Customer Reviews:
BUY THIS BOOK!.......2007-03-25
This book is THE BEST!! My absolute favorite wildflower book for the North Georgia Mountains... and I have tried MANY. I am a professional naturalist and lead wildflower hikes all spring. This book is my bible! I carry it everywhere I go. Easy to use, lots of species covered, wonderful ethnobotany information (great "stories" to use while leading hikes). Detailed enough to get the ID right, general enough for anyone to use. Wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful book... (as are Lone Pine's other plant books covering other regions.) HIGHLY RECCOMMENDED!!
Hands-down Favorite Smoky Mtns/TN Wildflower ID Book.......2007-02-23
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.
one of the best!.......2006-11-13
I love this book. Great photo's. Easy to use. Small enough to take along. Interesting plant lore on every page.
This book is wonderful!.......2006-11-03
I purchased this book for a friend's birthday and after looking through it, nearly kept it.
W O W what a book!.......2006-04-22
This is the absolute book for wildflowers. Pictures are clear and precise, the information is a bonus. What a book!
Average customer rating:
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Wildlife, Wildflowers, and Wild Activities: Exploring Southern Appalachia
Jennifer Bauer
Manufacturer: Overmountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 1570723176 |
Book Description
The outdoors come to life in this collection of stories, games, crafts, investigations, and hands-on activities meant to accompany excursions into the fields, forests, and wetlands of southern Appalachia. The region’s rich natural diversity is highlighted, from its low-elevation coves to its highland ridges and balds. Because the southern Appalachian Mountains provide diverse habitats for plants and animals, every visit presents a new adventure. With an emphasis on the importance of a good conservation ethic along with suggestions on how to get involved in community conservation efforts, explorers of all ages can learn about topics such as plants, animals, microscopic life, life after dark, and environmental awareness.
Customer Reviews:
Flower Enthusiast.......2003-05-20
I agree with the Midwest Book Review's assessment of Barbara and Victor Medina's "Southern Appalachian Wildflowers." Far from being "plagued by problems," as a reader from Ohio stated, I think the layout and photos are beautifully done. A lot of guides I've seen are so crammed and busy that they're confusing to read. The fact that the Medinas' books use white space is a huge selling point, not a disadvantage at all. The photos are consistent and clear, and the text is informative. It's disheartening to think that an unknown curmudgeon can come along and make claims that might steer flower enthusiasts from an exceptional guide. If readers pick up the book and see for themselves, chances are high that it'll be welcome addition to their collection.
A must-have for wildflower hunters.......2003-05-15
"Southern Appalachian Wildflowers" is not just a beautifully illustrated field guide, but one that is a joy to use! It is organized in a very intuitive and easy-to-use manner -- grouped by the colors of the flowers. The descriptive texts that accompany the wonderful photographs are really informative and clear. This is the only guide I found with information on when (blooming seasons) and where (habitats) to find wildflowers and with references (including contact information) on parks throughout the region. This was incredibly useful for planning a trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Another great feature is that this is a hardy, really practical field guide to take along on those long rambles -- sporting a compact size and water resistant cover. I recommend this wonderful field guide to anyone visiting the Southern Appalachian region - novice and experienced wildflower enthusiasts alike!
A Helpful Guide.......2003-05-15
The descriptions and photographs in the book have been useful to us in identifying local flowers in Maryland. Many of the same plants that grow in the Southern Appalachians grow east of the Maryland Appalachian Mountains where we live.
Very disappointing.......2003-04-23
After being impressed by two previous guides in this series (Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers and North Woods Wildflowers, both by Doug Ladd), I plunked down the $ for this version in anticipation of an interesting, informative guide. What I received was, unfortunately, a pretty sad excuse of a wildflower guide. Surely the Southern Appalachians deserve better.
This guide is plagued by a number of problems. First of all, there is a notorious concentration on non-native plants that could have been reserved for a "weeds" or "non-native" section like that included in the "North Woods Wildflowers" guide. These non-native species, although certainly present in the region, do not contribute to the region's unique character, and should have been relegated to a "second tier" status. Surely, Jeffersonia diphylla or the Hexastylis spp. are better representatives of the rich diversity of the region than are Daucus carota or Centaurea jacea. So, in this regard, I guess this guide is a better fit on a beginner's bookshelf than on a wildflower enthusiast's or botanist's case.
Secondly, the photography is markedly poorer than it was in the aformentioned guides. Photos are often out-of-focus or badly washed out by poor lighting conditions. In such cases, the photos merely do not do the plants justice. In several other cases, the photographs are from such distances as to make key identifying characteristics unintelligible.
Thirdly, there are serious formatting problems to contend with. There is quite a bit more "white space" than in the aforementioned guides. This waste calls for (a) an addition of species, (b) enlarging photographs or adding line drawings, or (c) adding more text to the descriptions.
Fourth, the writing is poor. Here is an example: "Other beardtongues, such as Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon canescens), which looks a lot like Foxglove Beardtongue, but its trumpet-shaped flower is not swollen in the middle, also grow in the Southern Appalachian Mountains." In other words, ugh. Was there an editor for this project?
Fifth, the manual relies on Asa Gray's nomenclature. This adds unnecessary complication, as Gleason and Cronquist (1991) has become the standard in nomenclature used by most current wildflower guides.
Sixth, misidentifications and faulty information are also present. On page 125, there is a nice photograph of Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) labeled as "Purple cress," with a description of Cardamine douglassii. The plants look nothing alike. How did this error slip by the "editor?" Also, there is a reference to the "purple petals" of Echinacea purpurea. Ray flowers, anyone?
All in all, I would suggest both beginners and enthusiasts to consult another guide. Very disappointing. I will maintain a wary eye when I encounter new Falcon guides in the future.
An excellent, illustrative, and well organized field guide.......2002-11-08
Collaboratively compiled and written by wildflower experts Barbara Medina and Victor Medina, Southern Appalachian Wildflowers is an exquisitely beautiful and very practical volume illustrated with a color photograph of each spotlighted variety of wildflower. The photographs enhance a straightforward and informative text description with information on blooming seasons, habitat, and useful comments. If you are a wildflower enthusiast planning an excursion through the southern Appalachian countryside, or wanting to select and grow any of these plants in your own garden or horticultural green house, then you will find Barbara and Victor Medina's Southern Appalachian Wildflowers to be an excellent, illustrative, and well organized field guide.
Customer Reviews:
Five stars for numbers of flowers!.......2002-07-04
With 600 color photos and 1200 species described this is by far the most comprehensive book for identifying flowers of the region. It is a book for the serious who really want to name as many flowers as they can. It may be a bit too comprehensive for a beginner who just wants to find the common flowers because of the sheer quantity .
Most comprehensive wildflower book for the Southern Mountain.......1999-06-11
This is the most comprehensive and inclusive book I have been able to find about the Wildflowers of the Southern Appalachain. It is very helpful in identification but is a little lacking but only slightly in some other informative plant information. It has all of the basics and I love the book to be sure. Needs to add more asides about the plants...etc..what they might have been used for. It definately has been the most helpful book to have around to identify all the flowers. I would not be without it. By far my favorite.
Excellent book. Most thorough of its kind I have ever seen........1998-03-16
This book is a true tour de force, as Smith draws from his 20,000 photographs and 20 years of experience in the botany of the southern mountains.
Book Description
This authoritative guide showcases the unmatched beauty and diversity of the native orchids of the southern Appalachian mountains. Based on Stanley Bentley's many years of nature study, it covers the 52 species—including one discovered by Bentley and named after him—found in a region encompassing western Virginia and North Carolina and eastern West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
The entry for each orchid provides the plant's scientific and common names, a description of the flower (including color, shape, and size), and information on the time of flowering, range, and typical habitat, all in the context of the southern mountains. A range map accompanies each description, and Bentley's own superb photographs are an additional aid to identification.
Using straightforward language yet incorporating the most up-to-date scientific information and nomenclature, the book will be welcomed by amateur naturalists or professional botanists looking for species in the field and by those who simply enjoy photographs of beautiful wildflowers.
Customer Reviews:
As Beautiful As the Orchids.......2002-05-13
This turns out to be an outstanding book and I'm very happy to have it. The text is pleasant to read, written in a friendly and personal way. The pictures are crisp and beautiful, and laid out nicely alongside the text for easy access while reading the description. One outstanding feature is the detailed habitat information based on the author's years of field experience in observing the habitats of each of these orchids. Another stand-out is that the author has done the photography himself, resulting in pictures that support and complement the text very well. I checked several books on orchids and wildflowers while trying to identify an orchid in my forest (which turns out to be a lily-leaved twayblade), and I found this book to be the best. In summary, I'm impressed with this book. I hope it will set a new standard for other books on regional wildflowers.
Book Description
Whether you are a weekend hiker, a long-distance trekker, a trained naturalist, or a wildflower enthusiast, Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail is a necessary companion for anyone interested in the flora of the East's longest trail.
Along with elegant, large-format photographs, this book contains information on flower color, bloom season, size, and range of nearly one hundred species. Citations to more than sixty additional species with respect to their distinguishing features are also included. Yet this is no ordinary field guide. Not only will you be able to identify a particular flower, you will also learn the story behind its name, the fascinating role it has played through history, and its value in folkloric as well as modern medicine. You will discover that Skunk Cabbage produces its own heat (often melting snow and ice around it) and that Bloodroot contains an anti-plaque agent used in toothpastes and mouthwashes.
Unlike any other resource, this book notes specific sites along the Appalachian Trail where flower species may be seen; each site mentioned can be found in the index of its respective Appalachian Trail Guide.
Customer Reviews:
If you love wildflowers - this book is for you.......2002-12-20
This book had everything I was looking for - beautiful, full page, color photos of every flower. The design and layout of the book are wonderful, and the full page plant desription and notes is a great read. If you love wildflowers and learning about them, you will love this book
Wonderful needed resource; the pictures are superior........1999-10-29
Clear, direct, informed!! This is possibly the handiest and most usable wildflower reference for high country walkers of the eastern U.S. The photos are clearer and with better contrast than any other reference we have.
A must for hikers and flower enthusiasts........1999-06-03
You do not have to hike the 1,000+ miles of the AT to appreciate this book. These flowers are all over the eastern US. The descriptions are easy to understand and the photos are absolutely magnificent.
Book Description
The Blue Ridge Parkway, winding along the backbone of the southern Appalachian Mountains, is cherished for its grand vistas and massive mountain peaks, but nestled in the recreation areas, overlooks, and hiking trails that line its length are a wealth of smaller, equally beautiful gems. Hundreds of species of colorful wildflowers thrive among the misty glades, open fields, and marshy streambanks along the Parkway. J. Anthony Alderman's invaluable Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge Parkway will help the visitor locate, identify, and enjoy many of these seasonal treasures.
Illustrated with close-up color photographs, this field guide covers roughly 275 species of flowers that the casual visitor could expect to encounter along the Parkway. Clearly written descriptions aid in each plant's identification and offer interesting details, including notes on how Native Americans and early settlers used various species for food, medicine, and clothing. Finally, the book includes a tour guide and map that identify 75 of the best, most easily accessible sites for viewing wildflowers along the Parkway, listing by season which species can be found blooming at each site.
Book Description
With a new cover, more extensive index, and list of organizations, the new edition of Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail is the go-to resource for anyone interested in the wildflowers found along the 2,175-mile-long Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Stunning full-page color photos by Joe Cook and Monica Cook accompany the detailed descriptions by author Leonard Adkins that include:
· Bloom Season
· Leaves and Stem Description
· Geographic Range of Growth
· Location of the Flower Along the AT
Also included for many of the 94 flowers profiled in the book is the fascinating role the flower has played through history and its value in folkloric as well as modern medicine.
Average customer rating:
- Central Appalachian Wildflowers
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Central Appalachian Wildflowers
Barbara Medina , and
Victor Medina
Manufacturer: Falcon
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Southern Appalachian Wildflowers
ASIN: 0762710829 |
Book Description
Features 264 species of wildflowers found in the Appalachian Mountains from Massachusetts to northern Virginia. Color photographs, line drawings, and easy-to-follow descriptions allow novices and experts alike to identify the flora.
Customer Reviews:
Central Appalachian Wildflowers.......2005-10-13
Excellent guide. Photos are terrific, include habit, leaves, flowers and lots of information given in the write-up. You can tell it is a labor of love with a desire for perfection.
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