Flora References

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General Flora and Wildflowers

Adkins, Leonard M. 2005.
Wildflowers of the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains.
Birmingham, AL: Menasha Ridge Press.

Adkins, Leonard M. 2006.
Wildflowers of the Appalachian Trail, 2nd ed.
Birmingham, AL: Menasha Ridge Press and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
The author of this book was frustrated with most guide books that provide only identification tips for each species and not much else. Adkins set out to correct that in this book by provided an entire page of descriptive material and another page with a full color photograph for each of many wildflowers encountered on the Appalachian Trail. Although far from comprehensive, the book turned out to be quite readable and interesting.

Brandenburg, David M. 2010.
Field Guide to Wildflowers of North America;
National Wildlife Federation. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
This excellent field guide is organized by family and covers the entire continental United States and Canada. Maps are provided with each species description, usually with several related species per map. Perhaps one of its more useful features is a photographic key to flower color and shape at the beginning of the book. The book is recent enough that it contains current scientific names and classifications.

Brown, Lauren. 1979.
Grasses: An Identification Guide.
New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Cobb, Boughton. 1963.
A Field Guide to the Ferns and Their Related Families of Northeastern and Central North America: with a section on species also found in the British Isles and Western Europe;
The Peterson Field Guide Series, no. 10. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Cobb, Boughton, Elizabeth Farnsworth and Cheryl Lowe. 2005.
A Field Guide to the Ferns and Their Related Families: Northeastern and Central North America, 2nd ed.;
The Peterson Field Guide Series. China: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Denton, Molly Taber. 1979.
Wildflowers of the Potomac Appalachians: A Hiker's Guide.
Washington, DC: Potomac Appalachian Trail Club.
This small 58-page guide describes most of the common wildflowers one is likely to encounter while hiking in Shenandoah National Park, Massanutten Mountains, and other nearby mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. The book is organized by season and by plant flamily. Perhaps its most useful feature are the helpful educational tips that can help you understand and more easily recognize plant families. Note that plant names (both scientific and common) may have changed over the years since its publication.

Fleming, Cristol, Marion Blois Lobstein, and Barbara Tufty. 1995.
Finding Wildflowers in the Washington-Baltimore Area.
Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Ibrahim, Kamal M., and Paul M Peterson. 2014.
Grasses of Washington, D.C.
Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press

Martin, Alexander C. 1972.
Weeds;
A Golden Guide. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Co., Inc.

Mazzeo, Peter M. 1981.
Ferns and Fern Allies of Shenandoah National Park, 2nd ed.
Luray, VA: The Shenandoah Natural History Association, Inc.

Miller, James H., Erwin B. Chanbliss and Nancy J Loewenstein. 2010.
A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests,
Forest Service Southern Research Station General Technical Report SRS-119. Ashville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Newcomb, Lawrence. 1977.
Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.
Boston, etc.: Little, Brown and Co.
This is an excellent field guide that is organized first by number of flower petals, then by leaf structure. While it has not been updated recently to reflect classification changes, it remains one of my go-to books when first trying to identify a flower I haven't seen before.

Niering, William A. and Nancy C. Olmstead. 1997.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Eastern Region.
New York, NY: Chanticleer Press, Inc.

Peterson, Roger Tory and Margaret McKenny. 1968.
A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and Northcentral North America;
The Peterson Field Guide Series, no.17.
Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.
This field guide is organized by flower color, then by flower shape.

Plant NoVA Natives. 2014.
Native Plants for Northern Virginia.
Northern Virginia Regional Commission.
Also available for download at Plant NoVA Natives (23 September 2014)

Simmons, Roderick H., et al. 2008
"Conservation Priorities and Selected Natural Communities of the Upper Anacostia Watershed",
Marilandica, Journal of the Maryland Native Plant Society, Vol. 12, No. 1, Spring 2008.
Silver Spring, MD: Maryland Native Plant Society.

Slattery, Britt E., Kathry Reshetiloff, and Susan M. Swicker. 2003, 2005.
Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
Annapolis, MD: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office.
Also available online at Chesapeake Natives (23 September 2014)

Swearingen, Jil et al. 2010.
Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas, 4th ed.
Washington, DC: National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Weakley, Alan S., J. Christopher Ludwig, John F. Townsend. 2012.
Flora of Virginia.
Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press.
This is the most comprehensive description of Virginia flora available and contains the latest plant designations, including those based on DNA research. Because Virginia includes such diversity of habitat, from the coast to peaks of the Appalachians, this book is useful throughout the entire mid-Atlantic region. Readers can expect extensive scientific jargon in the species descriptions, but the glossary should help the uninitiated decipher the terms used. It is a hefty book, with over 1550 pages, so you likely won't be taking this into the field. Rather, take lots of pictures, go back home and look the plant up, then go back to the field to verify your suspected identification.

Trees and Shrubs

Anagnostakis, Sandra L. 2010.
Identification of Chestnut Trees, revised.
Connecticut: The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Brockman, C. Frank. 1968.
Trees of North America: A Field Guide to the Major Native and Introduced Species North of Mexico.
New York, NY: Golden Press

Choukas-Bradley, Melanie. 2008.
City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, D.C., 3rd ed.
China: University of Virginia Press

Chamuris, George P. 2010.
Hiker's Guide to the Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of Ricketts Glen State Park, 4th ed.
Bloomsburg, PA: Bloomsburg University of PA

Gibbs, Nick. 2005.
The Real Wood Bible: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Choosing and Using 100 Decorative Woods.
Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, Ltd.

Hough, Romeyn Beck. 2007.
The Woodbook: The Complete Plates: The American Woods (1888-1913, 1928).
China: Tashen GmbH

Kershner, Bruce et al. 2008.
Field Guide to Trees of North America;
National Wildlife Federation. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Little, Elbert L. 1997.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees.
New York, NY: Chanticleer Press

Petrides, George A. 1972.
A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs; Field marks of all trees, shrubs, and woody vines that grow wild in the northeastern and north-central United States and in south-eastern and south-central Canada, 2nd ed.;
The Peterson Field Guide Series, no. 11. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Sibley, David Allen. 2009.
The Sibley Guide to Trees.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Symonds, George W. D. 1958.
The Tree Identification Book: A New Method for the Practical Identification and Recognition of Trees.
New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers

Whitman, Ann H. ed. 1986.
Familiar Trees of North America: Eastern Region;
The Audubon Society Pocket Guides. New York, NY: Chanticleer Press

Williams, Michael D. 2007.
Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America.
Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books

Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts

McKnight, Karl B. et al. 2013.
Common Mosses of the Northeast and Appalachians
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press

Munch, Susan. 2006.
Outstanding Mosses and Liverworts of Pennsylvania & Nearby States
Mechanicsburg, PA: Sunbury Press, Inc.

Fungi & Lichens

Brodo, Irwin M. et al. 2001.
Lichens of North America
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press

Ghouled, F. C. 1972.
Field Guide to the Psilocybin Mushroom: - species common to North America.
Chapel Hill, NC: The Loom Press

Lincoff, Gary H. 1981.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf

McKnight, Kent H. and Vera B. McKnight. 1987.
A Field Guide to Mushrooms North America.
New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Ostry, Michael E., Neil A. Anderson, Joseph G. O'Brien. 2011.
Field Guide to Common Macrofungi in Eastern Forests and Their Ecosystem Functions.
Newtown Square, PA: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Available electronically at USDA Forest Service website.

Edible and Medicinal Plants

Brown, Tom, Jr. 1985.
Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants.
New York, NY: Berkley Books

Elias, Thomas S. and Peter A. Dykeman. 1982.
Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide to over 200 Natural Foods.
New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

Foster, Steven and James A. Duke. 1990.
A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants: Eastern and Central North America;
The Peterson Field Guide Series, no. 40. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Gibbons, Euell. 1962.
Stalking the Wild Asparagus.
Brattleboro, VT: Alan C. Hood & Co., Inc.

Kallas, John. 2010.
Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods from Dirt to Plate;
The Wild Food Adventure Series. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith

Peterson, Lee. 1977.
A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants of Eastern and Central North America;
The Peterson Field Guide Series, no. 23. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Schultes, Richard Evans. 1976.
Hallucinogenic Plants;
A Golden Guide. Racine, WI: Western Publishing Co., Inc.
Really?!? When I saw it in the store in 1976, I thought it might have been a joke, but no, it's real. This small pocket guide looks like so many other Golden Guides targeted for children, but instead covers halluciongenic plants from around the world. Very nice scientific techical descriptions are provided that are likely over the heads of most people that don't have a college-level chemistry background.

Thayer, Samuel. 2006.
The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants.
India: Forager's Harvest

On-Line Resources



eFloras (2008).
eFlora.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA

Smithsonian Institution.
Flora of the Washington-Baltimore Area. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC

Tulloss RE, Yang ZL, eds.
"Amanitaceae studies". Studies in the Amanitaceae

United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
Plant of the Week. Washington, DC 20250-1111

United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.
The PLANTS Database. National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901

Virginia Botanical Associates, Inc.
Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora. Blacksburg, VA 24060

Virginia Native Plant Society.
Wildflowers of the Year. 400 Blandy Farm Road, Unit 2, Boyce, Virginia 22620.
Each year, VNPS chooses a different wildflower as "Wildflower of the Year". Detailed descriptions and photos are provided for over 20 native wildflowers in Virginia that have been awarded this designation.

Wikipedia
Wikipedia.

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