ILLUSTRATED GUIDES FOR IDENTIFICATION OF TEXAS PLANTS last update: 24 Sep 2012

 

         Many useful identification guides have been published for Texas --  most of those listed below include color photographs.  These are great if you have a plant in hand and want to flip through the book to find a close comparison.  They also are useful for learning –– “virtual field trips” through the pages, repeat as often as desired. 

 

         The huge expanse of Texas includes a wide range of climate and habitat, and more than 6000 species of plants are known to grow outside of cultivation in the state.  Most of the books listed here concentrate on a single geographic portion of the state, so if you’re interested in the whole state, and it’s useful to have a selection of books for a wider representation of species.  Of course, only a relatively small portion of the species are commonly seen –– in town, in parks, along roadsides, in thickets and “weedy” places –– thus books emphasizing these species probably are best to have for beginners. 

 

         Most of the books listed here are still in print, or if not, they still can be found for sale –– check internet sources.  Others, also, have been published, but those here are the best. 

 

         Several other online resources give references useful for identification and for learning about the Texas flora:

“Texas Flora”    Texas A&M reference listing

“Texas Flora”    UT-Austin Plant Resources Center, miscellaneous topics

 

 

HERBACEOUS SPECIES

 

Ajilvsgi, G.  1979.  Wild Flowers of the Big Thicket, East Texas, and Western Louisiana.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station.

 

Ajilvsgi, G.  1984.  Wildflowers of Texas.  Shearer Publishing, Fredricksburg, Texas.

 

Correll, D.S.  1956.  Ferns and Fern Allies of Texas.  Texas Research Foundation, Renner, Texas.

 

Enquist, M.  1987.  Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country.  Lone Star Botanical, Austin, Texas.

 

Ham, H. and M. Bruce.  1984.  South Texas Wildflowers.  Conner Museum, Texas A&I Univ., Kingsville.

 

Haukos, D.A. and L.M. Smith.  1997.  Common Flora of the Playa Lakes.  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock.

 

Jones, F.B.  1977.  Flora of the Texas Coastal Bend (ed. 2).  Welder Wildlife Foundation, Sinton, Texas. 

 

Kirkpatrick, Z.M.  1992.  Wildflowers of the Western Plains: A Field Guide.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Lehman, R.L. R. O'Brien, and T. White.  2005.  Plants of the Texas Coastal Bend.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station.  [Update of 1977 Jones flora] 

 

Liggio, J. and A.O. Liggio.  1999.  Wild Orchids of Texas.  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock.

 

Loughmiller, C. and L. Loughmiller.  2006.  Texas Wildflowers: A Field Guide (revised and updated by D. Waitt).  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.  [Updates the 1984 edition]

 

Morey, R.  2008.  Little Big Bend: Common, Uncommon, and Rare Plants of Big Bend National Park.  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock. 

 

Niehaus, T.F.  1984.  A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers.  Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Mass.

 

Nieland, L.J. and W.F. Finley.  2009.  Lone Star Wildflowers: A Guide to Texas Flowering Plants.  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock.

 

Poole, J.M., W.R Carr, D.M. Price, and J.R. Singhurst.  2008.  Rare Plants of Texas: A Field Guide.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station.

 

Richardson, A.  1995.  Plants of the Rio Grande Delta.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.  [Updates Richardson’s earlier [1990] “Plants of Southernmost Texas”] 

 

Richardson, A.  2002.  Wildflowers and Other Plants of Texas Beaches and Islands.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Rose, F.L. and R.W. Strandtmann.  1986.  Wildflowers of the Llano Estacado.  Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas, Texas.

 

Tull, D.  1991.  A Field Guide to Wildflowers, Trees & Shrubs of Texas.  Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Texas.

 

Tveten, J.L. and G.A. Tveten.  1993.  Wildflowers of Houston and Southeast Texas.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. 

 

Warnock, B.H.  1970.  Wildflowers of the Big Bend Country Texas.  Sul Ross State Univ. Press, Alpine, Texas.

 

Warnock, B.H.  1974.  Wildflowers of the Guadalupe Mountains and the Sand Dune Country, Texas.   Sul Ross State Univ. Press, Alpine, Texas.

 

Warnock, B.H.  1977.  Wildflowers of the Davis Mountains and Marathon Basin, Texas.  Sul Ross State Univ. Press, Alpine, Texas.

 

Hart, C.R., B. Rector, C.W. Hanselka, R.K. Lyons, and A. McGinty.  2008.  Brush Weeds of Texas Rangelands.  Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M Univ. System.  Distributed by Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

 

GRASSES

 

Coffey, C.R. and R. Stevens.  2004.  Grasses of Southern Oklahoma and North Texas: A Pictorial Guide.  S.R. Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma. 

 

Gould, F.W.  1975.  The Grasses of Texas.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

Hatch, S.L., J.L. Schuster, and D.L. Drawe.  1999.  Grasses of the Texas Gulf Prairies and Marshes.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

 

Loflin, B. and S. Loflin.  2006.  Grasses of the Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

 

Powell, A.M.  1994.  Grasses of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Shaw, R.B. (photographs by P. Montgomery and R.B. Shaw).  2012.  Guide to Texas Grasses.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

 

 

TREES AND SHRUBS, INCLUDING WOODY VINES AND CACTI

 

Cox, P.W. and P. Leslie.  1991.  Texas Trees.  Corona Publishing Co., San Antonio, Texas.

 

Everitt, J.H. and D.L. Drawe.  1993.  Trees, Shrubs & Cacti of South Texas.  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock, Texas.

 

Powell, A.M.  1998.  Trees and Shrubs of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Powell, A.M., J.F. Weedin, and S.A. Powell.  2008.  Cacti of Texas: A Field Guide.  Texas Tech Univ. Press, Lubbock.

 

Simpson, B.J.  1988.  A Field Guide to Texas Trees.  Texas Monthly Press, Austin.

 

Stahl, C. and R. McElvaney.  2005.  Trees of Texas: An Easy Guide to Leaf Identification.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

 

Stevens, R. and C. Coffey.  2005[?].  Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines [Southern Oklahoma and North Texas]: A Pictorial Guide.  S.R. Noble Foundation, Ardmore, Oklahoma. 

 

Weniger, D.  1984.  A Field Guide to the Cactus of Texas and Neighboring States.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin. 

 

Wrede, J.  2005.  Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the Texas Hill Country: A Field Guide.  Texas A&M Univ. Press, College Station. 

 

TECHNICAL FLORAS

 

Correll, D.S. and M.C. Johnston.  1970.  Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas.  Texas Research Foundation, Renner.

 

Diggs, G.M., B.L. Lipscomb, and R.J. O’Kennon.  1999.  Shinners & Mahler’s Flora of North Central Texas.  Botanical Research Inst. of Texas, Fort Worth.

 

Diggs, G.M., B.L. Lipscomb, M.D. Reed, and R.J. O'Kennon.  2006.  Illustrated flora of east Texas. Vol. 1.  Botanical Research Inst. of Texas, Fort Worth.

 

Turner, B.L.  1959.  The Legumes of Texas.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Turner, B.L., H. Nichols, G. Denny, and O. Doron.  2003.  Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Texas.   Vol. 1 (dicots), Vol. 2 (ferns, gymnosperms, monocots).  Botanical Research Inst. of Texas, Fort Worth.

 

URBAN FLORA

 

Garrett, J.H.  1996.  Howard Garrett's plants for Texas.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Garrett, J.H.  1998.  Plants of the Metroplex (rev.).  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Garrett, J.H.  2008.  Plants for Houston and the Gulf Coast.  Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

 

Arnold, Michael A.  2008.  Landscape Plants for Texas and Environs (ed. 3).  Stipes Publishing L.L.C., Champaign, Illinois. 

 

PLANTS OF NEARBY AREAS –– useful for Texas

 

Allen, C.M, K.A. Wilson, and H.H. Winters.  2011.  Louisiana Wildflower Guide.  Allen’s Native Ventures, LLC, Pitkin, Louisiana.

 

Brown, C.A.  1972.  Wildflowers of Louisiana and Adjacent States.  Louisiana State Univ. Press, Baton Rouge. 

 

Bryson, C. and M.S. Defelice.  2009.  Weeds of the South.  Univ. of Georgia Press, Athens. 

 

Folley, P.  2011.  The Guide to Oklahoma Wildflowers.  Univ. of Iowa Press, Iowa City. 

 

Hemmerly, T.E.  2002.  Ozark Wildflowers.  Univ. of Georgia Press, Athens. 

 

Hunter, C.G.  1984.  Wildflowers of Arkansas.  The Ozark Society Foundation, Little Rock, Arkansas. 

 

Niehaus, T.F., R.T. Peterson, V. Savage, and C.L. Ripper.  1998.  Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers.  Peterson Field Guides

 

Smith, A.I.  1979.  A Guide to Wildflowers of the Mid-South West Tennessee into Central Arkansas and South Through Alabama and into East Texas.  Memphis State Univ. Press, Memphis, TN.

 

 

Guy Nesom

last update: 24 Sep 2012