“Field Guide to Forest & Mountain Plants of Northern Arizona” by Judith D. Springer, Mark L Daniels and Mare Nazaire
I recently purchased this book and have had a chance to give it a quick flip-thu. My first impressions are quite good. For field guides in general, the narrower the region, the better. This region covered in this work is specific enough that the plants can be covered in depth. It is applicable to the areas north of the Mogollon Rim that are above 6,000’. Basically, the pinon – juniper zone and higher. Think Flagstaff – Williams to the White Mountains, the South Rim, the Chuskas and the Kaibab Plateau.
The target audience is a mixture between very academic (it is used as a textbook in at least two courses at NAU) and highly motivated lay people. The casual wildflower lover may find this book a bit too much. Folks who find “Plants of Arizona” by Anne Orth Epple to be to general will love this guide.
At $50, the price alone will weed out the casual weekend botanist. For folks looking to delve deeper into the botanical riches of our area, this looks to be a great way to go. I hope to give this work a more thorough review after working with it next year.
Update in September, 2016
After using this guide the past two summers of teaching classes in the field, it still comes highly recommended. Definitely for the intermediate to advanced levels.