Reddit mentions: The best plants in biological sciences books

I'm glad you asked! I love learning what things are, so I'm happy to share. This should be apparent by the time I'm done with my data dump. First off, when in Alaska and where? That will depend on how useful some of these things are.

I use PeakFinder for mountain names. The desktop version is free, but the app is $4.99 and worth every penny. It will only show peaks, and not lakes, glaciers, or other formations. I use the Delorme Atlas for those. That's too unwieldy to take on hikes, though.

For birds, I know the President of the Anchorage Audubon Society uses iBird for an app, so that must be decent. There's a free demo version, but the full app is $14.99. For the Anchorage coastal area, I mostly use this checklist. If you can tell a duck from a sparrow, you can narrow down your bird substantially and use websites to find the right one. Although the list is specific to Anchorage, and results are very different in places like Seward or Fairbanks. If you're into bird identification, you'll get farther learning how a few birds sound rather than how they look.

The Eagle River Nature Center has a few events throughout the summer that help novices with identifying plants, birds, trees, and other animals. There are also guided bird walks at Potter Marsh and Campbell Creek Science Center throughout the summer.

For flowers, I'm not aware of any great apps. I do know of some good books. This is the best pocket-sized book for berries. This is my favorite for flowers. For all types of plants, this book is amazing. It's thick and heavy, so you won't be taking it hiking, but it's a wealth of information. Outside of Discovering Wild Plants, I would buy the other books used at Title Wave in Anchorage.

Trees are easy. I'm not sure you need an app. Here's a pamphlet from the Forest Service. Basically, if it looks like a Christmas tree it's probably a spruce. If it has big glossy leaves, it's a balsam poplar/black cottonwood. If it has smaller serrated leaves, it's probably a paper birch. That covers 90% of what you'll see in Alaska for trees. There are others like willows, alders, hemlock, tamarack, but the pamphlet can help with those.

There are subreddits specifically tailored to identify things like plants, birds, insects, trees, etc., so if you're stumped, take some pictures and post it online.

Hi, I graduated with a degree in Natural Resources a few years ago. Your basic 100 level courses are most likely going to be general science courses like Chemistry, Biology, and some math. Here are some of the books I used and enjoyed in my upper level courses, though you might not get into these for a few years yet: A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold, Evolution by Douglas Futuyma, The Economy of Nature by Robert Ricklefs, Introduction to Wildlife Management by Paul Krausman, The Origins of Modern Environmental Thought by J.E. de Steiguer.


I don't recommend you buy any of these textbooks, because your college probably will use different textbooks. Of course if you think they sound interesting or you find a cheap copy by all means go ahead, but many schools will use a slightly different version, or if your teacher is published, they may want to use their own books. I liked these ones and if you read it I'm sure you could learn a lot, but it might not all be relevant to what your current classes are.

Also I'm sure some of your books will depend on your part of the country, I went to school in the Southwest so many of my books are geared towards issues like water conservation and one of my favorite textbooks A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona, we also used Mammals of California, you might buy Mammals of North America and another local guide depending on where you are, I had to buy two (California and North America) for my mammalogy class.

I took a lot of elective biology classes for my general biology credits towards my degree. Your school may not have the same classes, or use the same textbook, or you may not be interested, but here are some other books I'd recommend. Most are 'fun' books and read more like a narrative and are normal book length instead of chapter books. You can learn from reading them but they are set out more like a story than a textbook crammed full of data. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, Alex & Me by Irene Pepperberg, The Devil's Teeth by Susan Casey, Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat, Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem & Jonathan Prince, Evolutionary Medicine Edited by Trevathan, Smith, & McKenna, Endgame by Derrick Jensen, Why We Get Sick by Randolph Nesse & George Williams.

Anyway hope this was useful and you got some good ideas, feel free to ask me for further information about anything! I don't think you should worry about being the oldest kid in your class, there are plenty of older people there than you and I think having a bit of maturity will help in your studies. Good luck!

Seconding u/theUnmutual6's recommendations, in addition to u/BlueSmoke95's suggestion to check out Ann Moura's work. I would like to recommend Ellen Dugan's Natural Witchery and her related domestic witchery books. Ellen is a certified Master Gardener and incorporates plants into much of her work.

Some of my favorite plant books!

Plant Science:

• Plant Physiology and Development (you can get away with the previous edition of this one!)
  
  
• Botany for Gardeners
  
  
• Essential Plant Pathology (do NOT get the first edition - the second edition is superior in almost every single way)
  
  
• American Horticultural Society Plant Propagation: The Fully Illustrated Plant-by-Plant Manual of Practical Techniques
  
  
  Foraging & Field Guides:
  
  
• A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and central North America
  
  
• Edible Wild Plants: Wild Foods From Dirt To Plate
  
  
• The Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants
  
  Herbalism:
  
  
• Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide: 33 Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use (this is the first one I would recommend to novices)
  
  
• The Herbal Apothecary: 100 Medicinal Herbs and How to Use Them
  
  
• The Herbal Medicine Maker's Manual
  
  
• 300 Herbs: A Materia Medica
  
  
• Culpeper's Complete Herbal
  
  Ethnobotany:
  
  
• A Modern Herbal Vol I and Vol II (these could belong in the above section or here - I love love love these books. I think they are a must for any hedge witch or green witch!!)
  
  
• Folklore and Symbolism of Flowers, Plants and Trees
  
  
• Whispers from the Woods: The Lore & Magic of Trees
  
  
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
  
  I also encourage y'all to look into fungi as well. I work with both plants and fungi and I think they bring a fascinating and fulfilling aspect to my work. Plus, hunting for mushrooms is super fun! I can recommend field guide books for folks who are interested, they just tend to be very region-specific so I'm not going to list all of them here.
  
  For general fungus reading I recommend the following:
  
  
• Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds
  
  
• The Fifth Kingdom
  
  
• Mycelium Running
  
  
• Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing & Working with Fungi
  
  
• Mushrooms Demystified

The two you've listed are my personal favorites. I also make use of National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, 100 Edible Mushrooms, North American Mushrooms: A Field guide to Edible and Inedible Fungi (not my favorite, but a useful cross reference at times), and Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America (this one has fantastic photos. While it is never recommended to ID by appearance alone, the cross cuts and underside photos in this book can be very useful). If you live in the southern east coast then I'd recommend Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States if you can find it affordably (as far as I know it is out of print and even used coppies are pretty expensive, but it is a fantastic book for southeastern mushrooms).

As far as websites I am a pretty frequent visitor of MushroomExpert.com. It offers some good keys and there are a lot of mushrooms listed.

I would not recommend the Audubon guide it is very out of date (this can range from outdated taxonomy all the way to toxicology that has changed over the years). It is useful because it lists species other guides lacks but you'll learn to hate it.

Buy a location specific guide. It depends on where you live. If you get really into field hunting buy some specific guides that give you a more in depth understanding and help you not to die. Joining a local mycological society is also an extremely valuable resource in understanding mycology.

Here's a bit of everything

Regional guides

Alaska

Common Interior Alaska Cryptogams

Western US

All The Rain Promises and More
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest

Mushrooms Demystified This is an old book, while still useful it definitely needs updating.

The New Savory Wild Mushroom Also dated but made for the PNW

Midwestern US

Mushrooms of the Midwest

Edible Wild Mushrooms of Illinois and Surrounding States

Mushrooms of the Upper Midwest

Southern US

Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide

Mushrooms of the Southeastern United States

Common Mushrooms of Florida

A Field Guide to Southern Mushrooms It's old so you'll need to learn new names.

Eastern US

Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians

Mushrooms of Northeast North America (This was out of print for awhile but it's they're supposed to be reprinting so the price will be normal again)

Mushrooms of Northeastern North America

Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America(Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America)

Mushrooms of Cape Cod and the National Seashore

More specific (Advanced) guides

Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World

North American Boletes

Tricholomas of North America

Milk Mushrooms of North America

Waxcap Mushrooms of North America

Ascomycete of North America

Ascomycete in colour

Fungi of Switzerland: Vol. 1 Ascomycetes A series of 6 books.

Fungi Europaei A collection of 14 books.

PDFs and online Guides

For Pholiota

For Chlorophyllum

American species of Crepidotus

Guide to Australian Fungi If this is useful consider donating to this excellent set of guides.

Websites that aren't in the sidebar

For Amanita

For coprinoids

For Ascos

MycoQuebec: they have a kickass app but it's In French

Messiah college this has a lot of weird species for polypores and other things

For Hypomyces

Cultivation

The Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (If your home is a 50,000 sq ft warehouse)

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation

Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms

Mycology

The fifth kingdom beginner book, I would recommend this. It goes over fungal taxonomy Oomycota, Zygomycota and Eumycota. It also has ecology and fungi as food.

The kingdom fungi coffee table book it has general taxonomy of the kingdom but also very nice pictures.

Introduction to fungi Depends on your definition of beginner, this is bio and orgo heavy. Remember the fungi you see pop out of the ground (ascos and basidios) are only a tiny fraction of the kingdom.

NAMA affiliated clubs

The Audubon Society has a number of field guides. I have the ones for Western and Eastern birds both (along with a couple others of theirs) since I live in Oklahoma, and I absolutely love them; they're small enough that I can fit 2-3 in my camera bag along with my camera and all it's gear- including extra lenses and the like... They're easily one of my favorite gifts I've been given.

I also recommend a cute, plain ruled notebook that she can write down her observations in; I have this one by Designworks Ink and I love the quality, but any hardcover journal like that would work- though I'd really recommend getting one with archival grade paper. It'll make sure the journal lasts for a while without yellowing, etc, if she wants to keep it around for a long while. (I do, personally; I love looking back at my observations from years ago).

No idea on binoculars, though, as I don't use them personally. But Audobon has guides for both Binoculars and Spotting Scopes. Those might help.

Sending lots of love and light to you today. <3 It's been 8 months since my mom passed away, and there's a million things I loved about her. But one thing I'm most grateful for is her instilling a love and appreciation of nature in me. Especially since I can now find solace and peace in the outdoors when I'm feeling down and missing her. And it's something I'm able to pass down to my own children.

Here's a photo of her scouting out some mushrooms with my oldest daughter a few years ago.

Book: Field Guild to Wildflowers (a used copy is just fine!)

Hey Bean!

I think your best bet in that part of the country, and with your level of experience is to start with a basic field guide. Look for a field guide for wildflowers of the Eastern USA. Your local nature center, etc, may have recommendations or a wide selection for sale. A good field guide will cover upland and wetland plants.

If you google "flora of new jersey" it looks like there's a group that is organized trying to create a flora for that state, as well as a native plant society. Both of these would be good groups to get involved with. If you tell the native plant society that you're a high school student interested in botany, I'm almost certain they would waive the membership fees for you.

Once you get more advanced with your identification skills and terminology, Gleason and Cronquist's flora of the Eastern US is a great resource. http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Vascular-Plants-Northeastern-Adjacent/dp/0893273651 It goes out of print often, but a used copy is just as good and will save you some money. Unfortunately, it's not a text for beginners and you're better off working with a simpler book with photos or drawings first.

I find that science history and biography gives a good understanding of scientific methods, and when written for the lay-person, doesn't get so bogged down in technical jargon.

Here are a few of my favorites:

• A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson
  
• Chaos: Making a New Science - James Gleick
  (Also check out his biographies of Isaac Newton and Richard Feynman)
  
• Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach
  
  And here are a few on my to read list:
  
  
• Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society - Bill Bryson
  
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari
  
• The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine - Lindsey Fitzharris
  
• Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus - Bill Wasik & Monica Murphy
  
• The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring - Richard Preston
  
• The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science - Richard Holmes
  
• The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution - David Wootton
  
  I hope that helps.

I love reading this stuff too. I’m a very outdoorsy person. So, if you want a nice non portable book about trees, there’s the david allen Sisley guide to trees. For portable, there are a lot more. The Audubon book is good, it just hasn’t been updated in a longtime. The Peterson guide is more recent and is good also. I’ll try to think of the books we have. My mom has a lot and has ones from her parents too. One that’s good is the national wildlife federation book on wildflowers. A new book that cool is one called wildflowers of the Appalachian trail. On trees, I really like an old edition of the golden guide to trees that we have. The Audubon guide to eastern us trees is good. I think Peterson is better than Audubon though. There is also a forestry department book on trees of around here that I have from middle school. Don’t worry, I’ll provide links to these books.

https://www.amazon.com/Sibley-Guide-Trees-David-Allen/dp/037541519X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481660&sr=1-1&keywords=Sibley+trees

https://www.amazon.com/GOLDEN-GUIDE-Herbert-Alexander-Martin/dp/B000KIITZK/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481704&sr=1-3&keywords=Golden+guide+trees

https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Eastern-Trees-Including/dp/0395904552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481730&sr=1-1&keywords=Peterson+trees

https://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Society-Field-Guide-American/dp/0394507606/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481747&sr=1-1&keywords=Audubon+trees

https://www.amazon.com/Wildflowers-Shenandoah-Valley-Ridge-Mountains/dp/0813908140/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481845&sr=1-3&keywords=Blue+ridge+wildflowers

https://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Wildflowers/dp/0375402322/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481845&sr=1-10&keywords=Blue+ridge+wildflowers

https://www.amazon.com/National-Wildlife-Federation-Wildflowers-America/dp/1402741545/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481922&sr=1-2&keywords=national+wildlife+federation+field+guide

https://www.amazon.com/Peterson-Field-Guide-Wildflowers-North-central/dp/0395911729/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481968&sr=1-1&keywords=Peterson+wildflowers

https://www.amazon.com/Wildflowers-Appalachian-Trail-Leonard-Adkins/dp/1634040902/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1524481991&sr=1-1&keywords=Wildflowers+of+the+Appalachian+trail

http://www.shopdgif.com/product.cfm?uid=2051408&context=&showInactive=N

I’m going to post again once I go look at our bookshelf. This was just off the top of my head. Oh and it’s not a field guide, but you should read a walk in the woods by bill bryson.

[This is the best field guide I've found so far.] (http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-Field-American/dp/0394507606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347048616&sr=8-1&keywords=field+guide+trees) There's one for the east and another for the west in North America. I do occasionally come across things that aren't in the book. I personally know of several species tree in my area that are in this book so the internet is always a great place to look too. This book covers a lot and is a great resource. It doesn't cost a lot either.

That app sounds so cool! You might also like the app iNaturalist, it's helpful for learning what something is if you're not sure. Pojar is the absolute BEST guide if you want to learn more about PNW coastal plants before you explore! Also, sword fern spores are useful for soothing the pain if you accidentally walk into some stinging nettle. :)

Definitely depends on your location. Here in the PNW we love Pojar, and I'm betting there's a favored guide in your area :) For that matter I have an additional guidebook for the Olympics, so even relatively small areas can have a lot of diversity that can be difficult to fit into a single guide. What you'll need depends on where you roam.

I got mine from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mushrooms-Roger-Phillips/dp/0330442376 there are other books out there but that is a good guide.

You may be able to get them identified with help online here or somewhere else online but I would recommend more photos and information on where you got them.

Thanks for your reply and the link. Since I wrote the above, I found and ordered this: Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast. Have not received it yet, but I bet it will be pretty good.

Here's the specific resources link via the /r/mycology FAQ.

https://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/wiki/specific_resources

I have their Texas recommendation, Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide and while it's a good general guide Texas is too vast and varied for it to be universally perfect. That being said, while it's imperfect for me in the Hill Country there are a lot of East Texas entries (I believe the authors are based out of Houston) and so it will probably be far more useful to you than to myself. Overall I'd recommend it for you as at the very least it will introduce you to the concepts and methodology and covers a lot of the bases. There's only so much you can ask for out of a field guide anyways, since hauling around an encyclopedia isn't practical.

The Flora of the Pacific Northwest is the book you want. It has full keys. Picture guides specifically related to the northwest (like this and this) can be used to supplement this, but FPN is the best authority for most of that region.

"Wildflowers of North America" and Newcomb's Guide and things like that are not going to help you at all. They mostly cover Eastern species and there is rather little botanical overlap between there and the Pacific Northwest.

What state are they located in?

This my favorite gardening tool. It is always on my belt and used for digging, planting, and weeding. This particular one has a quality sheath and full tang blade.

https://www.amazon.com/Oakridge-Garden-Tools-Purpose-6-75-Inch/dp/B00RC7EOU6/ref=sr_1_11?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1479349898&sr=1-11&keywords=hori+hori+leather

This is a nice pocket guide if they live on the west coast. It's pretty small.

https://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Coast-Tree-Finder-Identifying/dp/0912550279#reader_0912550279

Photo of your computer screen lacks the image quality, link the original image.


This is a good book that will help you get information your looking for.
https://www.amazon.ca/Trees-Canada-John-Laird-Farrar/dp/1550411993

You can also find a vast amount of information online either via government websites or ngo
Such as:
https://www.ontario.ca/environment-and-energy/tree-atlas

http://ontariotrees.com/groups/44/pinequickguide.php

Or you could always splurge and buy Michael A. Dirrs manual of woody landscape plants.

Mushrooms https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0330442376/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CEbTzb0MJNCKY

The best book for identifying mushrooms in the field (at least in the U.K.). Written by a rather eminent mycologist. Very thorough but I find it pretty accessible to laymen too.

HERE is a better one for the Pacific Northwest. Comes recommended from many people I've encountered out on trails.

Also, use smile.amazon.com and they'll donate a portion of your purchase to a non-profit :)

If you’re in Michigan and looking more into field biology, I recommend these two books:

More ecology based:
https://www.amazon.com/Field-Guide-Natural-Communities-Michigan/dp/1611861349


This is the best to ID native plants (older versions have pictures):
https://www.amazon.com/Field-Manual-Michigan-Flora-Edward/dp/0472118110

Those look like nice books. I got the Bushcraft book by Kochanski but the others I haven't seen. Thanks.

Here are some from my shelf, mostly geared towards Europe and the UK:

• The Wild Flower Key
  
  
• Collins Tree Guide
  
  
• Mushrooms
  
  
• The Easy Edible Mushroom Guide
  
  
• The Forager Handbook
  
  
• Outdoor Survival Handbook
  

You found these in BC, Canada? I'm surprised- I didn't think Magnolias were found that far northwest and #3 looks just like a leaf from a tree that I didn't think ranged that far north, either.

I usually use a field manual from the the National Audobon Society to do this sort of thing. It will give you all the info you need to identify the type of magnolia. You might want to find a similar field manual for your region- your University library should have them.

For #3: If you find a guide like the one I mentioned, you'll want to look in the pictures section under "simple leaves, untoothed." Once you get a name, you can then go to that section and get all the details you'll need to confirm or determine the specific type.

https://www.amazon.ca/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Washington/dp/1551055309

i keep this book in my cruiser vest. Trees are relatively easy to identify once you get into the swing of things.

I think that being familiar with its counterparts (shrubs, herbs, etc) are VERY important to understanding forest dynamics and as it follows, they're a little bit trickier to identify than our trees.

If you want something that will actually be thorough and help you out, this one right here is what you want. It's a serious reference with a ton of great information and not a pretty little coffee table book about wild berries.

This book is awesome. It's local hikes not overnight trips. It provides directions by public transport where possible. You'd be surprised how many forests there are right in the city.

This is a bit weird, but there's a fun book about edible plants in the Pacific NW: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1551055309/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_CuGiybADGAT2P

I read an awesome book by Richard Preston that got me interested in Redwoods and the type of person that would risk their life by climbing them called The Wild Trees. There are whole stands of these giants that they discovered within Redwood National Park that dwarf the easily accessible famous examples such as General Sherman. Seeing as how you have to hike over and around their fallen comrades with trunk diameters of up to 30 feet it's nearly impossible to get to them. These guys would spend the night suspended high up in their crowns while all around them widowmakers would break off in the wind. Just thought I'd recommend this book to you guys if you find this stuff interesting.

Check out a field guide for your area. I'm an entomologist and we recommend the same thing for bugs.

The one I use. Other people may like different ones
http://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Society-Field-Guide-American/dp/0394507606

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1584658525?keywords=bark%20tre%20identification&qid=1452911049&ref_=sr_1_sc_1&sr=8-1-spell

That one? Looks very nice!

Here is an excellent field tree ID book for the Eastern US by leaves. Here is another tree ID book for the Pacific Coast. Here is a tree ID book for the Eastern US during winter.

I know the absolute ultimate guide to flora in Michigan is the Field Manual of Michigan Flora by Edward Voss. It's seriously the bomb.

https://www.amazon.ca/Trees-Canada-John-Laird-Farrar/dp/1550411993

Trees in Canada is pretty much the standard reference for any forest professionals in Ontario. Covers all your native and naturalized species. You may need another source for non-native ornamentals and landscape species, if you commonly encounter them.

You should check this book out. Kinda fun to take on a winter walk in the woods in New England.

https://www.amazon.com/Bark-Field-Guide-Trees-Northeast/dp/1584658525

https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Vascular-Plants-Northeastern-Adjacent/dp/0893273651/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526956589&sr=1-2&keywords=Manual+Vascular+Plants+Northeastern+United+States+Adjacent+Canada

This one should cover that area pretty well, however it does require a certain level of understanding of botanical terminology. It has no pictures but is very usable once you get used to it and it is compact enough to be carried in the field, barely.
I would also recommend looking in new and used book stores for older more local guides. Don't forget a good hand lens too.

They can be fairly specific depending on how unique your environment is. This would probably be the book you would want. I want it and I'm nowhere near that area.

Edit: Latin would be great, but you could get away with just a Latin roots and combining forms book.

This the best guide that I've found:

https://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Society-Field-Guide-American/dp/0394507606

I'm on the West coast so I use the Western version, but I keep a copy of that in my glove box. After a while you get to where you can identify 95% of all the normal species in your area.

Many flowers with typically white petals will have pinkish variation, and vice versa. For instance if you've identifying a flower using a dichotomous key, like Gleason and Cronquist, one of last steps in the key will often say petals: white or pink.

I like this book for closer mostly ITP hikes https://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Atlantas-Hidden-Forests-Intown/dp/1889596299

I like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/North-American-Mushrooms-Inedible-Falconguide/dp/0762731095/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1409688221&sr=8-6&keywords=mushrooms+of+north+america

I don't like this book:

http://www.amazon.com/National-Audubon-Society-American-Mushrooms/dp/0394519922/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409688242&sr=8-1&keywords=audubon+mushrooms

I did this on Friday:

http://www.reddit.com/r/mycology/comments/2f9lbx/prelabor_day_haul_10_variety_30_lbs/

Not useful at all. Identifying edibles and discerning them from indigestible or toxic plants requires a much more detailed plant guide. For my region I like this one

Mushrooms https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0330442376/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_taa_KKJpzb0VYG244 get it.

• get yourself a non locking folding pocket knife within UK carry limits, as you harvest trim away dirty bits of the mushrooms before adding to your bag/basket. This will save a lot of time down the road when it comes to cleaning.

Yup! This species is actually the cover of the Texas foraging guide hahaForaging Texas

mushroom MUSHROOM!

Hiking Atlanta's Hidden Forests: Intown and Out https://www.amazon.com/dp/1889596299/

(also available at your local library)

http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Mushrooms-Corrie-Herring-Series/dp/0292751265

website: http://michiganflora.net/

book: http://www.amazon.com/Field-Manual-Michigan-Flora-Reznicek/dp/0472118110

I think the Audubon Society's format is exactly what you specified. An example would be Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region

http://www.amazon.com/Plants-Pacific-Northwest-Coast-Pojar/dp/1551055309 for plants

This deserves a place on every Cascadian's bookshelf right next to the Cascadian classic Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast.
http://www.amazon.com/Plants-The-Pacific-Northwest-Coast/dp/1551055309

The wild trees

This book really drew me in and now I have this nagging yen to see the redwoods.

This is what I use

*Edit:I have this one too, but I don't like it as much.

Get this cool little pocket book and your troubles are solved.

Also: bio books
Ernst Haeckel: Art Forms in Nature Coloring Book https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764974718/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_KJQcBbKBS180V
Art Forms in Nature: The Prints of Ernst Haeckel https://www.amazon.com/dp/3791319906/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_vLQcBb6P811G0
The Anatomy Coloring Book https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321832019/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VMQcBb9XJGXX9
Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees: Eastern Region https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394507606/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7OQcBb7QBN95M
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders: North America (National Audubon Society Field Guides (Paperback)) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0394507630/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5PQcBb0PZQYNW

Preserved specimen: Real Bat Specimens Science Classroom Specimen for Science Education https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BCCTL1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZSQcBbE7HYPN2
Real Snake Skeleton Specimen in Acrylic Block Paperweights Science Classroom Specimens for Science Education https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078581LLZ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OTQcBbN1W3JWE

Models:
Wellden Medical Anatomical Human Skull Model, 3-part, Numbered, Life Size https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EKC5SHS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_YZQcBbCF8D61B

I've read some books on medicinal plants, native herbology, and ethnobotany in the Pacific Northwest. There are references to a smoking mixture sometimes called kinnikinnik - but sometimes kinnikinnik refers to the bearberry plant.

A few books - (Amazon links):
Plants of the Pacific Northwest


Ethnobotany of Western Washington


Indian Herbology of North America


Some sources indicate the inner bark of the red dogwood tree is mixed with bearberry leaves - dried and crushed for smoking, smudging and ritual use. I have seen mullein and even devil's club mentioned in some references after a brief search.


I haven't looked specifically into smoking herbs or mixtures, but these are the books I'd start with.