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 1 covers vascular cryptogams, often referred to as "ferns and fern allies"; gymnosperms; and monocotyledons. An unusual feature is the inclusion of a key to the species of grasses based upon vegetative features, as well as one to grass genera based primarily upon floral structures. Part 1 also includes several sections relating to the work as a whole: an Index to Plant Families, a Glossary, a key to aquatic plants based mainly on vegetative features, several pages of additions and corrections, and a general index to common, generic, and specific names.

Illustrated by Jeanne R. Janish.