This was a Christmas gift to me from an uncle who found it last year, mint-quality, in a remaindered bookstore, whence it had apparently come from sitting in a warehouse somewhere for forty-three years. I understand the newer editions are somewhat different. My edition, however, is organized a lot like the Audubon one, by color and then shape of flower. However, it has the text on the same pages as the pictures, which means less text, and no taxonomic section, (which are bad) but does mean you don't have to stand out in the rain trying to cross-reference tissue-thin pages. Rather than photos, it has mostly black-and-white drawings with occasional color plates; this makes it a lot less pretty than the Audubon guides, but I actually find it more useful. The drawings let it emphasize all the important things about the plant, and make it all absolutely clear, in a way that photographs just can't. (I believe the newer Peterson's have switched to photos, which is a shame, but probably sells better.) While I haven't had it long enough to use it in the field much, it does seem to have more different plants in it than the Audubon, too, and more of the less-showy ones. However, the way the drawings are organized, with six to ten B&W line drawings on a page, some ovelapping, makes it difficult to thumb through. I think this will be mostly used at home, as a way of cross-checking with other books.

the best I've found. ( )

A good guide, but if you are serious and only need one field guide, own Newcomb's. ( )

All the flowers you're most likely to encounter in the eastern and north-central US, westward to the Dakotas and southward to North Carolina and Arkansas, as well as the adjacent parts of Canada. Flowers arranged by color and plant characteristics. Includes 1,293 species in 84 families, all described and illustrated. An excellent and very useful field guide, although I would have liked more colored illustrations. ( )

NA