Seeking recommendations

[urbpan]

My boss asked me if I knew of a good field guide to ferns and mosses (and "understory plants," as he called it) of the Northeast (North America) region. I had to admit that I didn't, but I would like to! I would love to ID the ferns and mosses and liverworts and horsetails and club-mosses (princess pine! I own a vintage copy of the Golden Guide to "Non-flowering plants" which covers fungi and lichens as well as spore-producing plants, and the Audubon guide to New England which has a few pages on Bryophytes and ferns and such. But a look on Amazon shows only a guide to the Northwestern region--curse them and their wonderful biodiversity!--nothing for us in the snowbound NE.

So, am I missing something? Is there another guide out there that covers what we're looking for?

I wish the "North Woods" series had one. The have the spider guide that I consult every time I find something with eight legs, and a tantalizing guide to lichens that I don't own yet, it would be nice for them to cover ferns and mosses.

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

You should write one, too bad you don't know any photographers.

[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

Can't help alas, but what is this spider guide of which you speak?!

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

It's spiders of the north woods, a slim volume that has been amazingly useful in identifying my local spiders.

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

Here is a list from a blog I had bookmarked: http://mossplants.blogspot.com/

On the blog, some of the books are linked to sites or PDFs.

* Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses
* Introduction to Bryology
* Introduction to Bryophytes
* Liverworts of New England: A Guide for the Amateur Naturalist
* Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts and Other Miniatures
* Moss Grower's Handbook
* Mosses and Liverworts
* Mosses and Other Bryophytes, Illustrated Glossary, 2nd Ed.
* Mosses of the Great Lakes Forest
* Native Ferns, Moss, and Grasses: From Emerald Carpet to Amber Wave, Serene and Sensuous Plants for the Garden
* Outstanding Mosses & Liverworts of Pennsylvania & Nearby States
* Structural Diversity of Bryophytes
* The Elfin World of Mosses and Liverworts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Isle Royale
* The Forest Carpet

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Great blog, thanks for the tip. Nothing here quite meets my exacting standards, which I think means that what I want doesn't exist.

[nextstory.livejournal.com]

Peterson Field Guides - Ferns of Northeastern and Central North America, 2nd ed., Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 2005. ISBN 0618394060

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! That seems to cover ferns, horsetails, and club mosses. I'm pretty sure I'll get that, and recommend it to Dr. Frog. Mosses and liverworts will have to be in another book.