Newcomb's Wildflower Identification Guide

There are many advantages to landscaping with wildflowers, including low maintenance. Such "woodland gardens" are also valued by those who wish to be "authentic" to their region and avoid alien invasive plants. You can shop for them at wildflower nurseries. But how do you begin? How do you know what to grow? One way is to buy a wildflower guide and go on wildflower-identification expeditions. The bible of wildflower identification (for my region, at least) is Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.

Once I went on a guided wildflower-identification walk. The guides were very serious about the subject of wildflower identification. Not surprisingly, their book recommendation to this novice looking to learn more about wildflower identification was a very serious book: a wildflower identification guide written by Lawrence Newcomb.

If you're seeking a book with pretty photographs, Newcomb's wildflower identification guide isn't for you. That's because the method of wildflower identification adopted in this book is known as a "key" system. In his introduction, the author clearly illustrates the problem with the method supplanted by his key system. In speaking of the method of wildflower identification most novices use, Lawrence Newcomb writes, "Typically, the layman approaches it in a haphazard, illogical way, searching at random through his favorite wildflower book, hoping to stumble upon a picture or description that matches his specimen."

By contrast, then, just what is his "key" system for wildflower identification? By answering questions (don't worry: it's multiple choice!) about what a plant looks like, you are guided to wildflower identification in a logical, systematic manner. How? Well, your answers are assigned a 3-digit key number. You then turn to the key numbers section, where your number will be matched up to a wildflower page. Once you arrive at the page, you narrow down your choices (aided by illustrations), until you arrive at the solution.

The key system of wildflower identification is far from easy for the untrained eye; so keep those other books with the pretty pictures handy, for supplemental use. But once you get the hang of it, Newcomb's method for wildflower identification sure beats the "haphazard" method of wildflower identification any day.