Book review: The Tallgrass Prairie Center guide to seed and seedling identification in the Upper Midwest

This attractive, slim volume provides a wonderful introduction to a neglected aspect of prairie plant identification: seeds and seedlings. Williams, and the illustrator Brent Butler, take the mystery out of dichotomous keys with clear descriptions, vivid illustrations, and abundant photographs of characteristics that distinguish common, tallgrass prairie, seedlings. A botanical novice should have no problem using this book to identify seedlings in their prairie garden – presuming that they planted only those species included in the book (more on that later).

Review info: The Tallgrass Prairie Center guide to seed and seedling identification in the Upper Midwest. By Dave Williams, 2010. ISBN: 978-1587299025, 132 pp.