2 Books About Joshua Trees: Choose Ecology or Focused History
Best Fern Identification Guides: 3 Field Guides for Eastern North America
About the Author
Sesera editorial account organizes laptop, mini PC, smartphone, and gadget buying guides so readers can check the important points before buying.
Choosing a fern identification guide can be tricky when each one covers a different region or offers different ways to identify plants.
Keys, illustrations, photographs, and range maps can help readers identify ferns and related plants within the areas each guide covers.
This time, we’ll round up three field guides covering parts of eastern North America.
Quick-reference table of recommended products
| Product name | Geographic coverage | Identification aids |
|---|---|---|
 Fern Finder (3rd Edition) | Central and northeastern United States and eastern Canada | Dichotomous key and professional illustrations |
 Northeast Ferns (Second Edition) | Northeastern United States | Keys, descriptions, color photographs, and distribution maps |
 Ferns, Spikemosses, Clubmosses, and Quillworts of Eastern North America | United States east of the Mississippi and contiguous Canada, except extreme northern and northeastern Canada | Keys, range maps, detailed color photographs, and facing-page species descriptions |
Fern Finder (3rd Edition)
Fern Finder (3rd Edition) is recommended for readers looking for a compact guide to identifying native ferns across the central and northeastern United States and eastern Canada. It covers more than 80 commonly seen native ferns, using a step-by-step dichotomous key and professional illustrations to guide identification. Its listed coverage also includes specific states and parts of several others, so the region covered may help readers decide whether it fits the ferns they want to identify.
Fern Finder (3rd Edition)
Northeast Ferns (Second Edition)
Northeast Ferns (Second Edition) is recommended for readers identifying ferns and their relatives in the northeastern United States. It covers ferns and lycophytes, with keys and descriptions to support identification, plus color photographs and distribution maps for reference.
The listed region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
This edition also updates nomenclature and county-level distribution information, and adds new color photographs.
Northeast Ferns (Second Edition)
Ferns, Spikemosses, Clubmosses, and Quillworts of Eastern North America
This guide is recommended for readers seeking to identify a broad range of ferns and related plants across eastern North America. It covers 305 species of ferns, spikemosses, clubmosses, and quillworts, with keys, range maps, detailed color photographs, and facing-page species descriptions to support identification.
Its stated coverage includes the United States east of the Mississippi and contiguous Canada, except for extreme northern and northeastern Canada. Checklists for four subregions let readers record species they have seen.
Ferns, Spikemosses, Clubmosses, and Quillworts of Eastern North America
Choosing a fern guide
- People identifying native ferns across central and northeastern North America
- People looking for a guide to northeastern ferns and their relatives
- People identifying a broad range of eastern North American ferns and related plants
Related Articles
-
- Best Cactus Identification Guides: 6 Books for Arizona, the Southwest, and Texas
- Best Field Guides to Mosses and Lichens: 6 Books Compared
- Best Cactus Identification Guides: 2 Southwest and Texas Picks
- Best Botanical Illustrated Encyclopedias: 5 Books on Plants and Flowers
- 2 Dendrochronology Books: Popular Introduction or Methods Reference
- Best Fruit Tree Identification Guides: 4 Field Guide Picks
