Manitoba Wayside Wildflowers

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

These three volumes are essentially the same content repackaged for
three jurisdictions and three different markets. Each book contains
information about 112 flowers that are commonly found along roadways in
the respective provinces. Of course, there is some variation in the most
common flora found in the three provinces.

Kershaw’s photographs are beautiful and showcase two images for each
species described. One photo shows the whole plant and often some of the
habitat; the other is a close-up of the flower. For some of the plants
that appear in more than one book, the photos have been exchanged,
reversed, or re-cropped. As is always the case with Lone Pine’s
natural history books, the production quality is very high. The colours
are bright and intense and the books are very attractive.

The books are arranged in five sections based on the structure of the
flowers or flower clusters. A helpful thumbnail guide arranged by colour
allows for quick identification. Other helpful tools include an
illustrated key and instructions for plant identification, an index, a
glossary, and a plant checklist. Each species entry begins with a
paragraph of general information, usually including traditional food and
medicinal uses. A second paragraph covers plant description and
morphology, distribution, and a recommendation as to whether or not one
should pick the flowers on the roadside.

The obvious audience for these books is people who want to have guides
to flowers in their cars and libraries in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and
Manitoba.