Plants of Alberta: Trees, Shrubs, Wildflowers, Ferns, Aquatic Plants, and Grasses.

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

This standard field guide is the fifth collaboration between Francis Royer and Richard Dickinson, who have previously published on weeds and wildflowers. This is the most substantial of their works to date, covering more than 1000 species. In addition to wildflowers and shrubs, this work includes aquatic plants, grasses and grass-like plants, and ferns and allies, which are sometimes excluded from less-detailed guides.

The volume is a key to plant species, organized by scientific family and species name. To aid the non-botanist, the authors have provided a thumbnail photo guide at the beginning of each of the six sections, organized by colour.

Each species is given half of a page and that space is divided more-or-less equally between photographs and plant descriptions. Most of the photographs are excellent, with a very few being slightly out of focus. The colour is sufficiently accurate to be used for flower comparisons. Most of the photographs have been shot to show the identifying features of the plants. For example, for the buffalo bean, the main photograph shows both the leaf and the bean on the same plant. A smaller photo is inset into the text to show the flower. The descriptions are all point form, encompassing alternate names, habitat, leaves, flower clusters, flowers, fruit, similar species, and interesting notes. The interesting notes are often about name derivation or food and medicinal uses. For example, for the blue columbine, we are told that “the leaves provide a base for a lotion to treat sore mouths and throats.”

Range maps, which can be very helpful when users are attempting to distinguish between species, have been included. However, they have only been included for native species. The introduced species are without maps.

The book also has a helpful glossary that includes many drawings of the parts of plants. The bibliography is extensive and the index includes both common and scientific names. Overall this would be a very good choice for any collection that includes botanical guides for Alberta.