Book excerpt: "Most books on wildflowers are concerned mainly with points of identification and distribution. The Wildflowers of Offaly is unique in the way it attempts to describe the character of the plants: their ecological preferences, their uses and the beliefs associated with them, and in particular the extraordinary diversity of the strategies they have evolved to ensure pollination and the production of seed. This is the book to consult when you have made a tentative identification of a wildflower and want to know more about its lifestyle. It is illustrated throughout in full colour with photographs and a selection of plates from many of the classic older floras of northern Europe."--Publisher's description.