Another guide to plants & trees

The most persistent effect of globalization will be biological, not economical. With that in mind my goal is to learn enough to visit some overgrown field or cryptoforest and be able to see it as a floral portmanteau that brings together species from around the world, each telling about a specific story of exploration, travel, management and adaptation. In that effort (on the cheap) I have blindly purchased a 1980 pocket in mint condition for a paltry fifty eurocent. It turns out to be a perfectly structured teaching book for the novice plant spotter. It begins by telling you what to look for (the two middle pictures) and continues with orderly pre-sorted categories that make it easy to look up the name. It is an old book and I have spotted the absence of certain pervasive weeds (Hockweed, Red Valerian, Japanede Knotweed, perhaps indicative of a changed landscape of weeds?) but it will certainly be of use. 

Animal spotting without animals

This book doesn't give the year of its publication but who cares. It's a Dutch translation of a German guidebook by Klaus Richarz and it helps you identify animals through their unique environmental footprint. Every second page is filled with amazing pictures, showing the wide range of traces that animals leave behind: footsteps in the snow, nests and burrows, food remains, vomit, droppings, and much more. This is not just a guidebook but a catalogue of the ingenuity of everyday European birds, mammals, spiders, ants and insects. This book is fun to browse through ever if you have never set foot outside your condominium. I am going to carry it with me on future cryptoforest crawls.