A Guide to Native Orchids of South Western Australia

A guide to identifying the native orchids of southwest Western Australia, based on a simple, mainly pictoral key directing the reader to the section addressing the distinctive features of each species and information on distribution, habitat, flowering period, and the common name. Includes full desc

BOTANY & PLANT SCIENCES. AUSTRALIAN. The flora of Western Australia is remarkably rich in orchids and includes some of the world's most attractive, colourful and unusual species.

This book, the magnum opus of Australian orchid expert David L. Jones, is a new and much improved edition of what is already the best and most authoritative book on the subject. The First Edition, published in 1993, was spectacular and comprehensive, describing more than 1,300 species and subspecies. Line drawings helped the reader to easily determine the genus of each orchid observed. Australia is the world centre of orchid biodiversity, and now that our understanding of the subject has developed over the past quarter of a century, this new Third Edition contains many more species and photos, and much more detailed text than previous editions. It covers more than 100 additional orchid species, including some which have not yet officially been described. References are now included in the text, distribution maps are included, and there is a more complete and comprehensive introduction. There are better and clearer layouts for species entries, with greater emphasis placed on conservation aspects, which is important because so many of our orchids are now under threat from all sorts of factors. In short this is a comprehensive guide that will contain correct identification of the orchids (a failure in many other books). It will arguably be the best and most complete work on orchids to be published anywhere in the world.

This book provides an overview of the orchid family and describes unique features of their biology and ecology. Key topics include the global importance of Western Australia as an orchid diversity hotspot and the amazing interactions between orchids and pollinating insects. An overview on orchid conservation issues in WA and advice for orchid tourists are also provided along with a guide to identification with keys to orchid genera. Most chapters concern orchid identification with additional information on the pollination, ecology, cultivation and taxonomy of each genus. For each species, a brief description focuses on defining features with the majority of space used for photos. These chapters were designed to be user friendly and make identification as easy and accurate as possible.

Written by three of Western Australia's most prominent orchidologists and featuring over 200 full-page, color illustrations by renowned botanical artist Pat Dundas, this long-awaited volume is the first modern text cataloging all known species of orchids in Western Australia. It is a comprehensive resource for hardened enthusiasts and initiates alike. Never before has such a wealth of information on Western Australian orchids been available in a single book. Along with a detailed introduction to Western Australian orchids, it contains: species placed in taxonomic groupings to make it easier to differentiate between those that are closely related . information on each species, including who named them and where they were first collected . their habitat, distribution, flowering period, size, and distinguishing features . illustrations of the entire plant with flowers, stems, and leaves rendered in exquisite detail, making it easier to correctly identify the orchid (all illustrations reduced from life-size, using a common scale, allowing realistic size comparisons between species).