Plant Life of Kentucky is the first comprehensive guide to all the ferns, flowering herbs, and woody plants of the state. This long-awaited work provides identification keys for Kentucky’s 2,600 native and naturalized vascular plants, with notes on wildlife/human uses, poisonous plants, and medicinal herbs. The common name, flowering period, habitat, distribution, rarity, and wetland status are given for each species, and about 80 percent are illustrated with line drawings. The inclusion of 250 additional species from outside the state (these species are “to be expected” in Kentucky) broadens the regional coverage, and most plants occurring from northern Alabama to southern Ohio to the Mississippi River (an area of wide similarity in flora) are examined, including nearly all the plants of western and central Tennessee. The author also describes prehistoric and historical changes in the flora, natural regions and plant communities, significant botanists, current threats to plant life, and a plan for future studies. Plant Life of Kentucky is intended as a research tool for professionals in biology and related fields, and as a resource for students, amateur naturalists, and others interested in understanding and preserving our rich botanical heritage.

Aquatic Dicotyledons of North America: Ecology, Life History, and Systematics brings together a wealth of information on the natural history, ecology, and systematics of North American aquatic plants. Most books on aquatic plants have a taxonomic focus and are intended primarily for identification. Instead, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the biology of major aquatic species by compiling information from numerous sources that lie scattered among the primary literature, herbarium databases, and other reference materials. Included dicotyledon species are those having an obligate (OBL) wetland status, a designation used in the USACE National Wetland Plant List. Recent phylogenetic analyses are incorporated and rationale is provided for interpreting this information with respect to species relationships. This diverse assemblage of information will be useful to a wide range of interests including academic researchers, wildlife managers, students, and virtually anyone interested in the natural history of aquatic and wetland plants. Although focusing specifically on North America, the cosmopolitan distribution of many aquatic plants should make this an attractive text to people working virtually anywhere outside of the region as well. This book is an essential resource for assisting with wetland delineation.