[pct-l] plant guides

[cmkudija at earthlink.net (Christine Kudija)]

Hi, Dave!

I have a couple of suggestions for you that might be satisfactory,
especially for the Sierras -

Norman Weeden's Sierra Nevada Flora has a decent key & b&w illustrations,
and isn't too bulky.
The (now older but still decent) paperback id guides by Munz (California
Desert Wildflowers, California Spring Wildflowers, California Mountain
Wildflowers) are good useful guides, "keyed" by color but identify plants by
family, genus & species.  If you're thruhiking you won't have much time to
botanize anyway....sniff....

You also might check out http://www.calflora.org/ for great photos & info.

If I look like I have a California bias - I do ;-), having received my
botany degree in Santa Barbara....and the California section is the most
diverse, anyhow.  But the forest & understory in Oregon & Washington deserve
mention, and a decent mushroom guide.

Email me off-list for further suggestions & info - last year I gave a talk
at the ADZ on what hikers would typically see in their first months on the
trail, and may do so again this April, better organized this time.

Christine "Ceanothus" Kudija

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, you can.  Boldness has a genius,
magic and power to it."
                                      Goethe
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Blumenthal" <davedesign@yahoo.com>
To: <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 6:07 PM
Subject: [pct-l] plant guides


> Hi folks!  I'm a botanist from the East Coast and am planning on hiking
the
> PCT in 2004.  I am not familliar with west coast plants at all, and I know
> that it will drive me crazy not to be able to identify anything while I'm
> on the trail.  So I'm looking for comprehensive and scientific (preferably
> with a dichotomous key) but light weight botanical guides that cover the
> regions that the trail crosses.  I consider this to be my one "luxury"
> item.  Since I'm hoping to keep my base pack wieght under 13 pounds,
> clearly the Flora of California (a veritable door stop) is not a good
> choice.  Does anyone have any suggestions?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Lexi
>
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