Author | Neltje Blanchan, Asa Don Dickinson |
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Publisher | Doubleday, Page & Company |
Publication date | 1917, 1922 |
Wild Flowers Worth Knowing is a book published in 1917 (and republished in 1922) as a result of an adaptation by Asa Don Dickinson of Neltje Blanchan's earlier work Nature's Garden (1900).
It covers mostly North American species, with a sprinkling of cosmopolitans, and includes a preface by Blanchan (who died in 1918). The book, along with Birds Worth Knowing (also by Blanchan), and other books such as Animals Worth Knowing, was part of the Little Nature Library series published by Blanchan's husband Frank Nelson Doubleday. [1]
It contains over 40 color illustrations accompanying the text, which is arranged by plant family under the classification system of Gray's New Manual of Botany as revised by Robinson and Fernald. [2] This is in contrast to Blanchan's earlier work, where the flowers were organized by color. [1] The text of the newer work was also somewhat simplified, and had fewer illustrations than the earlier one. [3]
Wild Flowers Worth Knowing was briefly reviewed by The Outlook along with a few other books in the Little Nature Library series as, "well printed, well illustrated, and admirably adapted for home and school use." [4] The New York Times review of the book series concludes that the books are "beautifully made" and that in this book the "descriptions are chatty and entertaining." The review goes on to comment that beginners may have difficulty in using Wild Flowers as a practical field guide because it assumes the user can identify the specimen to a plant family. [5]
The book was also republished by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation in 2005.
Echium vulgare, known as viper's bugloss and blueweed, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family Boraginaceae. It is native to most of Europe and western and central Asia and it occurs as an introduced species in north-eastern North America, south-western South America and the South and North Island of New Zealand. The plant root was used in ancient times as a treatment for snake or viper bites. If eaten, the plant is toxic to horses and cattle through the accumulation of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the liver.
Blanchan De Graff Doubleday was a United States scientific historian and nature writer who published several books on wildflowers and birds under the pen name Neltje Blanchan. Her work is known for its synthesis of scientific interest with poetic phrasing.
Lilium canadense, commonly called either the Canada lily, wild yellow-lily, or the meadow lily, is a native of eastern North America. Its native range extends from Ontario to Nova Scotia south to Georgia and Alabama. It is most common in New England, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Canadian Maritimes. It is also cultivated as an ornamental in Europe and other places.
Euphorbia albomarginata, whitemargin sandmat or rattlesnake weed, is a small low-growing perennial, in the spurge family native to desert, chaparral, and grassland habitats of southwestern North America, from southern and central California to Northern Mexico and Louisiana.
Sideritis syriaca, commonly known as ironwort, is a plant similar to chamomile, used in the Balkans to make a tisane. It grows on a high altitude in the mountains. It is commonly found on wet grounds, on the high pastures, above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft).
Apocynum androsaemifolium, the fly-trap dogbane or spreading dogbane, is a flowering plant in the Gentianales order. It is common in North America.
Dicentra canadensis, the squirrel corn, is a flowering plant from eastern North America with oddly shaped white flowers and finely divided leaves.
Houstonia caerulea, commonly known as azure bluet, Quaker ladies, or bluets, is a perennial species in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States. It is found in a variety of habitats such as cliffs, alpine zones, forests, meadows and shores of rivers or lakes.
Nature's Garden: An Aid to Knowledge of our Wild Flowers and their Insect Visitors (1900), republished as Wild Flowers: An Aid to Knowledge of our Wild Flowers and their Insect Visitors (1901), is a book written by nature writer Neltje Blanchan and published by Doubleday, Page & Company. In order to aid the amateur botanist, it used color to classify flowers, noting that this made it easier for novices to identify specimens, and that insects also used color to identify plants. The book also explored the relationship between flowers and the insects that feed on their nectar, using rather anthropomorphic language, and discussed scientific questions of the time, such as Sprengel's theory that orchids produce no nectar. Her description of the flowers also referred to relevant poetry and folklore. Unlike her book Bird Neighbors, the photographs were taken directly from nature.
Bird Neighbors, published in 1897, was the first major work by nature writer Neltje Blanchan. The book combined scientific data with color illustrations, accessible language, and personal experience reflecting Blanchan's joy in nature. In his introduction, naturalist John Burroughs praised it as "reliable" as well as "written in a vivacious strain by a real bird lover."
Polygonatum biflorum is an herbaceous flowering plant native to eastern and central North America. The plant is said to possess scars on the rhizome that resemble the ancient Hebrew seal of King Solomon. It is often confused with Solomon's plume, which has upright flowers.
Viola pedata, the birdsfoot violet, bird's-foot violet, or mountain pansy, is a violet native to sandy areas in central and eastern North America.
Rhododendron viscosum, the swamp azalea, clammy azalea or swamp honeysuckle, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae. This deciduous shrub, growing to 2.5 m (8.2 ft) tall and broad, is native to the eastern United States. It has rounded matt green leaves. In early summer it produces funnel-shaped white flowers flushed pink. The flowers have prominent stamens and are strongly fragrant.
Lilium superbum is a species of true lily native to the eastern and central regions of North America. Common names include Turk's cap lily, turban lily, swamp lily, lily royal, or American tiger lily. The native range of the species extends from southern New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York, west to Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas, and south to Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida.
Galearis spectabilis, commonly known as showy orchis or showy orchid, is an orchid species of the genus Galearis. It is native to eastern Canada and much of the eastern half of the United States.
Solidago juncea, the early goldenrod, plume golden-rod, or yellow top, is a North American species of herbaceous perennial plants of the family Asteraceae native to eastern and central Canada and eastern and central United States. It grows from Nova Scotia west to Manitoba and Minnesota south as far as northern Georgia and northern Arkansas, with a few isolated populations in Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Viola cucullata, the hooded blue violet, marsh blue violet or purple violet, is a species of the genus Viola native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south to Georgia. It is a recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Micranthes virginiensis, the early saxifrage, or Virginia saxifrage, is a wildflower native to eastern and central North America.
Vernonia noveboracensis is a plant in the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is native to the eastern United States, from Florida to Massachusetts and west to Tennessee, Alabama, and West Virginia and to southern Ontario.