With this reference, gardeners can successfully replicate alpine plants' native conditions, allowing them to grow such choice alpines as gentians, daphnes, and Dianthus. Dramatic photographs and descriptions take readers through the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, and Carpathians to capture the charms of these unique mountain plants.

Generations of plant scientists have been fascinated by alpine plant lifean ecosystem that experiences dramatic climatic gradients over a very short distance. This comprehensive book examines a wide range of topics including alpine climate and soils, plant distribution and the treeline phenomenon, plant stress and development, global change at high elevation, and the human impact on alpine vegetation. Geographically, the book covers all parts of the world including the tropics.