Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, in five parts, offers the first complete guide, with keys, to the ferns, fern-related, and seed-bearing plants of Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho north of the Snake River plains, the mountainous western part of Montana, and southern British Columbia. Each volume gives complete regional synonymy, type collections, geographic ranges, "genuine" common names, and chromosome numbers for each species, as well as economic importance and horticultural features.

Part 3 covers plants from the saxifrages to the heaths, including the dogwood, rose, and pea families. Astralagus, the largest genus and one of the most difficult, is treated by one key based on characteristics of the flower and by another based on characteristics of the fruit.

Illustrated by Jeanne R. Janish.