Best wild flower book?

[falling rain]

What's your fave (ever in the world ever) wildflower book?

Mine has to be the Readers digest field guide to wild flowers. I've got a fair few books on wild plants/flowers but I always refer back to this one. I love the historical references and notes on what our ancestors used certain plants for and not exhaustive but the odd reference to what plants can still be used for. The illustrations are beautiful although not emphatic for ID purposes............. but what book is?
It borders on heavy for carrying around in the field but is bearable. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flowers-Bri...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244208647&sr=1-5
Another good one is the Easy wildflower guide. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Easy-Wild-F...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244208876&sr=1-5
Don't be fooled by the title. Unless you really are an expert you will learn loads from this book.
That's my favourite 2. What do you folks recommend?

 

[stuart f]

Hi FR, i use this 90%of the time,http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Flowers-Britain-Roger-Phillips/dp/033025183X/ref=pd_sim_b_4 i like it because it is all photos of the flowers and leaves.i also use his other books http://www.amazon.co.uk/Trees-Britain-Europe-North-America/dp/0330254804/ref=pd_sim_b_1, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grasses-Mosses-Lichens-Britain-Ireland/dp/0330259598/ref=pd_sim_b_7,and http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mushrooms-Roger-Phillips/dp/0330442376/ref=pd_sim_b_3 they are a bit to big to lug about but are good books.

Cheers Stuart.

 

[Rebel]

The Wildflower Key by Francis Rose.

However I just heard of an interesting new book and I wondered if anybody has tried using it. It's call "The Vegetative Key to the British Flora"

http://www.nhbs.com/the_vegetative_key_to_the_british_flora_tefno_162652.html&tab_tag=album

It looks like it could be good. The keys might be easier to use than the ones in The Wildflower Key.

 

[myotis]

The Wildflower Key by Francis Rose.

However I just heard of an interesting new book and I wondered if anybody has tried using it. It's call "The Vegetative Key to the British Flora"

http://www.nhbs.com/the_vegetative_key_to_the_british_flora_tefno_162652.html&tab_tag=album

It looks like it could be good. The keys might be easier to use than the ones in The Wildflower Key.

We have a couple of copies of this at the University, my professional botanist colleagues say its "very technical" and not going to be suitable for every day student use. Currently the students use the Wildlfower key by Rose, so that may put it's ease of use, or not, into perspective.

Graham

 

[Rebel]

Thanks. I already have a hard time with all the abbreviations in the Wildflower Key and it can be difficult to work through the keys sometimes, you do need to know some basic botany to use them, but you can be pretty sure of your ID once you've worked through it.

Maybe I can persuade my local library to get a copy of The Vegetative Key to the British Flora so I can test it out in the field before making a decision. It's not that expensive but I already have a bookshelf full of books and I'm trying to cut down a bit.

 

[lostguide]

I use mainly , New Flora of British Isle (by Clive Stace) and Flora of the British Isle (by Clapham, Tutin and Moore)

I really like these books (even thou Clapham is dated now), some people don't rate them highly as they have no illustrations or photos. But for me I find it better without any pics to distract. The text allows you get positive id from looking at the structure of the plants and not just finding something that looks similar from the photos.