Summer Wildflowers of the Northeast. 2020. 693 col. figs. XII, 372 p. Paper bd.

Featuring more than 700 detailed color photos and a large, beautifully designed format, the book delves into the life histories of more than thirty-five wildflowers and their relatives, from common roadside favorites, such as asters and milkweeds, to interesting, lesser-known species, including Indian pipe and ginseng. Drawing on a wealth of personal experience and the latest scientific research, and presenting it all in terms anyone can understand, acclaimed naturalist and photographer Carol Gracie invites readers to enhance their appreciation of the beauty of these wildflowers by learning not just their names or how many petals they have, but what pollinates them, how their seeds are dispersed, how they interact with other plants and animals, how Native Americans and other people have used them, and other interesting facts.

Each species is illustrated with a range of detailed color photos that not only capture its beauty but illustrate the features discussed in the text and show the plant in its environment alongside the pollinators, herbivores, or seed dispersers with which, in many cases, the wildflower has evolved. Other topics covered include the naming of wildflowers; pathogens and pests; related species in other parts of the world; and wildflowers in history, literature, and art.

Features species accounts for these wildflowers:

Alpine Wildflowers / American Cranberry / American Ginseng / American Lotus / Asters / Beechdrops / Blackberry-lily / Bog Orchids / Broad-leaved Helleborine / Buckbean / Bunchberry / Cardinal Flower / Chicory / Common Milkweed / Common Mullein / Evening-Primrose / Fringed Gentian / Fringed Orchids / Goldenrods / Grass-of-Parnassus / Indian Pipe / Jewelweed / Jimsonweed / Lilies / Patridge-berry / Passion-flowers / Pipsissewa / Prickly Pear / Purple Pitcher Plant / Queen Anne’s Lace / Showy Lady-slipper / Swamp Rose-mallow / Wild Leek / Wild Lupine / Yellow Pond-lily.