Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Carolyn Dodson and William W. Dunmire.
Mountain Wildflowers of the Southern Rockies: Revealing Their Natural History.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2007.
cloth, 256 pp., ISBN 978–0–56185–3118–1, $40.00.

This field guide to mountain wildflowers directs attention to flora that grows at elevations ranging from 5,000 to 14,000 feet above sea level in the region of the southern Rocky Mountains. Pointing out that vegetation is affected by the elevation and the differences in slope as well as exposure, authors Carolyn Dodson and William Dunmire first describe the vegetation zones, which are defined by the species of dominant trees, before descriptive remarks on 75 commonly seen species of wildflowers. Grouped by family, plants are identified by both botanical and common names and are individually portrayed in text, color photographs, and drawings. Essays contain such information as name derivation, special characteristics and uses, insect pollinator, unique history, and intriguing facts. Visitors to the region will value this handbook that depicts the local environment in a brief, yet fascinating, literary style.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.