Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification

"Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification" is a comprehensive and user-friendly guide to identifying plants using the "patterns method," which is a unique and effective way of organizing and understanding plant families. Written by Thomas J. Elpel, an experienced botanist and naturalist, the book is designed to make botany accessible to anyone, regardless of their level of experience or expertise. One of the best features of the book is its organization. The book covers over 200 plant families, and it groups them into patterns based on their physical characteristics, such as leaf shape, flower structure, and seed dispersal. This makes it easy for readers to quickly find and identify the plants they encounter in the field. The book also includes a detailed introduction to botany, providing readers with the knowledge and understanding they need to use the patterns method effectively. Another great feature of the book is its use of illustrations, photographs, and descriptions. The book is richly illustrated with detailed drawings and photographs of plants and their parts, making it easy for readers to understand and recognize the key features of each plant family. The descriptions of the plants are also clear and concise, providing readers with the information they need to identify and understand the plants they encounter. One of the most striking things about "Botany in a Day" is its author's ability to simplify the often-complex subject of botany making it accessible to anyone who is interested in nature, whether they are a professional botanist or an amateur naturalist. The author's easy-going writing style and sense of humor make the book a joy to read, and the knowledge you gain from it will be invaluable when out in the field. It is comprehensive, user-friendly, and packed with the information and resources you need to identify plants quickly and confidently. If you're someone who loves nature and wants to explore the world of botany, I highly recommend reading this book.

I haven’t finished it yet but I can tell it’s going to always be useful. The title is deceiving as I don’t know how I could finish it and comprehend it all in a day. It’s way more informative than I thought it would be, but that’s a good thing! I was thinking it would be more like a “For Dummies” book or overly basic. But it definitely is not. I guess some schools use this as a textbook for Botany classes.

I'm working my way through this. Seems easy to understand.

A couple of things first: I am a degreed botanist who once had a three ring binder in which I had described the characteristics of every plant family found in California and almost all plant families found in the US. I lost it during a move sometime ago. I bought this book in 2006 to help avoid duplicating all that info again. I never looked at the book until this year when I decided to key out some weeds in the backyard. Though I found a few errors in the text (which only a taxonomist or morphologist would see), but overall this book duplicated my three ring binder plus it added other information on use and toxicity. I have read it through a few times and pick up little facts each time. Sure an untrained person will have some difficulty using it without first taking the time to understand the basics of a plant. Nothing is free. With just a little effort this book will be very useful. And please note that the author basically described the demographics of where this book would be most helpful: 85% in Montana (where he lives) and 5% in Florida (where I guess he never lived). The West, Midwest, and Northeast are well covered. Update 11/5/2012: Just found a beautiful weed in the backyard. Used this book to determine it was in the Solanum family. Unfortunately it is a genus that was not covered in the book...but the book was helpful in eliminating all the other genera. Using a Jepson manual and only the section on Solanums, I was able to key it out to Nicandra physalodes (Apple of Peru). Double checked my results by using the Calphotos web site and sure enough there it was. Botany in a Day is extremely useful even when the genus is not present in the book!

Falta de traducción

The book is able to guide the novice through the complexity of the botanical world: it starts by providing very simple and concise background knowledge and then it gradually goes deeper into more detailed information. The author puts enormous efforts in trying to explain himself in the clearest way possible, producing an excellent introduction for the newbies and a valuable resource the experienced botanist can refer to.

Still need improvement

Um ótimo livro pra quem tem um pouco de noção de botânica e quem já é experiente na área.

Overall good book but came slightly damaged, the pages have been slightly stuck to each other with some pink unknown substance.