Covering approximately 50,000 square miles, the Ozarks is an upland region that spans four states - Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Illinois. In this beautifully illustrated, practical field guide, ecologist and botanist Thomas E. Hemmerly identifies more than 600 species of Ozark flowering plants. Ozark Wildflowers is the only book with full color photographs that covers all flowering plants of the Ozark region, including the Ouachita Mountains and Crowley's Ridge. Hemmerly's primary focus is herbaceous plants, but he also includes an assortment of trees, shrubs, and woody vines with showy flowers. He conveniently organizes the species descriptions primarily by color and secondarily by the grand group - monocot or dicot - to which they belong. To further assist the reader. Hemmerly has included a glossary, an appendix of Ozark natural areas, a bibliography, and an index. In addition to serving as an identification guide, Ozark Wildflowers features plants in the context of their environment and the regions where they occur. Hemmerly surveys other plants and animals that form communities with wildflowers and describes the soil, water, climate, and geology that influence Ozark ecology. The author also provides valuable information regarding any medical or ethnobotanical uses of the plants discussed.