Flora of the Pacific Northwest, 2nd edition

For Pacific Northwest botanists of all levels, the one-volume book informally known as “Hitchcock” has been standard equipment since its publication in 1973. This work, Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual by C. Leo Hitchcock and Arthur Cronquist, was intended as a field version of the five-volume flora Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, written by the same authors with two additional botanists and two illustrators from 1955-1969.

“No scholarly endeavors are immune to the advancing frontiers of knowledge.” This quote is from the introduction of the new, second edition of the one-volume Flora, expanded by a team of four editors with two new illustrators. Changes in taxonomy, especially from molecular studies, plus newly described taxa and the establishment of non-native species (which this flora includes) have created a long overdue need for an update.

Like the first edition, this book attempts to be comprehensive in its presentation of species, subspecies, and varieties throughout Washington, most of Oregon and Idaho, the western part of Montana, and southern British Columbia. The first edition introduced the new (at the time) idea of embedding the species descriptions and illustrations within the taxonomic keys. This proved to be a good decision. It has remained a best-seller for University of Washington Press for the last four decades.

At 882 pages (the first edition had 730), it is perhaps a bit hefty for field work, but this is a must for your work desk. The Miller Library has a lending copy of the new edition, and keeps non-circulating copies of both editions and the earlier volumes of Vascular Plants. Be sure to take a look at this new standard for our regional botany!

Published in the January 2019 Leaflet for Scholars, Volume 6, Issue 1.