Books I Use

I get asked quite often what books I use for identification of wildflowers, mosses, fungi and the other bits of nature that you see here, so I decided to make up a list.

Ferns

1. Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, by Boughton Cobb, Elizabeth Farnsworth, and Cheryl Lowe. Published in 2005 by The New England Wildflower Society. ISBN 978-0-618-39406-7. A Peterson Field Guide
2. How to Know the Ferns, a Guide to the Names, Haunts and Habits of Our Common Ferns, by Frances Theodora Parsons. Published in 1899 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. ISBN None
3. New England Ferns and Their Common Allies, by Helen Eastman. Published in 1904 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. ISBN None

Grasses

1. Grasses: An Identification Guide, by Lauren Brown. Published in 1979 by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. ISBN 0-395-27624-1

Lichens

1. Lichens of the North Woods; a Field Guide to 111 Northern Lichens, by Joe Walewski. Published in 2007 by Kollah + Stensaas Publishing. ISBN 0-9792006-0-1
2. Lichens, by William Purvis. Published in America in 2007 by Smithsonian Books. ISBN 1-56098-879-7
3. A Guide to the Study of Lichens, by Albert Schnieder. Published in 1904 by Knight and Millet. ISBN None

Mosses

1. Outstanding Mosses and Liverworts of Pennsylvania and Nearby States by Susan Munch Published in 2006 by Sunbury Press.  ISBN 0-9760925-7-3
2. Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians by Karl B. McNight, Joseph E. Rohrer, Kirtsen McKnight Ward and Warren J. Perdrizet. Published in 2013 by Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15696-5. A Princeton Field Guide.

Mushrooms & Other Fungi

1. Mushrooms of Northeast North America by George Barron. Published in 1999 by Lone Pine Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55105-201-4. Good section on slime molds.
2. Mushrooms by Thomas Laessoe and Gary Lincoff. Published in 1998 by Dorling Kindersley ISBN 976-0-7894-8986-9. A Smithsonian Handbook.
3. Field Guide to Mushrooms by Gary Lincoff. Published in 1981 by Alfred A Knopf, Chanticleer Press. ISBN 978-0-394-51992-0. A National Audubon Society Field Guide. Excellent section on slime molds.
4. The Observer’s Book of Mushrooms, Toadstools and Other Common Fungi by W.P.K. Findlay. Published in 1978 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. ISBN 0-7232-1565-0 

Orchids

1. Wild Orchids of the Northeastern United States; a Field Guide, by Paul Martin Brown. Published in 1997 by Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8341-7. Includes state by state checklists.
2. Orchids of New England and New York, by Tom Nelson and Eric Lamont. Published in 2012 by Kollath+Stensaas Publishing. ISBN 978-1-936571-04-8. Lists 65 orchids.

Trees

1. Trees of North America; a Field Guide to the Major native and Introduced Species North of Mexico, by C. Frank Brockman. Revised edition published in 2001 by St. Martin’s Press ISBN 0-307-13658-2
2. Bark; a Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast, by Michael Wojtech. Published in 2011 by University Press of New England. ISBN 978-1-58465-8. Identifying trees by their bark.
3. Winter Tree Finder, by May Theilgard Watts and Tom Watts. Published in 1970 by Nature Study Guides. ISBN  978-0-912550-03—9 A handy little pamphlet that identifies deciduous trees by their twigs and buds.

Shrubs

1. Our Northern shrubs and How to Identify Them, by Harriet Keeler. Published in 1920 by Charles Scribner’s Sons. ISBN None
2. The Shrub Identification Book, by George W.D. Symonds. Published in 1963 by harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-0-688-05040-5
3.  The Book of Shrubs, by Alfred Carl Hottes. Published in 1928 by The A.T. De La Mare Company. ISBN None This is a good book for those wanting to use native shrubs in the garden.

Wildflowers

1. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb. Published in 1977 by Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-60442-9
2. New England Wildflowers; a Guide to Common Plants by Frank Kaczmarek. Published in 2009 by Morris Book Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-0-7627-4820-4. A Falcon Guide.
3. Field Guide to Wildflowers; Eastern Region, by William Niering, John W. Thieret, and Nancy C. Olmstead. Published in 2001 by Alfred A Knopf, Chanticleer Press. ISBN 0-375-40232-2. A National Audubon Society Field Guide.
4. Wild Flower Guide; Northeastern and Midland United States by Edgar T. Wherry, Ph.D. Published in 1948 by Doubleday and Company. ISBN None
5.  Weeds of the Northeast by Richard H. Uva, Joseph C. Neal and Joseph M. Ditomaso. Published in 1997 by Cornell University. ISBN 978-0-8014-8334-9.

Other

1. Forest Forensics; a Field Guide to Reading the Forested Landscape, by Tom Wessels. Published in 2010 by The Countryman Press. ISBN 978-0-88150-918-2. Tom Wessels shows how to understand the history of a forest by seeing and understanding evidence of what went on in the past.
2. Weeds and Wildflowers in Winter, by Lauren Brown. Published in 2012 by The Countryman press. ISBN 978-1-58157-177-6. If you need to identify a plant in winter this book will help.