Introduction to California Desert Wildflowers: Volume 74

I know a lot about wildflowers of wetter parts of California, but I rarely visit the deserts. I prefer botanical books that are more expert-oriented than this one is, but this is designed well enough that its beginner-oriented design didn't cause the kind of annoyance I normally feel with beginner-oriented botanical books. Most people will find it easy to use. It describes fewer plants than I normally expect a good botanical book to cover, but in spite of that I was surprised at how large a fraction of the flowers I searched for are covered by the book. My only real complaint is that the index needs more work (e.g. Desert Pincushion is listed only under Desert, not under Pincushion).

I picked up this book during a recent trip to the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs and vicinity), after the remarkable rainy season of 2004-2005 produced an equally remarkable spring wildflower season. We found this to be a handy and user-friendly guide for the interested amateur. The flowers are conveniently organized in sections by color, making it easy to answer the question "Now, what purple flower is this?" and the illustrations are photographs rather than drawings, which I have always found much preferable in field guides. Each plant description also includes valuable information such as in which particular desert regions, at what elevations, and during what months you might expect to find it. A must-have for visitors to Death Valley, Anza-Borrego, the Palm Springs Indian canyons, and Joshua Tree National Park during wildflower season. Perhaps this book will not tell a botanist anything new, but it was perfect for us. The regions covered consist essentially of all desert sections from Central California south to the Mexican border. The introductory chapters contain some interesting information about desert ecosystems and the specialized mechanisms these plants have developed to survive in harsh conditions. Useful and fascinating. Highly recommended.

On March 3rd, 2005, I took a trip out to Anza-Borrego with a friend of mine to see the wildflower bloom (a record year for rain I'm told). I took this book and she brought the Sonoran Desert Wildflowers guide. While the book I brought had accurate descriptions featuring detailed flower characteristics and habitat, her book was much more specific to this particular region of California. I would say her book had 2 flowers for every 1 that mine covered. So, if Anza-Borrego is your destination, the Sonoran book would be a better guide. But if you really wanted to, bring both, as it was interesting to compare descriptions. It helped to key out certain flowers by comparing both books' descriptions.