C. P. Lyons. Wildflowers of Washington. Lone Pine Publishing. 1997.

I picked up this book today expecting it to be basically like any other nature guide from Lone Pine Publishing, a company I've come to trust. I expected a good introduction discussing the anatomy of flowers and the various habitats found in the designated geographical region. I also expect color photographs and identification features of wildflowers. In most field guides, the flowers are grouped by color so that it is easy to at least limit the pictures you need to study when trying to identify a new wildflower in the field. So far, so good!

This book has a feature I've yet to see in another field guide by Lone Pine or any other publishing company. It groups wildflowers by first color and then by the number of petals the flower should have. Perhaps I am wrong, but I cannot recall another field guide using this grouping feature. I really hope Lone Pine suggests all its field guide authors use it when appropriate. Another feature often lacking in other guides is a close up of the flowers in addition to a photograph of the entire plant.