The Vegetative Key to the British Flora – A new approach to plant identification. 2nd edition

The Vegetative Key to the British Flora

Following rigorous testing throughout Britain and Ireland over the last 10 years, this second edition of The Vegetative Key to the British Flora is a much revised version with re-written keys, additional species, phenology and, of course, many new novel identification characters. A few new illustrations have been added where space allows. In addition, the nomenclature has been updated in line with modern taxonomy.

Each key has been carefully reviewed and revamped so this version aims to be quicker and more comprehensive in detail than its predecessor, greatly improving on the original work.

Additional floral and fruiting characters have been added for some of the more difficult species making it more handy for casual field use.

The first edition of this book introduced a novel approach to plant identification. The book received wide praise and proved a popular guide. Conventional field guides largely rely on flowers or fruit to aid identification: something all botanists find rather frustrating when out in the field. This key enables the user to easily identify nearly 3,000 native and alien plants without flowers or fruit, with nothing more than a hand lens.

The keys work just as well on plants in flower as selected floral and fruit characters, particularly ones not readily available in other Floras, have been included, especially in the comparatively few groups where they are essential.