Totton: John Poland, 2009. Octavo, paperback, colour illustrations, line drawings.

Conventional field guides only work when you have flowers or fruit - something all botanists find rather frustrating when out in the field. This key is an outstanding innovation. It enables the user to easily identify over 3,000 native and alien plants without flowers or fruit, with nothing more than a hand lens. A diligent enthusiast should be able to correctly identify a plant within three turns of a page, often in under 60 seconds (due to the novel structure of the keys).

Selected flower and fruit characters, particularly ones not readily available in other Floras, have been included, especially in the comparatively few groups where they are essential. The key is an essential identification aid, invaluable to all amateur and professional botanists, ecological consultants, students and naturalists. Because it makes full use of light but good paper, it is remarkably portable considering the completeness of the information it contains.