Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota
The Complete Guide to Species Identification
Welby R. Smith
Photography by Richard Haug
With its finely detailed photographs and descriptions, Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota enables quick and reliable identification of these often difficult-to-distinguish species. As an in-depth introduction or a handy field guide, the book is the first complete, comprehensive reference on these important plants of Minnesota, an invaluable resource for specialists, naturalists, and wild plant lovers.
Welby Smith has followed up on his wonderful Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota and created another gem with Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota. Smith takes the intimidating world of rushes and sedges and chronicles them in an easy-to-use field guide and resource that is the first of its kind for the state. This is a magnificent resource that will no doubt by used by botanists, naturalists, interpreters, and nature enthusiasts for generations to come.
Bryan Wood, Executive Director, Audubon Center of the North Woods
When most of us encounter a sea of what seem like grasses, we don’t know if we’re looking at a bog or a fen, a swamp or a marsh or a meadow. What we’re seeing probably aren’t even grasses. They are sedges and rushes, which frequently make up the majority of plants in a wetland—and they can tell us, by their presence and pattern of occurrence, what kind of wetland it is. Quick to respond to changes in habitat, they are good indicators of ecological conditions. As significant as they are in the natural environment, sedges and rushes are also simply beautiful—noteworthy features in a garden and in the wild.
This book is an expert, accessible guide to the nearly 250 species of sedges and rushes in Minnesota. With its finely detailed photographs and descriptions, Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota enables quick and reliable identification of these often difficult-to-distinguish species. As an in-depth introduction or a handy field guide, the book is the first complete, comprehensive reference on these important plants of Minnesota—an invaluable resource for specialists, naturalists, and wild plant lovers.
$39.95 paper ISBN 978-1-5179-0275-9
696 pages, 1100 color plates, 248 maps, 6 x 9, August 2018
Welby R. Smith is the Minnesota State Botanist with the Department of Natural Resources in Saint Paul. He is author of Native Orchids of Minnesota and Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota and a contributor to Minnesota’s Endangered Flora and Fauna, all from the University of Minnesota Press.
Welby Smith has followed up on his wonderful Trees and Shrubs of Minnesota and created another gem with Sedges and Rushes of Minnesota. Smith takes the intimidating world of rushes and sedges and chronicles them in an easy-to-use field guide and resource that is the first of its kind for the state. This is a magnificent resource that will no doubt by used by botanists, naturalists, interpreters, and nature enthusiasts for generations to come.
Bryan Wood, Executive Director, Audubon Center of the North Woods
This hefty volume brings care and expertise to a regional plant species study.
ARBAonline
Any reader who picks up this guide will be consumed with the rare and curious disease of sedge fever, in which sufferers are compelled to know and key out all the rushes and sedges, even those without edges.
CHOICE
If you are looking at a plant catalogue trying to decide which sedge to add to your yard, you can use this book to find the plant’s distribution and habitat.
The Trumpeter
Overall, this book provides an excellent, user-friendly guide to the sedges and rushes of Minnesota. I recommend it highly to all field biologists involved in botanical inventories in the central part of the continent, and to students of these two families in general.
The Canadian Field-Naturalist
This book is thoroughly referenced, clearly written, and beautifully illustrated. Professional botanists throughout Minnesota and the Midwest will definitely want to have this book in their field pack or on their shelf.
The Great Lakes Botanist
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