Product Description
Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers is the ultimate field guide to wildflowers of the midwestern tallgrass prairie. This valuable reference enables all prairie enthusiasts to quickly and accurately identify hundreds of tallgrass prairie plants. More than 320 color photographs Precise descriptions of 295 species Habitat/range information Historical and cultural notes Educational glossary Complete index of scientific and common names Directory of tallgrass prairies in 13 states

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 9 reviews)

EXTREMELY HELPFUL AND USEFUL BOOK. WONDERFUL GUIDE!

Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers is one of about eight or nine field guides I use for plant identification here in Southern Missouri. Please note that I use "field guide," and do so because that is just what it is...a guide designed to be carried with your in your ramblings. It is not an all inclusive text covering each species and subspecies you may encounter. That would equal several hundred pounds of books you would have to pack. That being said, I will say that is a wonderful guide. It is a rather unique guide as well due to the fact that it includes only native plants and not the literally hundreds of invasive species that have been introduced over the past two hundred or so years. It also includes grasses, for me, one of the most difficult plants to identify. Grasses drive me crazy!

This particular work is designed for easy use and, like most other good guides, is arraigned by color which is quite helpful. There are over 320 wonderfully sharp and technically well done photos in full color to help identify each species being addressed. There are 295 very well written descriptions to go along with the photographs which include habitat, range, historical and cultural data and a nice glossary of terms. The book also includes scientific names as well as common names of each plant. BE WARNED though at this point. Many flowers, plants, etc. have many different common names throughout their range. I have found this to be a major problem throughout the years. At times I have seen four people point to the same plant and have four different names thrown at me, each, in their own way, being correct. A wonderful example of this is the common Sensitive Briar (Memosa quadrivalis). Not only is it called Sensitive Briar, but also Touch-Me-Not, Devil's Shoe Strings, Fairy Puffs and Purple Runner. There are probably other names, but those are the ones I have heard and do hear all the time.

Prairie flowers and grasses are indeed interesting plants that our found in unique environments. Millions upon millions of acres of this sort of habitat covered the United States in the beginning, but sadly, the true prairies and grasslands have been reduced to very small areas scattered here and there. The days of the true prairie are over and I suspect their like will never be seen again. Sadly, it is getting worse. Until recently (recently being up until the past eight years or so), we were making some progress in restoring these uniquely American areas. Due to massive government cut backs, large tracts of land being sold by the government to private developers, more and more foreign invasive plants spreading, and simple poor land management, along with thongs of people digging the wild plant up to try to plant them at home, the areas of prairie are being reduced year by year. If you have any interest at all, you had better grab this guide and others like it, your camera and hiking boots and get out there in the bush, as this will probably be the last generation to be able to view these wonderful and unique plants. How sad.

I do recommend this work. It is helpful, well done and a delight. Use it with other guides as no one guide will fill every need. I am glad to have this one in my kit bag.

June 09, 2008

Excellent reference

This book set a high standard for the soon-to-be Falcoln series. The stunning photographs complement the confident text. Ladd's book has been a constant companion when I search out prairie remnants. A professional, consummate work that should find a place on every botanist's bookshelf.
May 12, 2003

This book makes it easy

Just as it is hard to look up the spelling of a word in the dictionary, until you know how it is spelled, it can be hard to identify a plant until you know what it is. This book of photographs of common prairie flowers, grouped by color, is pretty easy to flip through until you find the plant at hand. The caveat is that many 'pink' flowers are in the 'purple' section, but this is true of many flowers (few people really consider 'purple coneflower' to be purple.)
If you want just one field guide to get you started with these gorgeous plants, this is the one I would recommend.
September 08, 2002

These are all native plants

I felt I should comment on one part of Rissa's review. She mentions that Queen Anne's lace is not in this book, and feels this is a detriment. On the contrary, this is one of the best features of the book: it contains only NATIVE plants, and not many of the invasive, non-native weeds, like Queen Anne's lace, which are very difficult to control in prairies.
If you don't see a common plant in this book, it's likely because it is an imported weed.
There are many, many "wildflower" identification books that include everything-and-the-kitchen-sink, adding to the common confusion about what a 'wildflower' is. (For instance, Dame's Rocket should be on the 'weed' list, but it's in most of the 'wildflower' mixes.)
If you are looking for an all-inclusive book, the Golden Press,"A Guide to Field Identification of Wildflowers of North America", ISBN 0-307-13664-7 is helpful because it includes the weeds, but tells where they came from and how far they have spread across North America. Of course the USDA's PLANTS website (plants.usda.gov) is the best internet source for this technical information.
September 08, 2002

"the iridescent glow was beautiful and wondrous"

I really like the fact that this book is laid out according to flower color, it makes it so much easier to find the plant I'm trying to identify. I also liked the clear, beautiful photographs as well as the detailed text that provides common and Latin names, family, description and habitat or range for each plant. The book seems very complete with 295 species listed, but I was surprised to find that Queen Anne's Lace isn't in it, which, although it may not be native, is certainly ubiquitious here in the tallgrass prairie where I live.

There is a ten-page chapter on how to use the book, a sort of Botany 101, which is very helpful in explaining how to identify prairie plants via what the author calls their "diagnostic features" -- leaves, flowers, overall shape, scent and, in some cases, the sap. The book's cover is sturdy and water-resistant which is nice if you need to set it down on the ground while you take pictures. Also included is a very useful directory of many of America's remaining tallgrass prairie preserves and parks with descriptions plus phone numbers of the government agencies, universities and organizations that oversee them (I was pleasantly surprised at how many times The Nature Conservancy is listed). The book ends with a short bibliography and a very complete index.

I bought this book as a companion to "Birding Illinois," by Sheryl De Vore (from the same publisher). De Vore's book covers various Illinois parks and wildlife areas, many of which are prairies and woodlands. I figure I can take both books and look for birds as well as beautiful prairie flowers.
March 26, 2002

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