Botany in a Day: Thomas J. Elpel's Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families, 4th Ed. Paperback – January 1, 2000

It takes more than a day, but this is a very good book to learn the basics of plant identification.

I love this book because it gives me facts that i can relate to the things i see. He really lays out the book in an easy to understand format. I really learned a lot from this book and it will stay at the for front of my book shelf for a long time to come.

Lots of info on the plants, etc.

Book was a used library book

Tom Elpel's book, Botany in a Day, exposes the world of plants for what it truly is -approachable and easy to get to know, no longer intimidating and overwhelming like the aloof hotty on the other side of the room. By reading his book(over and over), I reamed an understanding of a few basic properties and trends, and the world of plants and their uses opened before me. His secret is to teach the plant families first, laying down a solid foundation which can then be piled high with individual species. By the end of just one season with Botany in a Day, I began to recognize the majority of the plants I sniffed or stepped on. I even gained the confidence to pop certain plants, which I had not yet met, in my mouth and swallow, understanding their family traits and knowing they were safe without ever naming the species. I feel I've been given a valuable, wonderful gift, one that I doubt I will ever be able to repay.

This book is great for a beginner hobby botanist such as myself. What makes it so unique is that it emphasizes recognizable patterns among plants, thus simplifying an infinately complex subject. By simplifying botany, Tom's book allows one to very quickly gain skills in identifying and using different plants. He also provides some good history of plants and a very useful key in the beginning of the book to really help the reader. The ease and interest in plant identification that this book has encouraged has driven me to continue my plant education.Once you use this book out in the wild and start identifying and using plants, they really come alive. I will walk along an empty lot or see ornamental flowers at a restaurant and start automatically identifying them and thinking about them. Botany in a Day is best used in conjunction with other books that have good color pictures in them.

When I started a new hobby of photographing wildflowers, I had no clue on the importance of learning plant families in order to identify them. If I couldn't tell from the picture in a field guide, I was up a creek. "Botany in a Day" was the first book I found that organized the families in a simple, clear way that I could understand and this system has become my main guide for grouping and identification. The herbal information is interesting, but not relevant to my project. I'm very grateful for the help I've received from this book

Overall rating: 4 starsPlant identification: 4 starsPlant uses: 2 starsPicture type(s): black & white drawingsWho will find it useful: novice foragers or anyone who wants to improve their plant identification skills.Notes: This book will teach you how to properly identify plants which is a crucial skill for foragers. There are multiple, detailed drawings of each plant and the author focuses on edible plants of each family. I consider this book a "must have" for anyone who wants to be able to identify plants while whizzing down the road at 70 mph. Sidenote: this book will tell you what parts of the plants are edible but doesn't cover harvesting techniques or recipes.