There are a handful of wonderful books to help you get to know the diverse floral world around Lake Tahoe. Once you decide you want to go beyond the “my, that’s just gorgeous” stage of knowledge, you will either need a good friend with plenty of knowledge and patience, or you will start searching through books. Following are the books I found most useful. Each book is different in its approach as a flower identifier and each has its own style. I have added my personal commentary to help decide which is right for you.
Wildflowers of the Tahoe Sierra: From Forest Deep to Mountain Peak: by Laird Blackwell. This book is a great starter. First the book's focus is only on flowers you will find on the trails around Tahoe. Its small size and spiral notebook construction make it comfortable to carry. The major breakout of the flowers is by type of terrain. This can cause some false starts as many of the plants haven’t read where they belong and wander off into unassigned ecosystems. However, it is not difficult to check several environments.
Wildflowers of the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley: by Laird Blackwell. This book is best for the person who has begun to master the flower family characteristics, and may be doing hikes west of Tahoe. The major breakdown of the flowers described is by family which takes some time and study to master. Of course this book will help you do this. The descriptions of the flowers are eloquent, fun, and complete - a characteristic of all of Laird Blackwell’s books.
Wildflowers of the Eastern Sierra and Adjoining Mojave Desert and Great Basin: by Laird Blackwell. This is the latest of the Blackwell books and covers an area from Tahoe in the North down to The Mojave Desert in the South. Despite the large area covered, I have found that the book will probably describe the flower you are looking at around Tahoe. The book is organized by type of terrain. When looking for an unknown flower you may need to try several sections since you may not know what terrain you are in, or the flower may be lost. Within the terrain designations the flowers are divided by number of petals to aid your search. There is a “by color” reference with thumbnail pictures in the front. This book is also a guide to many great hikes, not only in Tahoe, but also south along highway 395. A must have book in my opinion!
Plants of the Tahoe Basin: Flowering Plants, Trees, and Ferns: by Michael Graf. If you are beyond wanting to recognize just some of the flowers, then you need to get this book. It is the most complete cataloging of the flora of the Tahoe area with close to all 750 species. It is organized by plant family which means you need a certain knowledge or enough patience for page by page searches. I have done these searches more than once. Thankfully the book has all the pictures on the right side, which along with endless commercials on TV, make these searches feasible. Some of the flowers are described only in writing, along with similar plants that do have pictures, so reading is a must. As my knowledge has grown, so has my use of this book. Plan to get it some day.
Hiking Tahoe's Wildflower Trails: by Julie Stauffer Carville. This book is organized by trail and is an excellent resource for identifying all of the best possibilities for flower hunting around the lake (30 trails!). Each Chapter takes you on a personal adventure describing not only the flowers along the way but noting with great sensitivity all of the natural surrounding that weave together to create the beauty and grandeur that is Lake Tahoe. This is a must have book if you plan to explore the best of the Wildflower trails.
