Spent $25 on a used copy of a rare botany field guide and it's totally changed how I ID plants

I found a 1987 edition of 'Plants of the Pacific Northwest' by Lyons at a garage sale in Eugene for 25 bucks. The illustrations are way better than the modern versions I've been using on my phone. Has anyone else had luck finding old field guides that just click better? I'm curious if the older keys are actually more accurate or if I'm just biased because it's a physical book.

3 comments

3 Comments

jamieperez1mo ago

Ngl that's a solid find for 25 bucks. I picked up a 1992 copy of 'Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada' at a thrift store for 5 dollars and the keys in it are way easier to follow than the apps I've tried. The drawings show more detail like the leaf edges and vein patterns, plus it groups plants by flower color instead of some weird scientific order that makes no sense to me. I've IDed three different penstemons wrong on my phone but the old book got it right first try.

wells.brooke1mo ago

Wait, so your phone can't tell a penstemon from a weed... @jamieperez?

iris_mason881mo ago

Oh you're so right about the drawings versus photos. I've got a 1978 Audubon guide that I still use for birds because the illustrations show the birds in flight and at rest with all the field marks pointed out. The apps just give you one angle and if the light is bad you're guessing. Plus the books have those little range maps that actually make sense once you get used to them. I think people forget that field guides were designed by people who spent years in the field, not by software engineers who want to sell you a subscription. The flower color grouping is genius too, that's how I learned plants as a kid, just flipping through the red section until something matched.