CHOOSING A "FLOWER BOOK" - Bernard Ward
For many branches of natural history study, specialist
books are needed, but for the study of wild flowers and
plants there is a wide choice. Requests are often made to
me for suggestions for suitable flower books to enable a
beginner to read and learn about British plants. In the
past, various titles have been given with varying results -
more often than not the person concerned proves to be
dissatisfied. Consequently such requests are now tactfully
avoided.
It is nevertheless of interest where practicable to
examine the reasons why one book suits one person and not
another. Primarily the acceptance or rejection depends
upon the extent of the beginner's real interest. Too often
this interest is of a passing nature. Another feature is
that some persons with little botanical experience find
written descriptions confusing and rely upon illustrations
from which to identify their plants.
It is better to spend sometime in a good, well-stocked
bookshop, browsing amongst the volumes available and make
an individual selection according to one's taste and the
depth of one's pocket. There are numerous titles from
which to choose, and a short inspection will show if the
book has concise descriptions of all, or a wide selection
of species. Where pictures are desired, they should be of
a high quality, well drawn, accurate, and, if coloured,
with good colour reproduction.
As a matter of personal preference, my choice is for a
book with a good "key" or series of keys to identification
followed by a reasonably concise description in words, not
only of the plant, but giving extra details such as
approximate time of flowering and fruiting, type of habitat
in which found, and so forth. Should there be also a clear
line drawing showing the chief characteristics (or
differences) this is an advantage. There is, for example,
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