Alexander C. Martin

Originally published in 1972. This is a great little field guide (6"x 4") to carry around to help identify some weeds. There's plenty of colorful drawings for each plant (full plant, leaves, berries or flowers, stems, roots) to help in identification and basic information about each weed. I love it, as a lot of the weeds in the book grow right here on my 10 acres. I have found at least 20 of them. These weeds are actually not just for our area here in Southeast Texas. They are grown throughout the U.S. A map is provided to show where they can be found. The only problem with this book is that there just aren't enough wild weeds listed. It's such a tiny book. I feel like there's plenty of room to keep on adding to this little book.… (más)

I love these kinds of guide books. Sure, they don't show all the species of a given area, but they have great illustrations that inspire a kid--heck, an adult--to learn the general category before embarking on the intimidating journey of identifying more specific regional specimens. In my case today, I find it encouraging for continuing to learning botanical illustration and have a few "cheat sheets" to study some of the most common species in the area I moved to, which is across the continent from where I used to live.… (más)