Field Handbook to British and Irish Dandelions

The Field Handbook to British and Irish Dandelions: BSBI Handbook No. 23 is a completely revised edition of the now out of print BSBI Handbook No. 9 – Dandelions of Great Britain and Ireland (Dudman & Richards 1997). More than just an update or second edition, this new handbook adopts a fundamentally different approach to the previous one, using for example colour photographs throughout and relying on just conventional keys, the multi-access ones used in the earlier handbook not having proved successful. As well as new keys, the new guide includes new Taraxacum species that have been described over the last 24 years, updated taxonomy and nomenclature, updated distribution maps and identification notes.

The BSBI Handbook series is designed to facilitate identification of species from difficult plant groups. In this new guide, BSBI member and world expert John Richards has used photographs to summarise his encyclopaedic knowledge in a new and accessible format. Digital photography has revolutionised Dandelion identification, as images capturing colour and form enable plants to be named without the need for dried specimens. The images have been provided by 39 photographers, reflecting the increased interest in Dandelions.

The Handbook includes a general introduction, guidance on identification, keys, accounts of the 239 species with revised descriptions, 3-6 colour images per taxon, showing key features with a distribution map, and references, a glossary and an index. Full contents are shown in one of thumbnail images on this webpage.

The book is B5 in size.