Native Plant Identification in the Southwest United States

Publications

Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Deserts by Janice Emily Bowers. Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 1993. Great guide for the low desert with clear line drawings.

Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Uplands, by Francis H. Elmore. Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, 1976. Another great guide for elevations higher than the Tucson valley.

A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona, by Anne Orth Epple. Falcon Press, 1995. Many color photos.

Botany In a Day – Herbal Guide to Plant Families, 4th ed., by Thomas Elpel. HOPS Press, 2000. A guide for identifying native and exotic plants. Rather than teaching you the plants individually, this guide teaches you to learn patterns of plants so you can easily figure out the plant’s family and potential uses.

Organizations

Look for a native plant society in your state:

Arizona Native Plant Society
www.anps.org

California Native Plant Society
www.cnps.org

Colorado Native Plant Society
www.conps.org

Nevada Native Plant Society
http://heritage.nv.gov/nnps.htm

Native Plant Society of New Mexico
http://npsnm.unm.edu

Utah Native Plant Society
www.unps.org