Plant Book List Recommended By Catharine Tucker

REFERENCES with annotations.

Audubon Field Guide series:
North American Trees, Eastern Region,
Wildflowers, Eastern Region.

Good descriptions (very fine print) and color photos in separate sections requiring much page turning; shows trees in bloom, in fruit & in fall color, flowers in bloom & fruit.

Peterson Field Guide series:
Trees and Shrubs.

Simple descriptions, explanations of terms, keys and field characters.

Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, Lawrence Newcomb. 1977. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
Useful if you know how to use keys or have a general idea of what flower you are looking for; illus, in color and b & w.

Grasses: An Identification Guide. Lauren Brown. 1979, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin Co. Covers grasses, sedges & rushes as well as other plants that might be confused with these; b & w line drawings for illustrations, glossary & references.

Weeds in Winter, Lauren Brown. 1977, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Covers flowering plants with b & w line drawings & simple descriptions.

All the books by O.W. Gupton & F. C. Swope which have interesting descriptions and color photographs:
Wildflowers of the Shenandoah Valley and Blue Ridge Mountains, 1979
Trees & Shrubs of Virginia, 1981
Wildflowers of Tidewater Virginia, 1982
Fall Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge & Great Smoky Mountains, 1987
Wild Orchids of the Middle Atlantic States, 1986

Common Native Trees of Virginia, a paperback book published by the VA Department of Forestry (no pub. date) has good descriptions, good bibliography and web site (www.dcf.virginia.gov).

Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas,
paperback joint publication of National Park Service & US Fish & Wildlife Service, has color photos with descriptions including background, distribution and ecological threat; also has good glossary & references.

A Guide to Endangered and Threatened Species in Virginia, Terwilliger, Tate & Woodward, eds. 1995, Blacksburg: The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Co. This provides a thorough description of the habitats to be found in the geographic regions of Virginia as well as the descriptions of plants and animals.

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Catharine White Tucker