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Appreciate suggestions for wildflower ID book

20 years ago

We've recently moved to NE Washington state and want to purchase a book to help us identify local wildflowers (and maybe shrubs and weeds). Could anyone give me any recommendations! I'm currently considering "Washington Wildflowers" and "Wildflowers of the Pacif NW".

Thanks.

Sandy

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Comments (5)

User
20 years ago
Sorry, Don't have any book suggestions, but here is a native plant website for E WA with photo ID and links.

http://www.bentler.us/eastern-washington/plants/default.aspx

Best,
Ross
nelo49
20 years ago
Hello Fossilnut

Have enjoyed reading your postings complete with pics of your beautiful cabin on Curlew Lake. We live on the ridge west of Curlew Lake with a beautiful view of almost the entire lake. The critters, mainly deer, are plentiful here, and soil conditions are not the greatest but it is our little piece of paradise to be sure! The nursery in Malo is a great source for plants which do well in this area.

My recommendation is that you go to the WSECU Extension office which is located at the courthouse, lower floor, and they have a rack of brochures, many of which are specifically for our area. You may have already done so, ut if not, they are very helpful in the office there. There is great info regarding the weeds here in Ferry County. Our biggest problem is the Goat Weed (St John's Wort). It seems to be taking over and is extremely hard to kill.

Glad that you are enjoying your new life here. This is an awesome website!
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Now I'm home I can get the details - the Peterson Field Guide I'm referring to is 'A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs' by George A Petrides. It's probably out of print; actually now that I look it's from 1958, I got it second hand, but it's the field guide the Brooklyn Botanic Garden recommended for the volunteers for woody plants on their Metroflora project; it's just black and white drawings and it doesn't look real impressive, but when you start using it the details you need are all there. It's much better than most of the newer ones I've seen. And it has most of the shrubs, too, a big plus. Gleason and Cronquist are way more technical. Good luck with the grasses and sedges. I'm saving those for after I retire... WW
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The orange lily is an Asiatic Daylily. They are common in gardens and have escaped all over the northeast US. They don't spread by seed. Instead you could just dig up a few plants making sure to get the root which is a tuber. The second plant looks like Queen Anne's Lace. The flowers will turn brown at which point you can cut the flower head and shake out lots of seeds. This is easy to grow, and in fact is probably srouting in your garden already. THe first year the plants grow a bit like a dandelion but with very lacy leaves. They flower in their second year of growth. The third is in the pea and bean (legume) family. I am not sure what species it is. The smaller yellow ones were probably Birdsfoot trefoil, which is an agricultural crop similar to alfalfa or clover that commonly escapes to grow wild. The vine sounds like a Morning Glory. There are many wild species. Jerusalem Artichoke is a wild sunflower and could be the plant you see. Ther are other similar species of wild sunflower too. I think all are great garden plants. They will spread so give them some room, but they are easy to grow and flower from July thru September. If you are searching for info on a plant, try a search enginer like Google. Go to Google.com and enter the name of the plant. You'll get thousands of pages for almost any plant as long as it is spelled correctly.
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I like the three of them eventhoug all of them are invasive. To me, the aster is the worst. I think the helianthus you have is not h. debilis, maybe h. tuberosum? I say that because I think I have it and the one I have grows taller than h. debilis and its leaves are bigger, coarser and "hairier". I have never checked its roots to see if they form a tuber, but I know they go deep and it's difficult to kill the plant when it's established. The aster and the ba$tard cabbage are invasive but they are seasonal. They disappear when it gets warmer. That also means that they offer some interest when everything else is fading or dormant. They also look better when they are planted in mass. Omar
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nelo49
20 years ago
Hello Fossilnut

Oops - The extension office is WSU (not WSECU). Also, if you have not already become a member of Stonerose, your membership would be greatly appreciated. Their email is srfossils@rcabletv.com

Have a beautiful day.

Nelo49
offplumb
20 years ago
fossilnut
I use petersons field guide "wildflowers".
Roger Tory Peterson/ Margaret McKenny
mine is for northeastern/northcentral north america, but there is one for the pacific states.

Happy ID-ing!
razorback33
20 years ago
A former professor and an Idaho native, the late Arthur Cronquist co-authored many books on native flora, some of his later works were; Flora of the Pacific NW, an Illustrated Manual and Intermountain Flora, Vol. 6, The Monocotyledons. There may be others. Might check out your local library to see what's available before buying one. Also, check out the used book stores. You can see what you're buying and I've found some very good, out of print books there.
I have dozens of wildflower books and all total do not cover all of the flora in my region. I am often forced to do online searches to find and identify one or consult my old friend with a Botany PhD and 60 years field experience (last resort, of course!).
Rb

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