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Re: Book titles

> Way back when I took Plant Biology 102 we were taught to use an 
> identification key.  It was for trees and asked questions like: Are the 
> leaves lobed?, Is the branching opposite or alternate?, etc.  Since then 
> I have never seen an actual comprehensive key for trees or plants.  Does 
> anyone know if any prairie books out there that have this type of identification?

Not specifically geared towards prairie plants (but pretty much all-
encompassing) there's a couple that I've got in my collection here:

   Britton, Nathaniel Lord and Addison Brown.  An Illustrated Flora of
      the Northern United States and Canada.  New York: Dover, 1970.
      (three-volume set)

   Mohlenbrock, Robert H.  Guide to the Vascular Flora of Illinois.
      Carbondale: Southern Illinois University, 1986.

   Swink, Floyd and Gerould Wilhelm.  Plants of the Chicago Region.
      Lisle: Morton Arboretum, 1994.

I personally feel that Swink and Wilhelm is the most useful of the
three; maybe its because I've actually met them so their experiences
seem more real to me.  :)  It's still a bit technical.

Another good book if you're not into taxonomy is

   Newcomb, Lawrence.  Newcomb's Wildflower Guide.  Boston: Little
   Brown, 1977.

This book is relatively in-depth and can at least get you to a genus.
It uses a REALLY simple, ingenious key based on the number of petals,
and leaf type, effectively bypassing most of the annoying dichotomous
key rules.  Using it in conjunction with one of the aforementioned books
is probably your best bet...

Chris
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