The MN wildflower blog

Do you own a field guide? What do you think of it?

This survey is being conducted partly to determine whether a new field guide specifically for Minnesota wildflowers is worth publishing. I think it is, how about you?

I recently received a copy of a new book published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press, called Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters: Hiking Through the Seasons, by Betty vos Hemstad. It’s not intended as a field guide, though it does give sufficient information to identify most of the plants in it. It is more of a picture book, with full-color photos of the 120 species covered within its pages, showing each species, as seen while hiking, in various stages of its life cycle. Each has a 2-page spread. The accompanying text, written in a conversational manner, provides some history, folk uses, and/or commentary rather than taxonomy. (more…)