500 SIERRA WILDFLOWERS
Edited by Steven L. Hartman
Photography by Larry Norris, Karen Callahan, Jim Shevock and others.

2005. $19.95. (ISBN 1-890266-34-5). To purchase from Theodore Payne Foundation, click HERE and scroll down. 

This CD for Windows™ (except 64-bit computers)  includes over 1,000 detailed images of over 500 species of wildflowers and flowering shrubs of the entire Sierra Nevada Mountains in California, including plants found in Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Yosemite National Parks. Flowers can be selected by plant family, habitat or by flower color. Features include an index of common and Latin names, pronunciation of every Latin name, and ability to view 4 different flowers on screen at once. A text is provided for each plant describing the growth form, size, habitat, bloom period, elevation range and page references to useful guides and floras. Collections of images and texts can be stored in bookmarks. Interesting to mountain travelers and flower enthusiasts.

There are over 2,000 species of ferns and flowering plants known to occur in the region generally referred to as the Sierra Nevada. Over 500 species of wildflowers (and some shrubs) are included on this CD, which covers the entire Sierra Nevada mountain range, which encompasses Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and southern mountains such as the Greenhorn and Piute Mountains and the Kern Plateau. Some Mojave desert species are included (even though their range descriptions in The Jepson Manual do not include Sierra Nevada, e.g. Anemopsis californica) because they are found in the lower portions of the Piute and Scodie Mountains, and the Kern Plateau.

Most of the photographs were taken by Larry Norris, Jim Shevock, and Karen Callahan with a few provided by Edge of Eden and others. Many species have both close-up images of the flower as well as full plant images. As new and/or upgraded images become available they will be offered to users which can be added to this information system.

The elevation ranges are based on The Jepson Manual, and in converting to feet, were rounded down or up to the nearest 50' respectively for lower and upper ranges. (For example, for the elevation 1500 m, when it is the "floor" of an elevation range, it was converted to 4900'; but when it is the "ceiling" of an elevation range, it was converted to 4950'.) Keep in mind that the elevation range described in The Jepson Manual is for the full geographic range of the species, not just in the Sierra Nevada.

The bloom period is based on A Flora of Southern California, A California Flora and Supplement, and personal communications from Jim Shevock. The brief plant descriptions and habitat information were compiled and condensed from The Jepson Manual, A Flora of Southern California, Sierra Nevada Wildflowers by Karen Wiese and A California Flora and Supplement.

The numbers after the references listed for each species refer to page number for text description (bold), page and key letter for illustration (in italics). When indicating that a species is illustrated, the following "rule" applies: if a taxon is a species (not subspecies), that taxon will be considered illustrated if the species or any subspecies is illustrated; if a taxon is a subspecies, it will be considered illustrated only if that subspecies is illustrated.