New Field Guide for Minnesota

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Wildlife, Nature, Biodiversity, Biological Evolution

Ed Hessler

I can't remember when the expansion of field guides to the natural world occurred but I'm glad it did. And increasingly some of them focus on regions and states. How we tyros love learning about new ones.

The Minnesota Conservation Volunteer (MCV), July - August 2023 about a new one devoted to lycophytes and ferns by DNR botanist Welby Smith, titled Ferns and Lycophytes of Minnesota (University of Minnesota Press).

The book, writes MCV editor in chief Chris Clayton  writes that "Welby Smith's new book...inspired our 'Small Wonders'. The essay is  beautifully illustrated but here is a stripped down version from the MCV website which includes the photographs but on the side of the article.

The book is lavishly illustrated by photographer Richard Haug"who frequently" accompanied Welby Smith in the field.  You'll recognize some of these plants for they include clubmosses--"neither a moss nor a tree but a lycophyte."

Welby Smith is a staff member of the Minnesota Biological Survey.  Richard Haug can be found on Instagram.