A guide to the native and naturalized wildflower species and showy shrubs of the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, including parts of the Mojave Desert and Great Basin. The species are organized by elevation zone, flower color and petal number. Each of the 376 species accounts features a color header bar, close-up and habitat photographs, a full plant description, name origins, habitat, viewing locations and blooming season.

Laird R. Blackwell, who received his Ph. D. from Stanford University, has taught field wildflower classes in the American West for over 25 years. He lives with his wife, Melinda, in Tahoe, where he is professor and department chairman of Humanities at Sierra Nevada College. Laird has spent more than 10 years exploring the Sierra, the Mojave and the Great Basin. He hopes that his books deepen the reader's knowledge and love of this remarkable part of the world. He also hopes that everyone will be fortunate enough to see the high desert in a wet year, for he believes it is one of the most glorious of wildflower treats.

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