Product Description

This book is the fruit of Marjorie Blamey's lifelong absorption with wild flowers and their accurate illustration. Covering all species, both native and introduced, widespread or local, north of the Alps and the Mediterranean region, except for grasses, sedges, rushes and horsetails, CASSELL'S WILD FLOWERS OF BRITAIN AND NORTHERN EUROPE is the most complete and detailed colour-illustrated guide yet for any comparable area of the globe. Majorie Blamey's flower paintings appear on the right-hand pages of the book and are minutely accurate and precise with many small details. Illustrated on the book's left-hand pages are details of flower, leaf, stem, fruit or seed, and variations in colour or form. These are keyed by numbers to the text, where asterisks indicate fuller portraits on the facing page. The descriptive text, by Christopher Grey-Wilson, perfectly complements the illustrations, and provides clear details of the size, habitat and distribution of the flowers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #170053 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 544 pages

GARDEN ANSWERS Autumn 2003
'A dictionary for the serious botanist. Beautifully illustrated...'

Review
'Marjorie Blamey's paintings are exquisite, done with skill and love, and they seem to capture the essence of wild flowers in a way that photographs cannot... This is a state-or-the-art reference book; but more than that, it is a joy to read with no particular enquiry in mind, just to share the artist's delight in her subjects.' (ORGANIC GARDENING August 03 )

'Not only does this book promise hours of entertainment and instruction, but it is also invaluable as a reference book for when you come across that little wild flower you can't identify. Incredibly, every single identified species - all 2,400 of them - is covered, making it the most complete and detailed colour-illustrated guide yet for any comparable area of the globe.' (SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE July 03 )

'With its power to charm and instruct, the art of botanical illustration holds its own against photography. For proof, turn to Cassell's Wild Flowers... A useful and delightful book.' (BBC HOMES & ANTIQUES Sept 03 )

'Marjorie Blamey provides stunning paintings of the life-size flowers and also details of flower, leaf, stem, fruit or seed, and variations in colour or form. These are accompanied by descriptive text covering size, habitat and distribution of the flowers from Christopher Grey-Wilson. Not only an invaluable reference tool, this book is also beautiful to look at.' (COUNTRY HOUSE & HOME Sept 03 )

'A dictionary for the serious botanist. Beautifully illustrated...' (GARDEN ANSWERS Autumn 2003 )

'Descriptive text combines with lif-size paintings of wildflowers and precise illustrations of their blooms, leaves, seeds or fruit. A useful guide that is easy to follow and a real pleasure to look at.' (GARDENS MONTHLY Nov 03 )

'... the sheer range of species covered... and the generally excellent quality of the life-size paintings make this a very worthwhile addition to the botanist's library.' (PLANT TALK Oct 03 )

'Marjorie Blamey's illustrations are both beautiful and informative... the quality of the illustrations are such that many readers will be drawn to browse... the text is excellent, providing useful details on plant distribution, and helpful comments regarding habitat details... a good buy.' (THE GARDEN Nov 03 )

(Reviewed with Cassell's Trees of Britain and Northern Europe) 'Two expensive but true masterpieces that will fill a long-vacant gap in your wildlife library. Superbly illustrated and written, we highly recommend them.' (ACTIVE (National Trust magazine) Autumn 2003 )

'A remarkable work and an invaluable guide to identifying all those wild plants you suddenly come across on walks, or even sometimes on the vegetable plot. Concise texts by plantsman Christopher Grey-Wilson cover size and characteristics of the plants, habitats and other essentials, while Marjorie Blamey's beautiful paintings - most of them lifesize - bring the plants to life in glowing colour.' (KITCHEN GARDEN Dec 2003 )

About the Author
Dr. Christopher Grey-Wilson, for many years at Kew Gardens and now secretary of the Alpine Garden society. Much-travelled, he is one of the country's best-known gardeners and botanists. Majorie Blamey is by far the most successful illustrator of wild flower books in Europe. Her books have sold well over a million copies. This book is unquestionably the peak of her achievement.

Customer Reviews

A beautiful book for browsing
Originally published in 1989 as an Illustrated Flora, this book has been substantially updated and is unbeatable value when purchased with Cassell's parallel guide to Trees. Christopher Grey-Wilson is the only real competitor to the late, great Francis Rose as an accessible authority on wild plants in Britain and northern Europe. (And again with Marjorie Blamey, he's also behind A&C Black's indispensable Meditteranean wild flower guide.) This guide covers some 2,500 species and Blamey's illustrations are fabulous - each page comes alive. The book contains many naturalised species introduced over the last couple of centuries, providing enlightenment on their origin. The only real criticism of this book is its lack of a key. If you're knew to wild flowers you'll spend a lot of time flicking through looking for the kind of plant you've found. But once you're in the right area, there is a great description and very good additional mini-illustrations of key parts and seeds, and similar species, to help you pin-point your find. On the downside, some of the illustrative details get a little fuzzy here and there, sometimes lacking precision.

I use this book a lot, but it's way too big for a field guide. For many years, I've relied instead on Francis Rose's wild flower key which was the only one in its class, although some of the keys were a bit dodgy. I'm delighted that Rose's 1981 guide has finally been updated by Warne: The Wild Flower Key (Revised Edition) - How to identify wild plants, trees and shrubs in Britain and Ireland. I would recommend that as the ideal choice for enjoying wild plants in Britain.

Another alternative for the naturalist is Fitter, Fitter and Blamey's The Wild Flowers of Britain and Ireland: A New Guide to Our Wild Flowers, published by A&C Black. That too lacks a key, but makes up for it to some extent with a mini-key that heads up certain groups of difficult plants. It also covers a lot of plants that Rose does not, including grasses and ferns, which makes it a better choice for beginners or those looking for a single guide.

I note, however, that Claire O'Reilly, in her review of the new edition of the Rose Key, warns that Fitter and Blamey's 2003 guide contains "many" errors. They published two guides in 2003, both referred to above, so I'm not sure whether the errors are found in just one or both. I'm not expert enough to be sure and, since errors will not help me get better at plant ID, the Rose guide might be the best choice overall.

Cassel's Wild Flowers of Britain & Northern Europe
Excellent and comprehensive descriptions and illustrations. I would like to have seen a better 'identification key' though.