The Everyday Naturalist: How To Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go

Based on her two-day class called “Nature Identification for the Everyday Naturalist,” science communicator Lexa, a certified Oregon naturalist, shares her techniques for identifying animals, plants, and fungi, broken down into easy-to-understand steps and enhanced by Lalinde’s lovely color illustrations. The book begins by recounting the history of nature study in Western science. Lexa next describes identification tools, including field guides, dichotomous keys, ID apps, websites, binoculars, magnifying tools, cameras, and journals. The book clearly explains how to use each tool when identifying specimens, stressing the importance of using multiple sources for verification. Lexa gives tips for field exploration and details her methods for observing and identifying unknown specimens, with chapters covering animals, plants, fungi, slime molds, lichens, and horsetails. She also includes sample templates for recording field notes and blank templates that readers can copy. A chapter on troubleshooting identification issues, followed by a glossary and recommended resources, rounds out this attractive, useful book. While the book is appropriate for beginners, readers should expect scientific vocabulary and meticulous details on the identification process.