Little Big Bend: Common, Uncommon, and Rare Plants of Big Bend National Park (Grover E. Murray Studies in the American Southwest)

Bought this for our trip to Big Bend National Park in Texas. It is a lovely book that gives details about the multitudes of wildflowers that are all around you in the desert. The nicest part is that it concentrates on the overlooked beauties found near the ground. It's a little difficult to find a particular plant unless you know the plant name as you need to look through the book at the photographs or by categories of cacti, agave, etc. But, it's worth looking through and studying the information.

I would not use this as a guidebook, though I hasten to add that I would not consider that as a criticism; almost the opposite, in fact, given that most plant and flower guidebooks contain terrible photographs. (The reason for that is mainly that guidebook writers are rarely good photographers. Plus, a really good photograph of a plant is not usually a typical hiker's view of the plant, and a _guidebook_ to be useful should probably prefer the typical to the beautiful.)Morey is a really excellent photographer. In almost every case, the composition, the depth of field, and background are unobtrusively perfect, which are things non-photographers rarely notice, but which are the foundation, in this case, of some pretty stunning images.So if it's not really a reasonable first choice as a guidebook (though I would take it along in my car, if not in my backpack, on at trip to Big Bend) and it's not a tabletop photo book--then what is it?The way I would use it, in planning a trip to Big Bend, would be to look through it to prepare myself (while enjoying the pictures) to find the close views of the desert that are normally overlooked. A lot of these are unobtrusive plants with small, though often very pretty flowers, or other striking visual qualities. Learning to look down at small plants is a good thing, opening up a new world of visual possibilities--and if nothing else lessening your chance of your ankle finding a lechuguilla before your eye does.And for the few of us who already have an interest in native plants, the text is a treasure trove of information, much of it hard to come by, about the uses, habitat, common names, the etymology of the scientific names, the discovery of the plant, and various taxonomic esoterica. Plus, of course, where in the Big Bend area you are likely to encounter any given plant.I would say it's the best book of its kind (I'm pretty sure it is) but more likely it is the only book of its kind. Worth buying for anyone interested in the Big Bend, native plants, desert plants, or nature photography. Especially nature photography.

Roy Morey has taken beautiful photographs for this book. The descriptions are very clear. And then, there is so much more in the interesting information about the history of the area.

As an experienced hiker in the Big Bend region, I was still amazed at the marvelolus plants neither I nor others have ever seen. This guide is a MUST if you really want to see the hidden beauty of this rugged region.