Colorado Flora: Eastern & Western Slopes

Brilliant guide. This is the one I turn to when all others have failed. No photos. Does have a lot of line drawings of species. But if this book is to be of any value to you, you have to learn to read the botanical keys. Best field guide for Colorado flora Eastern Slope though (flora meaning vegetation - you'll find a lot more than wildflowers in this book). Take note that there is a Western Slope version too.

While in the Rockies I found this flora to be indespensible to sating my curiosity of the plants I came across. Its key is designed so that it can be used in the field, giving traits distinguishable by naked eye and hand lens rather than dissecting scope. It's also thorough of its coverage (especially compared to similar-sized flora of other areas, simply because the Colorado vegetation is a little more limited), and it was definately satisfying to be able to carry around so useful a book. (If you're looking for a picture ID guide, however, this isn't it. Like many flora, its drawings in the back are intended to confirm identification rather than as a flip-finder.)

This book is currently the bible for taxonomic nomenclature in CO. There is a significant amount of discussion when it comes to assigning names to various plants, but Dr. Weber presents a balanced approach that combines mainstream scientific thought with his own extensive field experience. If one criticism could be made it would be that this flora only covers the Western Slope area. Hopefully Dr. Weber's publishers will see the value in supporting a more comprehensive volume that covers the Eastern slope as well.