A Field Guide to Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region: North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia (Southern Gateways Guides)

This is a great guide to a botanically fascinating region of the country. Plants are arranged by habitat type (a nice feature) and then by color within that habitat. Each plant has a botanical description, fun facts/tips for ID/other info and habitat preferences and range. The guide covers a large geographic area and includes many species. All in all, a great guide that should be the basis for other such works. My biggest qualm with the book is the amount of white space (which you can see in the preview) on the pages. Each plant usually has a large amount of empty space under its description that could easily have been filled with more information or more pictures (or larger ones). There are some plants where only the flowers are shown and not the vegetative parts. A photo of these parts could have been included in this wasted space. If that space wasn't going to be filled, then the book could have been smaller in overall size. Another odd thing is that a few species are missing photos. If this is a publisher error, then someone should be held accountable, but if this was a conscious choice, then it makes no sense. The spp. missing photos aren't rare, so I'm sure photos are available. Aside from that, a good guide that I recommend for anyone planning to botanize this region

This is everything a field guide should be so that anyone can quickly and easily identify the plant they're looking for. If you're adventuring in the Sandhills, carry this one along. I love how it's arranged, sorted by natural community, and then by flower color. Clear, uncrowded pages have a single row of pictures across the tops, with the plant name and description under each. I also enjoy the tidbits of information that are included for many of the species, they add warmth to the text. I can imagine Bruce laughing to himself as he typed "Familiar to just about everyone, Pokeweed has long been used as a salad green and was made famous in Tony Joe White's 1969 song "Poke Salad Annie."" For Whorled Loosestrife he writes, "The word "loosestrife" was applied to other species in this genus due to their alleged ability to relieve strife or unruliness among oxen pulling a plow. During the American Revolution, this was one of several plants used as a tea substitute." Nice, sturdy paper, bright and clear photos, and a lovely cover as well.Great book by a well-respected botanist.

This Sandhills wildflower guidebook is wonderful for identifying wildflowers in the sandhill regions. The pictures are full color and many show part of the plant along with the flower. Because it focuses on such a small region, the book is able to be quite thorough. For example, TEN different bladderworts are described.Each plant is described in detail, with both a physical description and some background information such as the uses of the plant or where it is likely to grow.If you try to find sandhills plants in a general North Carolina wildflowers books, some or many will not be included. The best wildflower books are region-specific, and this is a perfect example of how useful that can be.The one feature of this book that I'm not sure I like is how it is organized. Maybe once I get used to it I will like it better. The plants are grouped according to Natural Communities, such as "dry longleaf pineland" or "blackwater rivers and cypress-gum swamps." So those same bladderworts mentioned above are not shown consecutively, but scattered throughout the book in the sections depending on where they live. It's a little confusing, though I do see the logic of it.All in all, though, I think wildflower observers will be very happy with this book.

I preform ecology surveys across the southeast and I have found this book to be helpful. I like that it's organized by habitat type, then by color within the habitat (even a plant "dummy" could navigate this book). Most of the pictures are really great at showing diagnostic features of the flower.This is useful for much more area than their strict definition of the sandhills region- I've used it across the coastal plain and in the more isolated ancient dunes and sandhills across south Georgia.I'd fully recommend this guide to those wanting to ID flowers they encounter. I'd recommend it to other professionals with the caveat that it isn't great at IDing plants that are not blooming (including fruiting). If you're a professional, I'm sure you can relate to the pains of finding a non-flowering, non-fruiting plant that you need to ID. This isn't super for that, but I would still recommend it.

While apparently comprehensive in species listings, as a field guide this leaves a lot to be desired. I've observed minimally dozens of sandhills wildflowers not shown here - and it is hard to guess what they might be, given the sparse photos in the online version: one small shot for each family. As a biological guide, OK - I can at least Google the genus and species to find actual illustrations. But as a field guide? Meh.

Great book on a unique region - the Southeastern sand hills region has a great many rare and endemic plants. This field guide has them all.Great service, well-wrapped, good price.

Good field guide, the arrangement is a little hard to follow, I'm more used to grouping species under families, but for most folks the way they do it is fine.

This is my new favorite for wildflower identification--photographs are clear as is the descriptive text.