Plants of Arizona

This is one of the best books I've seen for identifying wildflowers in Arizona. They have a large representation of flowers, with good pictures, covering the diversity of the state. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great book for anyone starting to study of the plants of Arizona. Clear, full color photographs make identifying these plants easy and fast. Not a complete flora, but the reference photographs make this book a valuable guide.

This book has been an amazing help to me in identifying trees, cacti and flowers around the state of Arizona. It is well-organized, with glossy color pictures in the front half of the book, grouped by color in a relatively easy-to-find way, under descriptions such as "Daisylike and Dandionlike White or Whitish Flowers" or "Tiny Pink to Reddish Pink Flowers." Under each photograph is the flower's common name and the page number for the back portion of the book, in which detailed information is found. In the back section, each plant's description includes: All the known common names; the scientific name and family to which it belongs; the plant's height; detailed, non-scientific description of the flowers and leaves; the bloom season; the elevation at which the plant grows; the habitat in which it is found; and additional, relevant comments, including where the photograph was taken and if the plant is poisonous, or has any traditional medical uses, etc. My only disappointment is that, surely for brevity's sake, some plants are left out, which, while understandable, can make some identifications questionable. For instance, in trying to ID a high-elevation paintbrush, the book mentions "Over a dozen species of Castilleja in Arizona; the species of this genus are difficult to identify." And only four of those dozen species are in the book. Still, with 853 species pictured and described, Plants of Arizona is much more thorough for the state of Arizona than any other field guide out there.

Over the years, I've purchased a dozen or more books to identify desert wildflowers photographed during Superstition Wilderness hikes. This is by far the best book that I've found.- Clear closeup photos that capture the distinctiveness of each flower- Informative details: Height, Flowers, Stems, Spines, Bloom months, Elevation, Habitat, and CommentsThe "Look inside" pages were poorly choosen--the book is better than portrayed. (Ferns aren't as visually exciting as flowers and no description pages were included.)Check out the index to see the depth of the coverage.

There is no current book available that discusses the plants of this state. I believe the last comprehensive book was printed in the 70's. This is a good comprehensive guide with many colorful photographs, and lots of good information.