Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification Paperback – May 15, 2013

I love, love LOVE this book because it gives you knowledge you can use to help identify plants anywhere in the world. It is exceptionally well done with lots of full color illustrations along with a college course's worth of practical botanical information. I cannot recommend it highly enough!

I haven’t finished it yet but I can tell it’s going to always be useful. The title is deceiving as I don’t know how I could finish it and comprehend it all in a day. It’s way more informative than I thought it would be, but that’s a good thing!I was thinking it would be more like a “For Dummies” book or overly basic. But it definitely is not. I guess some schools use this as a textbook for Botany classes.

"Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification" is a comprehensive and user-friendly guide to identifying plants using the "patterns method," which is a unique and effective way of organizing and understanding plant families. Written by Thomas J. Elpel, an experienced botanist and naturalist, the book is designed to make botany accessible to anyone, regardless of their level of experience or expertise.One of the best features of the book is its organization. The book covers over 200 plant families, and it groups them into patterns based on their physical characteristics, such as leaf shape, flower structure, and seed dispersal. This makes it easy for readers to quickly find and identify the plants they encounter in the field. The book also includes a detailed introduction to botany, providing readers with the knowledge and understanding they need to use the patterns method effectively.Another great feature of the book is its use of illustrations, photographs, and descriptions. The book is richly illustrated with detailed drawings and photographs of plants and their parts, making it easy for readers to understand and recognize the key features of each plant family. The descriptions of the plants are also clear and concise, providing readers with the information they need to identify and understand the plants they encounter.One of the most striking things about "Botany in a Day" is its author's ability to simplify the often-complex subject of botany making it accessible to anyone who is interested in nature, whether they are a professional botanist or an amateur naturalist. The author's easy-going writing style and sense of humor make the book a joy to read, and the knowledge you gain from it will be invaluable when out in the field.It is comprehensive, user-friendly, and packed with the information and resources you need to identify plants quickly and confidently. If you're someone who loves nature and wants to explore the world of botany, I highly recommend reading this book.

This seriously has been moved to my list of favorite plant books. I’m currently studying to be a plant biologist. I personally found it useful for my plant systematics class last spring. I’m back for another copy! We went over everything this book discussed plus more, but I felt like the information in this book covered has a lot of the important things learned in the class.

Plenty of illustrations. I find that I will need to pick up a second book on botany so that I can examine the parts of a particular plant in this book.Botany in A DAY? Um, no. There is quite a bit to digest in this book.I was hoping for a clearer sort of presentation on members of the 5 plant families. There is so much information generously given. It can cause some confusion or derail a beginner.My solution will be to purchase a few carefully chosen books with excellent illustrations and use them in conjunction with this book to help me understand the information.For instance, good illustrations of the parts of flowering plants. The line drawing at the front of the book leaves a lot to be desired.Fortunately, not everyone is as ignorant on the topic of botany ad I am. This book has much to impart if one studies it seriously.

Front cover bent im bummed about it but super cool book

I’m just genuinely interested in plants and love getting to know them and this book is such an easy to understand guide. Thanks to the author!

For the past decade or so I have been trying to give myself a proper eduction in botany and plant identification, and to that end I've purchased a lot of books on the subject, ranging from Audubon and Peterson field guides to introductory college texts. The field guides are great for matching pictures to names- If you've found a plant that's common enough to make it into the guide. The textbooks are great for understanding the biology of plants, but go into far more detail than I need as an amateur naturalist; I'm not particularly interested in getting a second BA in Botany. What I really wanted was a way to identify plants by their structure, and this book is exactly what I was looking for.Elpel's approach is to key various plant families to their physical structure, and to teach you how to recognize those elements that determine family. Doesn't matter if it's one of the more obscure plants that doesn't show up in the field guides; you know the family, and from there you can go to a reference work and narrow it down. I found an unusual volunteer in my back yard, and using Elpel's systems, I was able to immediately identify it: Square, hairy stem, opposite leaves, aromatic? Mint family. From there I went to one of my reference books (Voss, Flora of Michigan Part 2) and identified it as Motherwort. There are also keys to the clades. Parallel veins? Monocot. Branching veins? Dicot. And so on.I really can't say enough good about this book. If you're at all interested in plants, especially wild plants, buy it. If you're just getting started in studying wild plants, make this your first purchase. Even if you've got bookshelves full of field guides you'll find this to be a great addition to your library.