Beginning Wildflower Manuals

Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide (1977) by Lawrence Newcomb. Little, Brown, and Company. – Excellent amateur manual with interesting key, valuable to determine genus

Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (1998) by Richard M. Smith. University of Tennessee Press. – Many of the most common species with color images of the most photogenic

Wildflowers of the Southeastern United States (1975) by Wilbur Duncan and Leonard E. Foote. University of Georgia Press. – Less complete than the preceding but with some Southern Appalachian species

Wildflowers of the North Carolina, also covering Virginia, South Carolina, and Areas of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. (1968) by William Justice and C. Ritchie Bell. Southeastern United States --- includes many of the most common wildflowers with photographs, taxonomy out-of-date.

Numerous Peterson guides (Eastern US, wildflowers, medicinal plants, and trees and shrubs) and Audubon guide are also useful for the amateur

Field Guides Focused on Subset of Flora

Field Guide to the Rare Plants of Georgia (2007) by Linda G. Chafin The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance. --- Excellent manual for rare species although incomplete for the Southern Appalachians, more complete for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain

A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina (2001) by Richard D. Porcher and Douglas A. Rayner. The University of SC Press. --- General guide for the more common species by community type, more complete for the Piedmont and Coastal Plain.

Trilliums (1997) by Frederick W. Case and Roberta B. Case. Timber Press. --- excellent overview of Trilliums with detailed description species by species with high quality photographs, some recent taxonomy changes not reflected in book

Technical Manuals

Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (1968) by Albert E. Radford, Harry E. Ahles, & C. Ritchie Bell . University of North Carolina Press. --- Out-of-date but still useful as guide.

Flora of the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, northern Florida, and surrounding areas (working draft of April 2008) by Alan S. Weakley. University of North Carolina Herbarium available to download as pdf --- most up-to-date manual but incomplete (90-95% complete)

Guide to the Vascular Plants of the Blue Ridge (1989) by B. Eugene Wofford. The University of Georgia Press. --- Small size handy for field however taxonomy less than complete for many genera

Manual of Vascular Plants of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, 2nd ed. (1991) by Henry A. Gleason and Arthur Cronquist. The New York Botanical Garden. --- Useful as complete description of most individuals present in the Southern Apps.

The Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist’s Manual, Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada (1998) by Neal Holmgren. --- Most complete illustrated flora available for the Southern Appalachians.

Vascular Flora of the Southeastern United States, Leguminosae (Fabaceae) (1990) by Duane Isely. The University of North Carolina Press. – Excellent monograph with valuable plant descriptions although some of the taxonomy has changed.

Vascular Flora of the Southeastern United States, Asteraceae (1980) by Arthur Cronquist. The University of North Carolina Press. -- Excellent monograph with complete species descriptions although most of the taxonomy has changed.

Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States, Monocotyledons (1979) by Robert K. Godfrey and Jean W. Wooten. The University of Georgia Press. --- Illustrations, although incomplete, very detailed, excellent companion to other manuals, detailed description of species although taxonomy has changed

Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States, Dicotyledons (1981) by Robert K. Godfrey and Jean W. Wooten. The University of Georgia Press. -- Illustrations, although incomplete, very detailed, excellent companion to other manuals, detailed description of species although taxonomy has changed

Manual of the Southeastern Flora. (1933) by John K. Small. The University of North Carolina Press. – Interesting historical perspective since many of the species Small recognized in the 30’s are being re-examined and recognized today.

Woody Plants

Woody Plants of the Southeastern United States, A Winter Guide (2004) by Ron Lance. The University of Georgia Press. --- Detailed key, most valuable winter key printed.

A Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Southern Appalachians (1994) by Robert E. Swanson. John Hopkins University Press. – Compact size makes it valuable for the field, fairly complete.

Trees of Georgia and Adjacent States (1990) by Claud L. Brown and L. Katherine Kirkman. Timber Press -- not as complete for the Southern Appalachians although has many photographs of key characters, including bark for many species.

Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (1964) by Arthur Stupka. The University of Tennessee Press. -- out- of- date but interesting perspective.