"A guide to the vascular plants of Florida"--

First of eight proposed volumes on the more than 3,800 vascular plants known to occur growing wild in the state.

"Wunderlin has accomplished a major feat, writing a guide where the flora of the state are so diverse. . . . An original and highly significant contribution."--Michael O. Moore, University of Georgia This is the first comprehensive identification manual of the highly diverse flora of Florida, and it will serve as the definitive guide to Florida's vascular plants for years to come. With more than 4,000 kinds of native and nonnative ferns and fern allies, nonflowering seed plants, and flowering seed plants that reproduce outside of cultivation, Florida has the third largest plant diversity of any state in the nation. Some of its plant species are found nowhere else in the world; many of these are endangered. Because of the state's mild climate, many nonnative species--including major pest species--readily become naturalized, contributing nearly one-third of the species of known flora. Wunderlin provides a means to identify these plants through a series of taxonomic keys to family, genus, and species. He gives the up-to-date accepted scientific name of each species, the major nomenclatural synonyms, many common names, the general habitat preference, and, for plants not native to Florida, the region of nativity. Long awaited by biologists, conservationists, gardeners, educators, and environmental consultants, Wunderlin's guide provides for the first time in a single volume a means to identify the abundant and diverse flora of the Sunshine State.

The mountainous Blue Ridge, perhaps the most botanically diverse region in the eastern United States, extends for more than five hundred miles, the bulk of the area falling within eighty-five counties of five states: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The area has attracted the attention of botanists for nearly two centuries, yet no comprehensive work has previously been available that catalogs its rich floristic abundance. Addressing the needs of professional and amateur botanists interested in the Blue Ridge, B. Eugene Wofford’s guide makes it possible to identify all the region’s native and naturalized plant life--representing 161 families, 726 genera, and 2,391 species and lesser taxa. Among the flora to be found in the Blue Ridge are a number of species that have been identified as rare or endangered. The volume contains an introduction instructing readers on the use of the guide; a glossary of terms with selected illustrations; a map of the region; a key to the major plant groups; and keys to the Pteridophyte, Gymnosperm, Monocot, and Dicot families as well as to genera, species and lesser taxa. The species and lesser taxa enumeration following each genus contains the scientific name, common name or names, general habitat preferences, frequency and area of occurrence, flowering or sporulating periods, and pertinent taxonomic and nonmenclatural synonyms. The keys for identification rely primarily on easily identified flowering or sporulating material and can be interpreted by all users, from beginners and amateurs to experienced professionals.

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.