The Wild Flower Key: How to Identify Wild Plants, Trees and Shrubs in Britain and Ireland

by Francis Rose

This wild flower identification guide was first published in 1981 and is still widely accepted as the best of its kind for its combination of meticulous illustrations and the use of keys to aid recognition. For this new edition the Latin names have been revised in accordance with the current classification system. It is now published as the ideal book for the serious student of British and north-west European wild plants, providing a bridge between picture identification guides and the non-illustrated academic floras.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Reference, Gardening, Plants, Field Guides, Science

576 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 2006

About the author

Francis Rose was, until his retirement in 1981, Reader in Biogeography at King's college, University of London. He is a lifelong botanist whose specialist studies have included the history and distribution of the British and adjacent continental flora, mosses, the effects of air pollution on vegetation and the ecology and distribution of epiphytic lichens. He is author of many scientific papers, and of several books, with D. L. Hawksworth.
In 2000 Dr Rose was awarded the MBE for services to botany and in 2001 the Cadbury Medal for conservation.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a very, very amateur botanist so I approach plant identification with a lot of ignorance of the various groups of plants. When I see a plant I often can't tell what family group it belongs to. Wanting to try to learn more I've tried various flower guides from the library and my parents' collection and this one came out trumps.

It takes a little more effort as you need to learn a bit of plant anatomy, but all technical phrases are explained in the glossary and the key is very precise. For speed you can also use the cross-sectional representation of flower types to narrow down your search to a particular part of the key. This added effort I found had the extra benefit of solidly placing the diagnostic features of each plant in my memory. There are also vegetative keys grouped by habitat for out-of-season botanising (though I've not had much luck with these myself). Finally, for IDing more confusing plants like the umbellifers, keys are probably the only way to go and this was the best one I came across.

On other aspects of the book: the drawings are generally excellent and show the diagnostic features well and a scale bar is placed alongside each image. The book also comes with a plastic dust jacket which offers decent protection from the wet and dirt while out in the field.

[Bogu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have only used an old-second hand edition of the book, but it was very approachable to me, a beginner herbologist and forager. I find the vegetative key to be a good resource as well. The plants are drawn in their peak maturity, which isn't always ideal, but justified considering the number of species covered. I have found the ruler at the back of the book very useful, but wish there was a clearer indication of poisonous plants (which I think is quite inconsistent, at least in the first edition of the book).

[Jamie Everett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have used this book to assist me with undertaking phase 1 habitat surveys and for my own botanical pleasure. The first edition was excellent, but this revised edition is the best you can buy at the moment. I find the key very clear but it does require some practice to use efficiently.

[Matthew Harwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essential handbook for any scientist or scholar who wants to study plants. This book helped me greatly when completing my MSc and provided an excellent tool which allowed me to confidently identify plants that I found on my surveys.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful identification guide, the key one of the best I have come across and can be used by amateurs as well as professionals, some knowledge of plant anatomy does help when using the key though

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for keying out the plant in question. Illustrations and descriptions are very accurate and I really recommend this book for anybody interesting in identifying wild plants in Ireland or the UK. 5*'s

[Rarehare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely detailed and beautifully illustrated. Mainly for advanced amateur or professional botanists.