New Key to Plants not in flower

[poschiavanus]

In the latest British Wildlife magazine there is a very brief remark about a new vegetative flora of the British Isles. This appears as a pre-publication item on Amazon, but not on NHBS. Authors are John Poland and E.J. Clement. I couldn't find any more on the web.

I hope that this will be a really useful addition to the literature (and of great practical value for conservationists). I was a bit disappointed that Rose's vegetative keys were not revised along with the rest of the text.

Earlier this year I bought Eggenberg and Moehl "Flora Vegetativa" which covers the non-woody Swiss Flora (and consequently about 90% of the equivalent non-casual British Flora), and have learnt lots from it. In particular it has annotated line drawings of leaves, stems and so on, as well as keys to plants in families or genera which are difficult to separate.

posch

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by poschiavanus

In the latest British Wildlife magazine there is a very brief remark about a new vegetative flora of the British Isles. This appears as a pre-publication item on Amazon, but not on NHBS. Authors are John Poland and E.J. Clement. I couldn't find any more on the web.

I hope that this will be a really useful addition to the literature (and of great practical value for conservationists). I was a bit disappointed that Rose's vegetative keys were not revised along with the rest of the text.

Earlier this year I bought Eggenberg and Moehl "Flora Vegetativa" which covers the non-woody Swiss Flora (and consequently about 90% of the equivalent non-casual British Flora), and have learnt lots from it. In particular it has annotated line drawings of leaves, stems and so on, as well as keys to plants in families or genera which are difficult to separate.

posch

by not in flower plants - do you mean the pondweeds and ferns?

[thunder]

Originally Posted by KeenTeen17

by not in flower plants - do you mean the pondweeds and ferns?

No, he means plants not flowering at the moment - so all you have are leaves, stems and roots (and perhaps seeds?). Very useful if you happen to find a plant with no flowers showing.

henrya

[Mark Tulley]

I think you are referring to the forthcoming BSBI guide to vegetative identification. It will be available from Summerfield Books, some time in 2009. A sample was given in one of the BSBI bulletins recently, as I remember. The Botanical Society of the British Isles is an august body of serious botanists, but very friendly. You will find them on the web.
Mark

[poschiavanus]

Thanks Mark.

I had looked on the Summerfield Books website and its not yet listed. I had assumed it was a BSBI publication (mentioned on the BSBI site), but am not a member so would not have seen anything in their bulletin. It was for these reasons that I assumed that others on WAB were most likely unaware of this book.

The BSBI Publications page has the following;

Vegetative Key: close to completion. A pre-publication offer should be sent out with BSBI News in January 2009.

posch

[John Poland]

Hi all,

someone just told me about this thread. I'm the main author of the forthcoming Vegetative Key to the British Flora, so hope I can elaborate a bit more about it!

Most field guides only work when you have flowers or fruit; something I found rather frustrating when out botanising/recording. Many others also agreed and hence the concept of a complete vegetative key was born! After several years, including extensive field testing, it is ready to be published.

The key will enable the user to easily identify any native or alien plant without flowers or fruit, with nothing more than a basic hand lens. The idea was for any diligent novice to ID the plant within three turns of a page, often identified correctly in under 30 seconds (due to the simple polychotomous keys)!!

I should point out that is often simpler and easier to ID a plant from vegetative characters than from flowers alone (!) and the keys work just as well on plants in flower. I have also added flower (and seed) characters where appropriate, especially characters not readily available in other floras (so you shouldn't have to take several books into the field).

It will contain a good selection of line illustrations as well as some colour photographs.

As well as a pre-pub offer in BSBI News, there will also be one in the next British Wildlife magazine (I may even be permitted to put an offer on here!). The book will be out sometime between the end of March and mid-April. It will be stocked by NHBS and Summerfield Books (as well as on Amazon) for those who don't take advantage of the pre-pub offer.

Anyway, back to the frantic last-minute editing...

Hope to see you out and about next year!

Best wishes for 2009,

John

[poschiavanus]

John,

Thanks for providing such a detailed explanation. I, for one, will be filling out the pre-publication offer when it comes with British Wildlife!

posch

[Hedge Witch]

Hi John, Thanks for that explanation, it sounds great. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

[KeenTeen17]

Originally Posted by John Poland

Hi all,

someone just told me about this thread. I'm the main author of the forthcoming Vegetative Key to the British Flora, so hope I can elaborate a bit more about it!

Most field guides only work when you have flowers or fruit; something I found rather frustrating when out botanising/recording. Many others also agreed and hence the concept of a complete vegetative key was born! After several years, including extensive field testing, it is ready to be published.

The key will enable the user to easily identify any native or alien plant without flowers or fruit, with nothing more than a basic hand lens. The idea was for any diligent novice to ID the plant within three turns of a page, often identified correctly in under 30 seconds (due to the simple polychotomous keys)!!

I should point out that is often simpler and easier to ID a plant from vegetative characters than from flowers alone (!) and the keys work just as well on plants in flower. I have also added flower (and seed) characters where appropriate, especially characters not readily available in other floras (so you shouldn't have to take several books into the field).

It will contain a good selection of line illustrations as well as some colour photographs.

As well as a pre-pub offer in BSBI News, there will also be one in the next British Wildlife magazine (I may even be permitted to put an offer on here!). The book will be out sometime between the end of March and mid-April. It will be stocked by NHBS and Summerfield Books (as well as on Amazon) for those who don't take advantage of the pre-pub offer.

Anyway, back to the frantic last-minute editing...

Hope to see you out and about next year!

Best wishes for 2009,

John

Thanks John. Its gets confusing because some garden escapees don't flower at all because of the lack of sun and warmth.

A good example was last year when I thought this plant


was a mediterranean spurge.

It wasn't actually. A plant near by flowered and confirmed it as purple toadflax

[John Poland]

Hi guys,

thanks for the supportive comments.

Happy New Year!

John