testament to the Gardens' commitment to our native flora. Throughout the growing season, the Rocky Mountain region boasts colorful displays at different elevations, and first-time visitors are justified in being somewhat confused and overwhelmed by the flora they encounter. The first flowers begin to appear in March most years (a few harbingers even before that at the lowest elevations and in special microclimates): regional flower buffs are always seeking the first pasqueflowers, springbeauties, or Townsend daisies on the fringes of the Great Plains. It's not till May most years that the lower foothills and plains explode with color, and June is when the higher mountains begin their floral pageant. July and August are the months for glorious bloom across the higher mountains. Although autumn arrives mid-August at the heights, the color only deepens as foliage on Ross' avens (Geum rossii) turns bright scarlet, the asters and gentians blaze with bright blue color, and a hundred yellow composites burgeon everywhere, making this book all the more important to have along to help sort them out! Elevation, rainfall, and aspect have an extraordinary impact on the character and nature of floral displays in the Rockies-perhaps more than almost any other part of our country. You can drive countless miles at lower elevations through dry sagebrush or prairie where there may be not

Ideal for birders, hikers, and foragers, Timber Press Field Guides are the perfect tools for loving where you live. Wildflowers of the Midwest is a comprehensive field guide for anyone wishing to learn about the amazingly diverse wildflowers of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa. This must-have book describes and illustrates 1000 commonly encountered species, including perennials, annuals, and shrubs, both native and nonnative. With more than 1,000 superb color photographs and a user-friendly organization by flower color and shape, this is a must-have guide for birders, hikers, foragers, and natural history buffs.    The latest in our bestselling field guide series, this is an extensive and practical guide to finding and identifying the wildflowers of the Midwest. Michael Homoya has been a botanist and plant ecologist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Nature Preserves for more than 35 years. His duties include the discovery, botanical inventory, and assessment of significant natural communities and monitoring of Indiana's threatened and endangered plants. Michael is the president of the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society and adjunct faculty at Indiana University.  Scott Namestnik is the Heritage Program Botanist for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Nature Preserves and a founding member of the North Chapter of the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society. He is also involved with the Indiana Academy of Science, serving on the Biodiversity and Natural Areas Committee and as the vice-chair of the Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Section.