Wild Flowers of North Carolina

This guidebook to wild flowers in North Carolina has about 500 species illustrated, each with a description and a small photograph of the flower and plant. The guide deserves high marks for the number of species included and the scholarship which went into describing each by location, blooming date, and other information. Brief tidbits concerning medicinal uses, edibiity, and folklore of the plant are included in many descriptions. Indexed are both scientific and common names of each plant. However, the guide is nearly worthless for the field identification of flowers. There needs to be some sort of key or pattern to help with identification. There seems no rhyme nor reason I can discern with the order in which the flowers are described. It would be a lot better if the flowers were grouped by blooming date and color, e.g. yellow flowers that appear in May should be together as should purple flowers blooming in September. So, if you want to go into your backyard and identify what is blooming there you will need a field guide, not this book. Smallchief

Excellent reference book for use in describing flowers growing in North Carolina at certain times of year.

This is a good book to bring along on day hikes. Clear photos and identifying information. It is not about gardening wildflowers.