I've seen a few people here suggesting the Audubon  Field Guide to
North American Wildflowers. While these guides (there is an Eastern and a
Western
guide) do have nice photos, when I've actually used them as field guides
I've usually been frustrated. I suspect that some of the very common flowers
were excluded because they do not make for a showy picture. The pictures
are organized by color which sounds simple, but in practise it is not always
easy to know where to look for a particular specimen.
 
The book I now carry is "Newcomb's Wildflower Guide" by Lawrence Newcomb.
It only covers the Northeast US to the Mississippi and adjacent parts of Canada.
 
It uses a peculiar system of identification based on number of petals,
orientation
of leaves and general form of the plant. But, it is very easy to use. It is rare
to
fail to quickly identify a wildflower with this book. The illustrations are
mostly
black and white drawings, but I've found them to be very effective for
identification. You might want to do what I did. Check out a copy at the library
and test it on the first few flowers you see, even ones you know. That convinced
me. My copy has a price of US$14.95.
 
Sorry this got a bit long winded, but this book has been verry good for me and
everyone I've recommended it to. Sorry it doesn't cover a wider area.
 
Kevin D. Parsons
Pittsburgh  PA   USA
> >  I am in need of a good "pocket" field guide(s) of honeybee forage plants.
> ...>
>
> The Audubon Field Guide to North American Wildflowers is nice, as it has
> color photo-plates, and these are grouped by flower type and color.  I
> think it would be a good choice, as you could look up a given blossom
> quickly by appearance.  AFAIK it is the only "pocket" field guide with
> photos.  It is available in the mall-chain bookstores, for a pretty good
> price, maybe $20 or so.  A good investment though, and I am hoping to get
> one soon.  I think that learning to ID the wildflowers that are major or
> minor nectar sources would be a further, enjoyable aspect of the bee hobby.
> Spring would be a perfect time to start, too.
>
> I'd also be interested if anyone else has suggestions along these lines...
>
>  Thanks,   jg