Wildflowers of the High Sierra and John Muir Trail

Description

This new book by Sierra expert Elizabeth Wenk includes photos and descriptions of approximately 300 species of wildflowers and flowering shrubs in the High Sierra. Focused on areas above 8,000 feet in elevation from Yosemite south through the Whitney Region, by restricting the collection of species to higher elevations, the book can include all commonly seen species and nearly half of all higher elevation species in a compact guide. Make plant identification more approachable to hikers, this book differentiates between species using features easily identifiable to a non-botanist. Descriptions include the species' common and scientific names, family name, growth form, flowering time, elevation range, region, specific locations on popular trails, and how to identify the plant using color, petal number, leaf shape, height, and more.

Elizabeth Wenk has hiked and climbed in the Sierra Nevada with her family since childhood. After she started college, she found excuses to spend every summer in the Sierra, with its beguiling landscape, abundant flowers, and near-perfect weather. During those summers, she worked as a research assistant and completed her Ph.D. thesis research on the effects of rock type on alpine plant distribution and physiology. She lives in Sydney, Australia.