Seattle Press on Line - New Plant Guide is a Local Treasure

Fine Roman Hand

New Plant Guide is a Local Treasure

By Stephen Herold

Jan 03, 2002 -- Even for us natives, as we wander through the streets and countryside around Seattle, we just walk by so many plants beneath our feet without a clue as to what they are. Trees, now they are big enough that we have to at least notice them, and we can vaguely identify enough to feel at home. There are, of course, questions we ask a lot like, "Is that a weed or is it useful?" or even, "What is that?" before we pass on with no more understanding than before. Now help is here with a great guide to all those little plants we walk on and over every day, by Seattle's favorite botanical author Arthur Lee Jacobson.

Arthur Lee's Wild Plants of Greater Seattle joins his Trees of Seattle, Trees of Green Lake and Landscape Trees of North America as an essential and friendly volume with so many answers. In a discipline overflowing with Latin nomenclature and incomprehensible distinctions and families, Jacobson brings an everyday language and approach to an arcane field that almost anyone can enjoy. Although the book is broken down by the essential Latin genus and species categories, he gives us the good old common names and descriptions in everyday language. Almost every plant has a clear and useful line art illustration that shows its unique features, and the descriptions are spiced with personal comments and neat stories. This is about as close to literature as a botanical work can be.

Planned as a field guide, the book has a waterproof cover and nicely rounded corners so it can survive outdoors and fit into a pocket without damage. To me it is important that a book be designed for its purpose as well as its appearance, and Wild Plants of Greater Seattle does this to a tee.

What is most interesting, amid the litany of native plants that have thrived since the end of the last ice age or before, only some 7,000 - 9,000 years ago, is the large number of hardy travelers from other lands. Many plants, like the dandelion, come from the European settlers; others are Oriental transplants who like Seattle as well as home. And then there are the evil ones, like milfoil, which have come to overrun our environment and choke out the complacent natives. Perhaps this should not surprise us since we, too, are transplants who have marginalized the Native Americans who lived here so long in their moist wilderness.

This is the kind of book you can give anyone, confident that it is useful to them and the best possible choice. With it in your pocket you can venture outside and finally figure out who you are stepping on, and who is taking over your garden. Despite the plants being arranged in the order of Latin genus, which most people will miss, it does keep plants that look alike together so that you can trust looking for leaf or flower type and find your subject.

Seattle is lucky to have such a generous and talented author to sing the praises of our plants, and especially so since he is the publisher as well. When an author will stake his own time and money to give us a book, we can trust that it is from the heart and well worth a look. How major local publishers can pass by such important books is more than I can fathom, but our hats are off to Arthur Lee for a sterling effort at a fair price.

Wild Plants of Greater Seattle can be found at any local bookstore worthy of the name, or purchased directly from the author online at: www.arthurleej.com.

Steve Herold operates the Wit's End Bookstore in Fremont. He can be found there often during store hours.

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