Common Plants of the Mid-Atlantic Coast: A Field Guide

Beggar's ticks and marsh pink. Tearthumbs and chairmaker's rush. Live oak, pitch pine, wild black cherry, sassafras, and loblolly pine.

From eelgrass rooted in wrack lines on windswept back shores to hardy maritime forests sculpted by strong winds and salt spray, the Mid-Atlantic coast is rich with a variety of habitats and an abundance of common, if not always familiar, plants. In Common Plants of the Mid-Atlantic Coast, Gene M. Silberhorn provides a field guide to the plants found along the coast from Long Island Sound to North Carolina's barrier islands. This introduction to the fragile ecology and remarkable beauty of the flora of the coastal region was highly praised by reviewers when it was first published in 1982.

This revised edition retains the features that earned it acclaim and provides a wealth of new information. The three sections of the book correspond to the natural divisions of the landscape: Section One covers beaches, dunes, and marine forests; Section Two includes salt and brackish marshes; and Section Three reviews plants found in tidal and nontidal freshwater wetlands. Each section of Common Plants begins with an introduction that describes the characteristics of the area and the flora to be found there. Individual plant entries follow. Delicate illustrations accompany facing page descriptions that aid in identification and provide concise background information, as well as delightful anecdotes.

Plant entries now includes the subheadings: "Growth Habit and Diagnostic Characteristics," where the reader will find descriptions of general appearance, "Distribution," which tells where along the coast the plant is found, "Habitat," and, particularly important in this age of heightened environmental awareness, "Ecological Value/Benefits." The author has also added each plant's "Wetland Indicator Status," which estimates a species' frequency of occurrence in wetland habitats. Seventeen species have been added to this fully updated second edition. The appendices now include websites for various federal and state, coastal parks, refuges, and natural areas. An easy- to-use key helps readers identify plants in the field according to physical features.

Praise for the first edition:

"Will quickly become a standard work for professionals and casual beach strollers alike." -- Chesapeake Bay Magazine"In a guide of pleasant surprises, perhaps the greatest discovery is that so much wildness and beauty -- things that are more and more associated with wilderness and remoteness -- can still be found so near at hand, nearly in the back pocket of most of the large cities of the mid-Atlantic... [Silberhorn] has arranged his guide much like the coastal landscape itself, moving naturally from beaches to dunes and marine forests, then to salt and brackish marshes, and finally to the plants of the freshwater wetlands." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

"A superb guidebook for amateur naturalists, students in a variety of ecology-oriented courses, and gardeners who wish to assess new species." -- American Horticulturist

"Illustrates superbly with black-and-white drawings the many species of plants in this coastal region." -- Baltimore Sun

Gene M. Silberhorn is a professor of marine science at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, School of Marine Science, College of William and Mary.