Wild Flowers of America: 400 Flowers in Full Color

by Mary Vaux Walcott (Artist), Harold William Rickett (Editor), Dorothy Falcon Platt (Artist)

From the front flap:

Here are 400 wild flowers of North America, shown actual size in beautiful true-to-life full color, with detailed descriptions and with full information as to family, geographical range, the nature of the environment in which the flowers are found, etc. Common names and their variations, as well as standard botanical classification and nomenclature, are given for all flowers. A Ready Identification Chart lists the flowers by their distinctive features and facilitates identification of all the flowers represented and their related species. A detailed Glossary provides full explanation of botanical terms.

This encyclopedic work is based on an authoritative publication of the Smithsonian Institution: The Mary Vaux Walcott color plates in this book are reproduced by permission from the famous portfolio set “ North American Wild Flowers” by Mary Vaux Walcott as published by the Smithsonian Institution. The magnificent and completely accurate paintings, which are accorded top-ranking by artists as well as botanists throughout the country, have been supplemented by additional paintings by Dorothy Falcon Platt.

Genres: Reference, Art, Nonfiction, Nature, Gardening

400 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 1987

Reviews

[Heather Alderman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful drawings!

[Marmot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like these plates. Not my especially favourite botanical style (I prefer Mary Schaffers style), but quite nice regardless.

[Bert Huisman]

30 a

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the illustrations of the 400 different flowers. I wish they were organized by region, though, so that I could easily tell what will grow in my area.

[Linda (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this edition in a used book store at our local library. It starts with a brief introduction followed by a glossary that describes the various parts of wildflowers. After this there is a short description of each wildflower including it's Latin name and where you will most likely find it in North America. Yes, it does cover Canada. The number of each wildflower description matches the picture (plate) in the book. She then follows up with a 'Ready Identification Chart' for the more savvy flower enthusiast.

The down side to the book are the plates are very colorful but the pictures are not crisp and clear. In some cases they are slightly blurred. The book is large. It is not something I could see you taking in the field to identify wildflowers. Also, you have to page back and forth to read the description and then look at the picture. These 'cons' knock off one star.

So why four stars? Because if you don't mind the negatives it is still a nice book to have. I could see someone that wanted to frame the pictures. Mixed media artists would enjoy using this book as a reference point. Beginning gardeners will take pleasure with identifying a plant growing in their yard. Lastly, any students of botany would find this a keeper. For now my copy sits on the book shelf with other garden books that I don't want to be without.

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only small problem with this book is that the index is stuck in a crazy spot, less than halfway through the text. The illustrations show you exactly what the real flower looks like and from there it is easy to identify the species.

[Cws]

J582.1Wal

[Sheila Bigelow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the 1963 version. Fantastic prints with glossary, flower descriptions, identification chart, index, and 400 plates. Bear!