Which field guide do you use?

[harryhaller]

Beginners such as myself would like to know from those who are competent at identifying plants, which book they take out and use. Not the ones they leave at home or any others. But the one they really use.

Please give the FULL TITLE etc. because it's amazing how many books, even from the same publisher, have very similar titles.

I am wading through about 15 books, old and new, british and foreign, and I find it difficult to decide which is the one to take with me.

Thanks

[Wayland]

I'd be interested in an answer to this as well.

The ones small enough to carry seem inadequate or too specific.

What I am looking for is something UK based, Diary or pocket notebook sized.

It would be useful if it also included fauna as well as flora.

[Toadflax]

Have a look at this thread: Book Review: British Wild Flower ID Books (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28412).

The books aren't light, but are very comprehensive - and do only cover plants.


Geoff

[Shewie]

Beginners such as myself would like to know from those who are competent at identifying plants, which book they take out and use.


If we were that competent would we need books ;) ?

The Roger Phillips books are good, but there isn't just one book covering everything there are many. I even have one on grasses and lichens :o

Amazon stock most of them if you're interested ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books/s?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A1025612%2Cp_27%3ARoger% 20Phillips&field-author=Roger%20Phillips&page=1

Like Wayland said though, it's hard to find that one book which will help ID everything but at the same time be small enough to use in the field and actually be useful.

Happy hunting

[sapper1]

I generally carry three,depending on what I'm doing.
Collins little gem Tood for free
Collins little gem trees
Collins nature guides Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and Europe.

If I'm looking for wildlife i use
Collins guide to animal tracks and signs By Preben Bang and Preben Dahlstrom.

I haven't found one single book that covers as much as the above and still be a ssensible size to carry in a pack.But I'd love to have it when it is found.

[British Red]

The best thing I have (no joke) is a pocket sized digital camera with good macro facilities and a ruler. Using the ruler for scale I can take loads of pictures of animals, trees, fungi, tracks, plants, birds and identify them when I get home. If I go out to look at plants, I see birds. If its birds I spot an interesting tree.

I just can't carry them all and, to be honest, I don't want to plan to only observe one thing.

So, I take the camera, record, and look it up when I get home. I then file the photos by name.

You would be amazed how many times I have struggled to identify something, then found I had done so a couple of years before. The third time its usually "I've seen that before" and I look it up in my own pictures. Very rewarding that way. The dates on photos are handy for seasonality too.

Its an updated version of the old explorers sketchbook idea I suppose. There is nothing new after all

Red

[Wayland]

That tarries with what I do too but I always carry a Moleskine type note book with me and it wouldn't be a hardship to carry a field guide the same sort of size.

There are times that I would like to know while I am there if you know what I mean.

[British Red]

I do. The nearest to a "does it all" for me is Collins "Complete British Wildlife" - which has everything from insects to owls. Flowers, fungi etc all need their own books.

Red

[dwardo]

Like Red i will go take photos first and then ID them when i get home.
I also download offline copies of websites to use on my phone as i never have any kind of internet signal when out (which is nice :)).
Sites like tree identification sites and Rosgers mushrooms for instance. I have also found some great little .PDF guides to foraging which i can also view on my phone.

For wild foody stuffs i often find pictures online and copy them to my phone as a backup whilst out... Just a thought.

[SimonM]

I use Collins Wild Guide British Wildlife

http://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Wildlife-Collins-Wild-Guide/dp/0007191723/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1239107676&sr=11-1

ISBN 0 00 719172 3

It has chapters on:

birds
wild flowers
trees
mushrooms & toadstools
mammals
insects
butterflies & moths
amphibians & reptiles
fish


A very useful book to carry around, if like me you are carp at ID'ing some of our native species!

Simon

[Nat]

I always carry when out and about:
Collins Gem Food For Free by Richard Mabey isbn 978-0-00-718303-6
Collins Gem Trees - isbn 978-0-00-718306-7
Collins Nature guides
- Wild Flowers isbn 978-0-26-167403-5
- Mushrooms Toadstools isbn 978-0-26-167406-6

[scrogger]

Thanks for posting those isbn numbers Nat I think ill order me some of those.

[Nat]

The Nature Guides are very good for pictures, i wouldn't trust myself to pick edible shrooms using it, but that's just me. But for reference and learnignt hey're very good. I've got one on Birds aswell which i use for the numerous bugg, erm wee flighty things in the back garden with the kids.
Food for free is a classic book especially when hunting for edibles out and about.
One i did miss out is the SAS Survival Guide in collins gem size aswell. I've got the large "rucksack" version aswell but the gems sizes are perfect for a pocket.

[xylaria]

I use
collins pocket guide to wild flowers ;fritter, fritter, blamey.
collins field guide to mushrooms and toadstools ;courtecuisse, duhem
collins little gem trees

I don't bring a guide with me unless I need to, or if I am going to gather a lot. At moment i would bring only the wild flower book as the season has changed and there is a lot of new plants around. Because I pick for the pot, I feel just learning to id plants and fungi from photos is grossly insufficient. I will bring a field guide with me so I don't have to pick unknown plants. If I what ID in the field is an eater I take home a sample to thoroughly look at it and cross reference, that way the next time I see the plant I will know what I am looking at.

I have a lot of other books that I leave at home, i have one mushroom guide by stephan bukascki that is by far my favorite that stays at home because it is 20 years old, I know it off by heart, and pages just fall open at the page I need. It pays to double check an ID, and triple check if your are going to eat it.

I recently bought the hamlyn guide to edible and medicinal plants ; launert. It is 30 years old out of print, and cost me £20 from amazon, the information in it is unparralled and it is in the lay out of field guide. Excellent book but i wouldn't bring it out side. I tend to mark the margin of my usual field guide with edibility symbols.

Don't use the collins mushroom nature guide by granwieder (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mushrooms-Toadstools-Collins-Nature-Guide/dp/0002199947/ref=pd_sim_b_5)it is full of errors.

[forestwalker]

I have "Mammals of Britain & Europe" (John A. Burton, 1991 Kingfisher, London) and find it fairly good (only a couple of minor errors AFAICR). No idea regarding plants (I use Mossbergs field guide for Sweden, but that is not very useful for you).

I have Olsen and Svedberg for invertebrates (same ones as RM sells, but in Swedish, but find them not so good; for a biologist the design is strange).

[mace242]

The best thing I have (no joke) is a pocket sized digital camera with good macro facilities and a ruler. Using the ruler for scale I can take loads of pictures of animals, trees, fungi, tracks, plants, birds and identify them when I get home. If I go out to look at plants, I see birds. If its birds I spot an interesting tree.

I just can't carry them all and, to be honest, I don't want to plan to only observe one thing.

So, I take the camera, record, and look it up when I get home. I then file the photos by name.

You would be amazed how many times I have struggled to identify something, then found I had done so a couple of years before. The third time its usually "I've seen that before" and I look it up in my own pictures. Very rewarding that way. The dates on photos are handy for seasonality too.

Its an updated version of the old explorers sketchbook idea I suppose. There is nothing new after all

Red

Excellent advice. I have a small pocket sized camera for exactly that reason. I try to carry it everywhere as you never know what you might see growing at the side of the road when you're not even planning on spotting anything.

[Melonfish]

Four books which go out on all my walks are all by collins gem.
Food for Free
Mushrooms
Tree's
SAS Survival guide.

all available from amazon or blackwells or waterstones etc etc.
very handy little books and good reads. the tree one may not be needed but i like to identify some tree's and know what wood i'm working with (being stupid)

[demographic]

The best thing I have (no joke) is a pocket sized digital camera with good macro facilities and a ruler. Using the ruler for scale I can take loads of pictures of animals, trees, fungi, tracks, plants, birds and identify them when I get home. If I go out to look at plants, I see birds. If its birds I spot an interesting tree.

I just can't carry them all and, to be honest, I don't want to plan to only observe one thing.

So, I take the camera, record, and look it up when I get home. I then file the photos by name.

You would be amazed how many times I have struggled to identify something, then found I had done so a couple of years before. The third time its usually "I've seen that before" and I look it up in my own pictures. Very rewarding that way. The dates on photos are handy for seasonality too.

Its an updated version of the old explorers sketchbook idea I suppose. There is nothing new after all

Red

I do that to some extent, I have loads of photos of mushrooms on my phone and the seasone really help in that respect.

[scrubcutter]

Hello Harryhaller,

Here's an excerpt from a thread [Recommended fauna & flora ID guides.... (long list)] I set up a while ago:

The Wild Flower Key
How to identify wild flowers, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland
Francis Rose and Clare O'Reilly
480 pages.
Frederick Warne Books
Sbk £19.99
[Well illustrated and covers most species and regarded as one of the best along with the following]


The Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland
The Complete Guide to the British and Irish Flora
Marjorie Blamey, Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter
512 pages
A & C Black
Sbk £16.99
[comments as above]


Collins Tree Guide
Owen Johnson and David More
464 pages
Harper Collins
Sbk £16.99
Hbk £24.99


Sedges of the British Isles
AC Jermy, DA Simpson, MJY Foley and MS Porter
554 pages
Botanical Society of the British Isles
Sbk £17.50
[It's specialised but I included it as it's relevant to Bush food, black & white illustartions]


Colour Identification Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of the British Isles and North-Western Europe
Francis Rose
204 pages
Viking Books
Hbk £50
[colour photo's]


The Fern Guide
A Field Guide to the Ferns, Clubmosses, Quillworts and Horsetails of the British Isles
James Merryweather and Michael Hill
Field Studies Council (FSC)
Sbk £6.95


New Flora of the British Isles
Edited by Clive Stace
1130 pages
Cambridge University Press
Sbk £53
[Covers everything but is heavy-going.]


Field Flora of the British Isles
Clive Stace
736 pages, 16 b/w illus, 12 figs.
Cambridge University Press
Sbk £25.99
[Abridged version of the above.]

All these books are very good and highly recomend but the first two listed will be the ones for I think.

Hope it helps.

[harryhaller]

Now that I have a camera and carry it all the time, I also take many pics of plants, but, as Wayland said, I feel I really want to know there and then - and for excellent reasons:

When I get home and look at the photos with my books, in the key you are asked whether the leaves are opposite or alternate (for example) - check the photos, and of course I can't see because the photo is only of the flower and the tops of the leaves. The keys require a far more detailed examination of the plant than one can make with a camera.

With the photos you can resort to simply leafing through all the photos in the books to see if you can get a match, but that seems to be worst approach since one is not learning about the botany of the plant - the family, its features etc.

I don't have the Collins Gems nor their pocket books, etc. so I will have a look at them since they seem to be used by so many of you:)

The Roger Phillips books I'll look at extremely critically. They are photographer's books and I have just burnt my fingers with the books of Bob Gibbons, who is also a photographer, because I discovered that many of the photos which look so nice are pretty useless for identification - and some of them are just plain bad, such as "over there" shots, where the plant in question is "over there" and one can barely make out more than blotches of flowers. The publishers/printers may to be blame, of course, but I am now very much in favour of colour drawings based on photographs.

Of the books that I have, only two were mentioned by any of you though some of my books are French, Dutch etc.

Of the books that I have, the one which I think would be best outside, is Rose's "The Wild Flower Key" which is at the top of Scrubcutter's list and the Hamlyn "Edible and Medicinal Plants" by Launert which Xylaria mentioned - but neither of these books is used by anyone in the field! :banghead:

When it comes to which book people really do take out with them, it seems that the Collins publications, in particular the Gem series, are the favourites.

Oh well... back to the bookshop "Excuse me do you have the Collins Gem series...":)

[MartinK9]

Collins Gem Food For Free by Richard Mabey
Collins Gem Trees

Not complete in my opinion, but small and great to start off with

[covertcraft]

The best thing I have (no joke) is a pocket sized digital camera with good macro facilities and a ruler. Using the ruler for scale I can take loads of pictures of animals, trees, fungi, tracks, plants, birds and identify them when I get home. If I go out to look at plants, I see birds. If its birds I spot an interesting tree.

I just can't carry them all and, to be honest, I don't want to plan to only observe one thing.

So, I take the camera, record, and look it up when I get home. I then file the photos by name.

You would be amazed how many times I have struggled to identify something, then found I had done so a couple of years before. The third time its usually "I've seen that before" and I look it up in my own pictures. Very rewarding that way. The dates on photos are handy for seasonality too.

Its an updated version of the old explorers sketchbook idea I suppose. There is nothing new after all

Red

I like your style, and I have the necessary kit so I'll be taking the camera out more often me thinks, got 14 acres of woodland to try and decipher!

[Jumbalaya]

The only guide I take out one when I'm going over a new and unfamiliar piece of ground/area is the pocket sized Fitter, Fitter & Blamey Wild Flowers of Great Britain & N. Europe. Normally I don't carry a guide with me, but it's just nice to check out an unknown plant if you happen to come across one.

Best
M

[BIGWOLFY]

It has been said many times before, The more knowledge you carry in your head the less you carry in your backpack.But for me it has to be Collins gem FOOD FOR FREE by Richard Mabey's in backpack size, This one is a must for any one into the bushcraft way of life.

[firecrest]

I have a collins `guide ti british trees` which is excellent. it has clear photos of the tree and a leaf/fruit next to it, and even different woods when found on the ground ormade into planks.

i cant name my books off the top of my head but Im always careful to buy guides to britain as many say "britain and europe" those are just not helpful, they cover too many species from a wider demographic, meaning that uncommon species are left out and a whole pile of plants you arent going to come across.

I have a flower book somewhere which actually as ordered the plants in order of flower colour. All the purples are together, all the pinks ect. ive found that to be very helpful.

[Rebel]

For general purpose use I use

"Complete British Wildlife Photoguide" Paul Sterry - Collins

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Complete-Guide-British-Wildlife/dp/0007236832/ref=pd_sim_b_1

It has just about everything you're likely to come across.

For flowers I use what I consider to be the most authoritative book

"The Wild Flower Key" Francis Rose
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wild-Flower-Key-Revised-identify/dp/0723251754/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241298927&sr=1-1

This book has all the flowers with a full description so that you can really be sure of your identification, it also has trees.

For grasses I use

"Grasses" Collins
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grasses-Sedges-Britain-Northern-Collins/dp/0002191369/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241299087&sr=1-9

I don't know why it's so expensive on Amazon the RRP on my copy is only £17.

For birds I think that the Collins book is the best
"Collins Bird Guide: The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe"

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Bird-Guide-Complete-Britain/dp/0002197286/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241299258&sr=1-1

For trees I think it has to be Collins again

"Collins Tree Guide"

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Tree-Guide-Owen-Johnson/dp/0007207719/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Dorling Kindersley's guide books are also very good.

[Broch]

As has been posted elsewhere on the forum - "The Works" (the high-street discount bookshop) has the Collins Complete British series for £4.99 a book - they're not ones I use personally but they look really good value for someone starting a reference collection.

The volumes I've seen there are birds, flowers, wildlife, and trees all full of good photographs.

Cheers,

Broch

[JDO330]

Ive just this minute ordered 3 of the collins gems: Trees, food for free & wild flowers from Amazon for just under £10 delivered. I reckon thats a pretty good price IMO.

Thanks to all for the above info which has influenced my purchase!

ATB, Jon.

[Leigh Robinson]

Don't be afraid to write in your books. For example I have Collins gem on trees. Adding notes to the pages I now can identify the tree, know how good it is for fire making, if it's edible and any other uses.

Just by adding notes I have made it so much more useful.

[littlebiglane]

I have the Fritter - Fritter and Blamey book and whilst okay I find it more tricky to use in the field as I can't work from the plant in front of me and locate it in the book as easily as I do with another guide I have. I also think the ilustrative detail (drawings) are much superior in the book below:

A Field Guide in Colour to Wild Flowers by Dietmar Aichele and illustrated by Marrianne Golte-Bechtle ISBN 0 7064 0474 2 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Field-Guide-Colour-Wild-Flowers/dp/0706404742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241940522&sr=1-1

[Chinkapin]

I have a wonderful guide to trees, It covers 500 species of trees from around the world.

It is part of a series called "Eyewitness Handbooks", Trees, Allen J., Coombes. Mr. Coombes is a Botanist at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum in Hampshire, England.

He is the author of "The Collingridge Dictionary of Plant Names" and "Bowood's Trees and Shrubs."

So, he is a Brit, and he knows trees. This book could be just what you are looking for if you are interested in trees. The thing I like about this book is that it is filled from front to back with sharp, clear color photographs and illustrations.

Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited. copyright 1992. London. ISBN 1-56458-075X Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 92-52782

I have more complete references, for the U.S. but this is my "go to" reference.

[combatblade1]

I used to use a field guide, now i dont need one i have a walking field guide he is called Davy moulds!!:D

[hertsboy]

Best book 'I've come across in 35 years of Botanising (also helped me get by Botany Degree!) is the Concise Britsh Flora in Colour by W. Keble Martin - published by Ebury Press. It's not a pocket book --- but well worth carting around!

Having said that, I never take it out with me. If I come across a new plant, I'll try to identify the family it belongs to and try to remember what it looks like. Then open the Keble Martin when I get home and idenify it... works most of the time. And if there are numerous plants I might take a sample gome for identification - or a photo.

[Green Deane]

I don't carry any books into the field -- I teach foraging locally so it should be in my head. But my "plant" library has about 50 books in it, including material by Ray Mears. We have a lot of plants in common plus some techniques are transferable. When I find a plant of interest I take pictures of it and then go do the homework.

The problem here is most foraging books are for the central northern states. Regional ones are lacking or poor, though there is an excellent one for the Great Lakes area.

[xylaria]

I don't carry any books into the field -- I teach foraging locally so it should be in my head. But my "plant" library has about 50 books in it, including material by Ray Mears. We have a lot of plants in common plus some techniques are transferable. When I find a plant of interest I take pictures of it and then go do the homework.

The problem here is most foraging books are for the central northern states. Regional ones are lacking or poor, though there is an excellent one for the Great Lakes area.

You should write one then:deal:

[PJMCBear]

I'm another fan of this book. I think I've recommened it about half a dozen times now. It's one of the few that constantly sit on the bookshelf beside the bed.

I've recently been looking at a Blacks guide on medicinal plants. I was quite pleasantly surprised by it, so will probably look at some of the others too.



I recently bought the Hamlyn Guide to Edible and Medicinal Plants of Great Britain and Northern Europe ; launert, ISBN 978-0600352815 . It is 30 years old out of print, and cost me £20 from amazon, the information in it is unparralled and it is in the lay out of field guide. Excellent book but i wouldn't bring it out side. I tend to mark the margin of my usual field guide with edibility symbols.