We certainly encourage buying books locally, and the Placerville News Company has always been a great place to look first for books about Sierra flora, but if that's not convenient, the following titles are linked to Amazon for easy ordering and fast delivery. If you haven't tried this yet, it's secure and very convenient. You'll save the cost of gasoline and get a break on the price of the book.

The Wild Orchids of California
Profusely illustrated with 129 detailed color photographs, this field guide covers the 32 species of orchids that grow wild in California. Coleman's species accounts describe the plants and flowers as well as their habitats, distribution, pollinators, and blooming season. Distribution maps document the counties in which the species grow and there are keys to the genera and species.

Plant Identification:

Jepson Desert Manual is a manual of southeast California deserts that is just like the full Manual but does contain a nice collection of color photos to go along with the expected drawings. It is advertised as being right up-to-date and with added info specific to the deserts. It is a very nice addition (I have mine!) for any trip to "the other side of the mountains"!

Peterson's Field Guide to Pacific Wildflowers is a popular starter book because it's grouped by colors. Lots of good information to learn Family classifications, lots of excellent line drawings to work with, and I guess if you only carry one plant-specific book for hiking or car trips, this would be it.

Sierra Nevada Flora, Norm Weeden
Probably the worst drawings of any guide you will find, but still good to have for narrowing a search, then it's on to the one and only Jepson Manual. And how neat is it that a guy named "Weedon" ended up writing a flower book?

Trees and Shrubs of California is a new, and nicely illustrated, mini-Jepson identification manual for our woody-stemmed plants.

Plant Appreciation:
Wildflowers of California, Larry Ulrich.
A nice photo book that gives general locations and dates of pictures. Useful to plan a trip to catch something of interest.

Wildflowers of Plateau and Canyon Country again, Ulrich.
Ditto above. This one covers the Great Basin Desert.

Curious about what the Latin phrases mean? Botanical Latin is a weighty way to find an answer.

Guide to Flowering Plant Families

Picturing Plants : An Analytical History : for the artist in you. A beautiful collection of botanical illustrations.

Reaching for the Sun: How Plants Work: Wondering about how flowers get their colors? What the colors do? Why some smell sweet and others not at all? This book will give you a basic understanding of how

GPS, Maps and Guides:
DeLorme Northern California Atlas & Gazetteer

California Digital Mapping with Topo! (Now owned by National Geographic)

California Road & Recreation Atlas
Terrific shaded contour maps of the entire state, this book is actually pretty to look at! Presents terrain like no other atlas I've seen.

The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley is a complete reference to the many back roads and little-known areas within the National Park. It will help you find some out of the way place where you can observe the best of the wildflowers. Hint: check out Titus Canyon.

Gardening:
Growing California Native Plants , Marjorie Schmidt
This has long been a great way to start learning about where to get native plants and how to get the best out of them with tips about proper location, drainage, watering (if any), and good combinations to group. It was used as the text in our chapter's class in landscaping.

Gardening with a Wild Heart; Restoring California's Native Landscapes at Home, UC Press
From the Publisher: "This lyrical and articulate mix of the practical and the poetic combines personal story, wildland ecology, restoration gardening practices, and native plant horticulture. Essays include discussions of wildflower gardening, the ecology of native grasses, wildland seed collecting, principles of natural design, and plant/animal interactions. Though this book is based on California gardens, it will inspire readers from all parts of the country. Gardening with a Wild Heart promises to be a classic for gardeners, bioregionalists, lovers of nature writing, and students and professionals in horticulture, landscape design, and ecological restoration."

Natural History:
Sierra Nevada: The Naturalist's Companion is a narrative about the life zones of the Sierra. Explanations of relationships between the plants, animals and birds, with excellent drawings to add to the interest. Not an identification guide so much as an informative read.

Sierra Nevada Natural History: An Illustrated Handbook, Storer and Usinger.
A good companion book for hikers; covers trees, shrubs, and flowers, insects, animal tracks. It's certainly loaded with enough information to get you past the first year or two of wondering: "What's that?"

A Natural History of Western Trees, by Donald Culcross Peattie, was first printed fifty years ago and still is valuable today. With anecdotal information about the major (and some minor) trees of our forests, you will enjoy natural history along with information on uses and such that add dimension to your understanding. The illustrations are scratch board black and white, and are as artful as can be, bringing more vivid detail to life than any photographer could ever hope.

The Sibley Guide to Birds
Sometimes while walking around in search of flowers, we get lucky enough to see some of the colorful birds that inhabit the forest. There's no such thing as too much of a good thing, so why not carry a pair of field glasses from time to time and take a look at the surprising colors of a western tanager, or admire the bright yellow patches on the various warblers?

Sibley's book is now the number one selling bird book in the U.S. More expensive than a Peterson's, but a very nice book to have.