Botany in a Day: The Patterns Method of Plant Identification

Looking for a faster, easier, and fun way to identify plants? Botany in a Day teaches you the patterns method of plant identification, so that you can discover the wonderful world of plants around you, wherever you go.

Instead of trying to identify plants one-at-a-time, Botany in a Day give you a way to learn them by the hundreds, based on the principle that related plants have similar patterns for indentification, and they often have similar uses.

The one-day tutorial included in the text teaches you seven key patterns to recognize more than 45,000 species of plants worldwide. Master these seven patterns and you will be ready to use the included reference guide--Thomas J. Elpel's Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families of North America. Here you will find the patterns for indentification and the patterns of uses for the majority of plants across the continent.

Botany in a Day is used as a guide by thousands of individuals, plus herbal schools and universities across North America.

Thomas J. Elpel had the rare opportunity as a child to spend hundreds of hours with his grandmother Josie Jewett. Together they explored the hills and meadows near Virginia City, Montana, collecting herbs, looking for arrowheads and watching wildlife. Grandma Josie helped Tom to learn about native plants and their uses, igniting a passion for nature that has inspired him ever since. She also sparked his interest in survival skills.

"All I ever wanted to do as a kid was to go to Grandma’s house," Tom said. "When she moved from Virginia City to Pony, I followed her. Renee and I eventually bought land just a couple blocks from her place."

At the age of 16, Tom went on a 26-day, 250-mile walkabout in the desert canyons of southern Utah with Boulder Outdoor Survival School . The following year he and Grandma Josie went together to Tom Brown’s Tracker School in New Jersey.

Tom spent thousands of hours practicing and developing survival skills in his "backyard" in the Rocky Mountains.

He is now the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School, LLC in Pony, Montana. Botany in a Day grew from Tom’s desire to provide an easy means for other people to discover a closer connection with the natural world. Tom is also the author of four other books inspired by nature, including: Participating in Nature, Direct Pointing to Real Wealth, Living Homes, and Shanleya's Quest.