Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie: The Upper Midwest

by Sylvan T. Runkel

Identifies more than one hundred wildflowers and provides information on habitat, structure, folklore, and uses

Genres: Science, Plants, Nonfiction, Gardening

Paperback

Published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Species first appeared to be in a completely random order, not organized taxonomically, alphabetically, or even by bloom color. Upon further investigation, a line in the preface tells you species occur in the approximate order of their blooming time. I did not find this organizational structure at all useful.

This guide provides a detailed description for each species, but for the most part, does not include information related to distinguishing plants from similar and/or closely related species. For the most part, only 1-2 “voucher species” are listed for any one genus.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros- Fantastic pictures, solid information especially ethnobotanical uses, tells the meaning of the scientific name for each species.

Cons: Many species are missing and the plants are organized by bloom time (flower color or taxonomy would make more sense.) The information on each species is also not organized into sections, but rather many paragraphs all strung together so it is difficult to scan for pertinent information. No maps or other graphics.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, and with nice pictures, but I can't figure out any way that this book's organization is useful. You have to already know the scientific name of the plant you want to look up, essentially. No partitioning by color shape, or even common names. Weird.