This was posted as part of another thread, but there weren’t any recommendations. Anyone have any thoughts?
As you can tell from my name, I’m a plant gal. I usually carry a wildflower or tree book with me when I hike and I’m out for only a few days. But the field guides I like are the Audobon ones, which are H-E-A-V-Y. Anybody have a recommendation for a good liteweight guide to eastern wildflowers?
I would hate to hike through the Smokies without knowing what I was looking at.
Bunchberry
I would recommend you visit a couple of local libraries and see what they have for field guides. If one of them strikes your fancy, then you can order it if it’s still in print or an updated version of it is (or maybe do a checkout for your hike duration).
Regarding field guides, I find they often do not live up to their hype—often they are over advertised and you think you are going to get what you want and wind up getting something of little value to you, for example one with very few pictures, etc.
You are right about the best ones being heavy, but they are full of information and pictures----small compact field guides are usually just that small and compact with little useful info in them.
Anyway good luck. Hope to see you out there and we can compare notes on trees, etc. Very few hikers really know much at all about the woods, trees, flowers and such. It’s refreshing to find someone who does and who cares about such things.
See you out there. :cheers
Maintain
Compile a list of flowers, etc. that you are likely to come across on your hike. Both list and pictures are to be had on the web, and many sites allow copying for personal use. This technique also helps you learn. You’d be surprised how many thumbnail pictures with brief descriptions you can get on both sides of a sheet of paper.:nerd
Too bad there aren’t really lightweight guides; not enough demand I suppose.
Groucho
Hi Bunchberry,
I like knowing the names of the trees and flowers too. Study your guides ar home, make notes to take with you, take notes and pictures in the field, and ask other hikers or Park Rangers.
Here’s an AT book I own:
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hike/plant_anim/wildflower.html
Here’s a Smokys book I might ask Santa for:
http://www.compleatnaturalist.com/Catalog_asp_files/wildflow3.asp
TJ aka Teej
Hi Bunchberry,
I like knowing the names of the trees and flowers too. Study your guides ar home, make notes to take with you, take notes and pictures in the field, and ask other hikers or Park Rangers.
Here’s an AT book I own:
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/hike/plant_anim/wildflower.html
Here’s a Smokys book I might ask Santa for:
http://www.compleatnaturalist.com/Catalog_asp_files/wildflow3.asp
TJ aka Teej
There are some guides which are specific to the Appalachian Trail. one is: The Appalachian Trail: A Visitor’s Companion by Leonard M. Adkins. In Appendix B in his book he lists a bibliography that will take the winter to peruse.
The suggestion to familiarize yourself with the flora and auna prior to actual hiking will be beneficial. Along the way there are towns with libraries where questionable items can be checked on, or where memory can be refreshed.
I wonder if Thru-Hiker’s have the time or inclination to examine the plants along the way or if it is just Section Hikers or Day Hikers who take this interest.
Skylander Jack
JackW
Yes thru hikers looked at flowers!! Rafter Jack and I had a running conversation and kept score on how many different flowers we could find. I brought home over 300 photos of flowers from the trail. There are several good guides specific to the AT and they are light weight. By the end of March you will start seeing a lot of spring flowers if you are NOBO. In less than a week of viewing (if you use the guide books) the spring flowers you will know them by heart. Flame and I listed them in our journals on this site most of the time.
As for the Smokies, there is a guide book (small brown, about 4x5in) that list every trail in the Smokies and the flowers and trees that can be found there by the time of year. It is a fantastic book. It also has the elevation change and milage chart by trail. It is a great planning tool and it explains the trail mile by mile. A must have if you are planning a hike in the Smokies. You can get it at the Welcome Center in Gatlinburg or at the Sugarlands Ranger Station just as you enter the park from Gatlinburg. They also have books there with photos of the wildflowers in the Smokies. The Smokies have the greatest diversity of plant and animal life in the northern hemisphere. Enjoy your hike.
Papa Smurf