Field Guide to Liverwort Genera of Pacific North America

Field Guide to Liverworts of the North Pacific Coast is the first comprehensive guide to liverworts and hornworts from southernmost California to Alaska. Small and insignificant to the casual eye, liverworts and hornworts are sometimes confused with mosses and lichens. Yet botanically they are quite distinctive and under a hand lens, these plants can assume a surprising elegance.

The book describes representative species of each genus in the Pacific Coastal region, and explains how to collect and identify liverworts with the naked eye or aided by a 12x hand lens. Keys are provided to assist the collector in deciphering and identifying genera. The book introduces the role of liverworts in vegetation, their distribution patterns, and a history of collecting in the region. Graceful and informative line drawings accompany detailed discussions of each genus. A substantial glossary and comprehensive checklist are included.

This useful guide to genera found abundantly in the region will be welcomed not only by the professional field botanist, but by the enterprising amateur naturalist who wishes to discover these bryophytes' unusual beauty and fascinating variety.

W. B. Schofield is professor emeritus of botany at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Introduction to Bryology and Some Common Mosses of British Columbia and coauthor of An Evolutionary Survey of the Plant Kingdom and Plant Diversity: An Evolutionary Approach.