A Review of Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest by Merel R. Black and Emmet J. Judziewicz

Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest by Merel Black and Emmet Judziewicz sets a new standard for wildflower books.    This new book, published by Cornerstone Press and the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Press, covers 1087 species, including essentially every plant species in Wisconsin that might be considered a wildflower.  The book includes over 2100 color photographs, and 300 drawings, showing the important characters for identification.  Each species is accompanied by a map of Wisconsin showing the counties in which the plant has been found.  The text accompanying each species includes common names; the scientific names along with its meaning; an indication of status such as native, introduced, invasive, endangered, etc.; a description of the plant highlighting diagnostic characters; flowering dates; and habitats.  An identification framework provides a guide to the traditional plant families, and the larger families include an illustrated guide to the genera or species. 

Two of the most widely used books over the last four decades are A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Northeastern and Northcentral North America by Peterson and McKenny, and Newcomb's Wildflower Guide, covering the same region.  Both books provide a line drawing for each of the approximately 700 species covered in these books.  Two books focusing on Wisconsin are Wildflowers and Weeds by Courtney and Zimmerman, which includes about 630 species, and Wildflowers of Wisconsin by Tekla, which covers 200 species.  Almost all plants in these two books are illustrated by a single photograph each.  These books and other traditional wildflower guides have major limitations in that many of the less common species are left out, and identification of those species which are included can be difficult because a single drawing or photograph can show only a few of the features of the plant.

Most of the photographs, maps, and information in this book appear on the UW-Stevens Point Plants of Wisconsin website (wisplants.uwsp.edu), making the book almost the equivalent of taking a computer and internet connection into the field.  No wildflower book covering Wisconsin or this region   comes close to Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest as a comprehensive field guide.

-Robert W. Freckmann

Professor Emeritus of Biology

University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

7 November 2007