It’s that time of year when we start noticing the wildflowers pop up in unexpected places. I grabbed Wildflowers of Mississippi as my guide and found the one I saw this morning: Crimson Clover. This wildflower is a familiar sight as it beautifully carpets our fields and roadsides in early spring.
Wildflowers of Mississippi by Stephen L. Timme catalogs over 500 wildflowers with their scientific and common names, brief descriptions and their geographical distribution for amateur and professional botanists. Best of all, beautiful photographs accompany each listing. Timme notes how the Native Americans depended on plants for food, shelter and medicine. The explorers of North America who followed were also impressed with the abundance of wildflowers.
Today, states all across America have organizations centered around the preservation and cultivation of wildflowers. The Mississippi Native Plant Society was formed in 1980 to encourage a respectful attitude toward wildflowers by leading field trips throughout the state. Until Wildflowers of Mississippi was first published in 1989, Mississippi was the only state that did not have a wildflower guide available to the public.
Click here to learn more about The Mississippi Native Plant Society.
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