This novice-friendly, technically accurate guide describes and illustrates more than 600 wildflower species. Written, edited, and reviewed by professional biologists and local experts, it includes sections on the region's geology, geography, and plant communities, on flower parts and scientific names, and on placees to go wildflower-watching. The use of technical terms is minimized, and those used are listed in a glossary. A feature unique among wildflower guides is the description alongside the plants of other living things that rely on them. Each entry Includes common and scientific names, a description with diagnostic characteristics Italicized, flowering time, habitat, and local range, places to find the plant, the source and meaning of its scientific name, and, often, similar species with which it may be confused. Book jacket.