Florida Wild Flowers: And Roadside Plants

If the photo is not sufficient to quickly identify the plant, the descriptions are concise and tell you exactly what you need to know. Differences with similar species are often noted, along with blooming time and habitat. Also, the author describes the different habitats in florida and if the plant is not native, the author calls that out. I very much enjoyed using this book in the field to identify plants.

The inside cover has a great chart on how to identify flowers (petal number, leaf shape, etc.). In the back it has an index that helps you narrow down which flower it is by starting with its color and then looking at its other character traits. I'm a beginner simply wanting to identify the wildflowers in my yard. It took me an hour to identify my first flower. I'm used to wildflower books that are divided by color. This guide isn't. It does have nice photographs and a simple description.

This book is a very useful guide to a large variety of Florida plants, as well as a superb collection of truly stunning photographs. It can be used for simple visual identification, but its organization by family and its binomial key make it user-friendly for the botanist as well.