Product Description

The latest in the ROM’s acclaimed series of beautiful and authoritative field guides

Guaranteed to appeal to everyone from the casual Sunday stroller to the most dedicated amateur botanist, The ROM Field Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario is researched, written, and designed specifically for the Ontario reader and visitor. It is the most authoritative, easy to use, and beautifully designed guide to Ontario wildflowers available, with a stunning selection of photographs unsurpassed anywhere.

This landmark publication features:
• Detailed and clearly written descriptions of 400 of Ontario’s most common wildflowers, including notes on habitat, characteristic features of each species’ leaves, flowers, and fruits; description of similar species; and in many cases interesting additional information about the plant, such as traditional uses, origin of its name, and biology.
• Approximately 1,000 stunning full-colour photographs drawn from the ROM’s celebrated collection of more than 50,000 botanical photos.
• Specially designed colour-coded key to assist identification.
• Handy size and format, with photos and description for each species all on one page.
• Sized to fit in a backpack or pocket, with stitched binding and rugged cover for extra durability.
• Glossary of botanical terms and index.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49590 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-08
• Released on: 2004-05-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

From the Back Cover
An authoritative guide to Ontario wildflowers: includes 550 common Ontario species - written in clear, accessible language - features more than 1000 full-colour wildflower photographs, most of them from the ROM's celebrated collection - includes an illustrated guide to plant parts and simple keys for plant identification - fits in a backpack or pocket, with stitched binding for extra strength - oil and water repellant cover lamination

About the Author
Richard Dickinson is a research associate of the Royal Ontario Museum and the author of Wildflowers of Edmonton & Central Alberta and Wildflowers of Calgary & Southern Alberta.

Timothy Dickinson is a curator of botany at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Deborah Metsger is an assistant curator of botany at the Royal Ontario Museum. All three live in Toronto.

Customer Reviews

There are many better books
Although the key at the front of the book is an interesting twist on the standard plant identification key, I found it was really no easier to use. All in all I was very disappointed with the ROM field guide to wildflowers of Ontario. I have long loved the ROM field guide to Shrubs of Ontario and expected the same calibre in this. In fact I have always felt the Shrubs of Ontario was one of the best designed field guides I have used. I'm glad I didn't order the ROM guides to birds, and to reptiles and amphibians as they look like the same format as the wildflower guide.

The big problem is the photos. They are very small, many are very dark and hard to see detail, and several appear fuzzy and out of focus. For example, the pictures of tall wormwood (and there are 3 of them) could be mistaken for any number of plants at various stages of maturity. There is no detail drawing or even close-up photo of the leaf. Two pages away, I did not even recognize the mossy stonecrop - and I grow lots of it in my garden. And there are many, many more just as confusing or hard to see.

Another disappointment is the lack of natural history or anecdotal information about the plants. That part of the shrubs guide made the plant more interesting. And I was really disappointed that the guide does not let you know which wildflowers are native and which are "imported".

If you want a good general guide to wildflowers in Ontario, stick with Peterson's or Newcomb's. A great little book, though not as extensive as either of those two, is Ontario Wildflowers: 101 Wayside Flowers by Linda Kershaw. It's only drawback is the limited number or plants it identifies. If the ROM guide had been this page size and format, with the same kind of big, clear photos as Kershaw's book, it could have been a winner.

In the end, I feel the ROM Guide to Wildflowers of Ontario has very little to commend it. I am wondering if my 2 stars may have been generous.

great book
It takes a little bit of getting used to, but this book will more than reward your effort. With a little practice, using the identification keys up front and the well-presented introductory text and diagrams, you learn to pay attention to how a wildflower plant is actually constructed (the composition of flowers, leaves, stems, etc) and are soon looking at new finds with the trained eye of a botanist. The result is, you can begin to zero in on a much more dependable identification than you would get with other, "more simple" guides. And it's fun! The colour photos are excellent -- more than 1000 of them -- there are distribution maps on every page, and too many other bells and whistles to count. Worth every penny.

Detailed but difficult to use
Tbis is a wonderfully detailed book on wildflowers, but for someone just beginning it is necessary to learn much more about flower structure and classification than a beginner,like myself, finds comfortable or easy. Although not as detailed, the book "Ontario Wildflowers: 101 Wayside Flowers" is much simpler to use, and vastly superior for the beginner.