recommended plant books for michigan and the great lakes bioregion

recommended plant books for
michigan

and

the great lakes bioregion

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botany & field guides

These books are aimed at providing technical keys and identification information, and Floras specific seek to identify all the species in the area they cover, which means they're your best bet for being able to ID something you've found.

A Field Guide for Michigan Flora

by Reznicek and Voss (available here)
This single volume edition updates the three hardcover Michigan Floras written by Voss in the 70s, correcting some errors, updating distribution maps, and adding species that have established themselves since the original books were written. The goal of a flora is to include all the species in the area covered, so (for example) you can differentiate between Plantago major and Plantago rugelii and not just think all "broadleaf plantain" is Plantago major (or that all dandelion is Taraxacum officinale). This is a technical flora of seed bearing plants, which means it doesn't include ferns or other spore producing flora. This book also lacks any photos or illustrations; again, it's a technical flora, and it's virtues are in its keys, it's distribution maps, and its comprehensive nature.

Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota

by Welby Smith (available here)
Wow... this book rocks. While not wholly comprehensive (my only complaint) this books keys and info are pretty spectacular. It's expensive, but compared to the (I felt) disappointing Shrubs of Michigan well worth the splurge. Check out Sam Thayer's review here.

Michigan Trees: A Guide to the Trees of Michigan

and the Great Lakes Region
by Burton V. Barnes and Warren H. Wagner (available here)
A fine key to trees of the region, illustrated throughout with lines drawings for each species considered. The introductory chapters on woody plant identification and forest communities coversthe botanical terminology used and gives you a sense of the importance of the ecosystems that these species grow in. The closing chapter on selected shrubbery (is that a botanical term?) covers a number of common species, but isn't comprehensive.

Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast

by Michael Wojtech (available here)
Normally we think of keying out trees using buds and branches, but this is actually a field guide specifically focused on bark. There are keys, excellent photos of barks in various stages of each species, and just, wow: how freakin' unique... I know or nothing else similar.

Mosses of Michigan
by Henry Darlington (available here)
An older book, published in 1964, it's the closest we have to a comprehensive key to bryophytes. There are some pictures and the entries do list counties that various species can be found in, but there aren't visual distribution maps, which is somewhat frustrating, especially since both the online resources Biota of North American Plants and the USDA site either don't cover or have inaccurate distribution maps for mosses. That said, it's a good key and the book itself is beautiful (they don't make hardcovers like they used to).

Mushrooms of Northeastern North America

by Alan Bessette (available here)

A regional mushroom guide.

Botany in a Day

by Thomas Elpel (available here)
A basic primer for those new to botany.

picture books

These books have nice pictures of plants, which makes ID easier... maybe. It's actually the case that line drawings will more accurately convey an plants identiying characteristics. Also, and importantly, these books are never comprehensive; they leaves lots of plants outand often cover only a couple/few plants in a given genus, which can make you not realize things like the dandelion you're looking at is actually Taraxacum erythrospermum, not Taraxacum officinale. Still, useful and worth having... who doens't like to look at plant pictures?

What's Doin' the Bloomin'

by Clayton & Michele Oslund (available here)

This is my face picture book for plants growing in mid to southern Michigan (the palm of your hand area). Plants are (mostly) shown by season of bloom, and there is more than one picture of most plants, which makes it much better than something that just shows flowers.

Northwoods Wildflowers

by Doug Ladd (available here)

This Falcon Guide is better for mid to Northern Michigan (your fingers to the UP). Great book with good pics. Focuses on natives, but there is a section at the end that covers the non-natives you'll inevitably be trying to figure out.

Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes

by Norman Smith (available here)
This book is a great counter-part to Michigan Trees (listed above under botany), and the two together are an ideal combination for tree identification. While Michigan Trees uses the standard of keys and line drawings, Trees of Michigan has numerous photos of barks, cones, flowers and fruit to help with identification.

An Eclectic Guide to Trees East of the Rockies

by Glen Blouin (available here)

This book is nice because it has multiple pictures of trees, their leaves and bark, and additional info about each species.

Michigan Lichens

by (available here)

A pocket lichen picture book.

reference books

The North American Guide to Common Poisonous Plants and Mushrooms

by Turner & Aderkas (available here)

If you're picking plants from wild or semi-wild places, you not only need to know how to positively identify the plants you're harvesting, but also the poisonous plants that grow in your ecoystem. The importance of this can not be overstated. While not regional, this book is good because in addition to providing short entries on a number of poisonous plants, it also discusses the nature of types of poisonous compounds. Yes, this book, like so many describing poisonous plants and mushrooms, casts a wide net, including a lot of the common medicinal plants we safely use in practice because of their effects on animals (some plants poisonous to animals are not poisonous to people, and some plants not poisonous to animals ARE poisonous to people), because they contain compounds that when isolated possess poisonous effects not present in the entire plant, or because one part of the plant may possess toxic actions while another does not. Regardless, it's a very useful book and reference for anyone wildcrafting or foraging plants and mushrooms.

foraging and wild edibles

Incredible Wild Edibles
The Forager's Harvest
Nature's Garden
Sam Thayer's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants

of Eastern and Central North America

(all available here)
by Sam Thayer

Sam Thayer's work is top notch, and essential reading for anyone foraging edibles. There's really pretty much no one who goes into the nuacne and details of the plants he covers as thoroughly. All three are must haves.

Midwest Foraging (available here)
Midwest Medicinal Plants (available here)

by Lisa M. Rose

Lisa is a colleague, former student, and friend. Her books are reliable guides for home and in the field use, and her info all tried and true, based on her own understanding and experience. Also "musts" for regional foragers and wildcrafters.

Wild Remedies

by Rosalee de la Foret and Emily Han (available here)

Superb, and a must have for anyone getting into foraging/wildcrafting medicinals, as it frames the virtues of the herbs covered within a solid context of herbalism (as opposed to just giving simplified "uses" of herbs). While not specifically local, of all the plants covered only citrus isn't found growing in this region.

Foraging & Feasting... A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook
by Dina Falconi (available here)

A beautiful, recipe laden book.

The Wild Foods Cookbook

by Cathy Johnson (available here)
This isn't a foraging guide, but does include a number of recipes for wild plants found throughout this region, so you'll get some ideas of how to start incorporating some of these things into your routine. If you're a "let's start with wild berry jelly!" person, the elderberry sumach jelly is pretty delicious.

naturalist's guides

The Book of Field and Roadside, (available here)

The Book of Forest and Thicket, (available here)

and The Book of Swamp and Bog (available here)
by John Eastman & Hansen

John Eastman's books are so great. Focused on plants, they're actually naturalist books which teach about the plants in relation wto their habitats and interactions with their ecosystems. I think learning this information is essential for foraging/wildcrafting, because we need to think about the entire natural community a plant exists in, not just the plant we want. And haven't you been wondering what rolls that leaf or lives in that stem gall?

A Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Forests
by Kricher, Peterson and Morrison (available here)

Understanding your land is an essential part of responsible and ethical foraging/wildcrafting

Amphibians & Reptiles of the Great Lakes (available here)
by James Harding & David Mifsud

( ↓ older versions of the above title ↑ )
Michigan Snakes, (available here)

Michigan Frogs, Toads & Salamanders, (available here)
and Michigan Turtles and Lizards (available here)
by James Harding & J. Alan Holman

Again, when we spend our time crawling around the forest floor, we don't just interact with plants. Invest the energy to learn the calls of frogs, and the different between a ribbon and garter snake...

Caterpillars of Eastern North America
by Wagner (available here)

Because caterpillars are cool.