Product Description

The definitive reference on flowering plants, thoroughly revised.

The widely acclaimed Flowering Plants of the World, the original edition of this book, has never been surpassed in its depth and scope. Written by a team of internationally recognized authorities, this thoroughly updated edition provides the latest information and solidifies the book's position as the definitive guide on the subject.

At the core of the book are the comprehensive entries on 504 flowering plant families. Each entry describes distribution, anatomy, habitat, classification and commercial uses. The enormous wealth of newly available taxonomic information, found throughout the pages of Flowering Plant Families of the World, will interest every botanist.

Along with hundreds of beautiful, meticulously detailed artworks, the book features:

• A complete introductory section about flowering plants
• Distribution maps and quick-reference panels
• An extensive illustrated glossary of specialist terms
• A comprehensive index with plant names in Latin and English.

The book's specially commissioned botanical illustrations by professional artists are remarkable for both their beauty and their scientific accuracy.

This definitive book, now completely updated, will remain a key reference for gardeners, botanists and plant professionals worldwide.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137846 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 424 pages

Review
Authoritative reference work... fascinating and comprehensive ... specially commissioned botanical illustrations by professional artists are both beautiful and scientifically accurate. (Landscape Architect and Specifier News 200704)

[This is] the definitive guide to flowering plants for amateur and professional gardeners and students. (Science News 20070414)

For the quality of the book and the fascinating artwork the price ... is well worth it. (Brenda Ruzycki Edmonton Sun 20070729)

Useful and wonderful to browse through ... breathtaking detailed diagrams... [It] is a steal for the price and highly recommended. (Kristen Mastel Booklist 20071201)

Beautiful colored, detailed illustrations ... This is a book that anyone with an interest in flowering plants will enjoy. Recommended. (C. T. Mason Jr., emeritus, University of Arizona Choice 20080201)

The book is not perfect, but it comes close. ... You will not find a better source for these data. (Daniel F. Austin, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Economic Biology, vol 61 200802)

Every page contains beautiful color photographs in addition to the wealth of complete information on the plants. (Making Scents 200709)

If you want to delve further into [plant classification], don't miss this book. The glorious botanical illustrations are a bonus. (Mary Fran McQuade Beach Metro Community News )

[This book is] an essential reference work for academic libraries, and will be indispensable for the botanist, horticulturist, and gardener. (Danielle Marie Carlock American Reference Books Annual 2008 )

An essential reference for anyone interested in plant life because of its depth and presentation... incorporates significant advances in knowledge. (Brian E. Coutts & Cheryl LaGuardia Library Journal, Best Reference 2007 )

What an absolute treasure it is.... This book has already become one of my most beloved natural history books. (George Bryant, Member, Board of Directors, Past-President, Field Botanists of Ontario Field Botanists of Ontario Newsletter )

About the Author

A. Culham is a plant geneticist in the School of Plant Sciences, University of Reading, England.

0. Seberg is professor of Molecular Systematics at the Natural History Museum of Denmark and has published works on a wide range of botanical topics.

V.H. Heywood is professor emeritus in the School of Plant Sciences, University of Reading, England. He co-edited all five volumes of Flora Europaea and is a member of several international taxonomic and plant conservation organizations.

R.K. Brummitt is a plant taxonomist and the coauthor of The Authors of Plant Names, considered to be the worldwide standard in taxonomic description.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface

Since the publication of the first English-language edition of Flowering Plants of the World in 1978, our knowledge of the flowering plants has been dramatically changed as a result of a flood of publications on morphology, anatomy, distribution, and molecular phylogeny. Our original intention was to prepare an updated edition of the book to reflect this new information but so extensive were the changes needed that we abandoned the original text in most cases and prepared what is in effect a new book.

The aim of this book is to provide a concise account of all the families that are considered by the authors to be worthy of recognition, taking into account all the latest evidence. The number of families has increased from 306 in Flowering Plants of the World to 506. For each family we have provided a summary of the main features of its distribution and where appropriate details of important genera or other points of interest and often an indication of the type of habitat in which the family grows. We have tried to make the descriptions as consistent in presentation as possible. The section on classification for each family includes where appropriate information on the subdivision of the family into subfamilies and/or tribes and indicates where the circumscription and content of the family has been changed compared with previous treatments. It also summarizes both traditional and the most recent views on relationships, including those suggested by molecular evidence. Significant economic uses are summarized. As a break from the previous book, references are given to key literature but because of space limitations, these have had to be restricted. A general distribution map is given for most families but because of the scale, little detail is possible. Accurate distribution maps are difficult to compile and are surprisingly rare in the literature.

Professor V.H. Heywood The University of Reading, UK

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Contributors

Harvey E Ballard, Jr., Ohio University, Athens, OH (USA)
Diane Bridson, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
R. K. Brummitt, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Martin R. Cheek, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
R. J. Chinnock, State Herbarium, Adelaide (South Australia)
Alastair Culham, The University of Reading (UK)
Aaron Davis, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Alex S. George, Murdoch University, Perth (Western Australia)
David J. Goyder, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Peter S Green, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Vernon H Heywood, The University of Reading (UK)
D.J. Nicholas Hind, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Peter C. Hoch, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Missouri (USA)
Petra Hoffmann, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Stephen L Jury, The University of Reading (UK)
R. V. Lansdown, Stroud (UK)
Eve Lucas, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Roger M. Polhill, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Ole Seherg, University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
B. L. Stannard, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
G. W. Staples, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii (USA)
Margaret Tebbs, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Tim Upson, University Botanic Garden, Cambridge (UK)
T.M.A. Utteridge, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Warren L. Wagner, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (USA)
Juliet A. Wege, Department of Environment and Conservation(Australia)
Peter H. Weston, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, NSW (Australia)
Melanie C. Wilmot-Dear(Melanie Thomas), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Elizabeth M. Woodgyer, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)

In addition, the following authors contributed to Flowering Plants of the World (1978), and their contributions have been drawn upon to some extent in preparing the family accounts for Flowering Plant Families of the World (2007).

David Bramwell, Jardín Botánico Canario "Viera y Clavijo," Tafira Alta (Spain)
C.D.K. Cook, University of Zurich (Switzerland)
James Cullen, University Botanic Garden, Cambridge (UK)
W.D. Clayton, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
Jennifer M. Edmonds, University of Leeds (UK)
Christopher J. Humphries, Natural History Museum, London (UK)
Frances K. Kupicha (UK)
B.F. Matthew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)
David Mabberley, University of Leiden (Netherlands)
David M. Moore, The University of Reading (UK)
B. Morley, Royal Botanic Gardens, Adelaide (South Australia)
B. Pickersgill, The University of Reading (UK)
Ian B.K. Richardson, Reading (UK)
Gordon D. Rowley, The University of Reading (UK)
N.W. Simmonds, University of Edinburgh (UK)
William T. Stearn (deceased)
H.P. Wilkinson, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond (UK)

Customer Reviews

More than updated
The predecessor of this book, Flowering Plants of the World, was a well-known reference for decades to many who love plants. There is a strong sense of continuity between these two books, if for no other reason that both use the same illustrations. In fact the continuity goes further and also involves much of the contents, as evidenced by the error of zebrawood being supplied by a species of Connarus, a myth that was debunked in the 1940's.

Where the earlier book was based on the Cronquist system, with the plant families arranged by order, this book is (loosely) based on APG II (2003), with the plant families arranged by alphabet. As to recognition of families, this book adopts a splitter's philosophy, recognizing 506 families (versus 457 in APG II). The book recognizes families such as Bombacaceae, Cneoraceae, Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae. The classification in this book will not be found in any other reference, but this splitter's policy may help the book retain its value in these times of constant change in plant classification.

A must have for anyone interested in plants!
This is an impressive, dense, fact-filled book with wonderful illustrations and distribution maps. It is as useful for plant biologists as it is for anyone else, whether you are interested in evolutionary relationships of plants, or just simply wondering where certain foods come from. Citations are acknowledged along with each family description for quick reference to the primary literature.

A beautiful and comprehensive book with minor drawbacks
This is a massive book with large and beautiful illustrations. The information about the families includes distribution, major genera, number of species, morphological description, placement in the plant kingdom, intrafamilial classification and economic uses. Most of the family descriptions have also illustrations and references are given. The authors have adopted an approach to accept paraphyly in some cases.

However, there are some small drawbacks. The glossary does not contain the whole terminology used in the book. In the family descriptions, there are not few small errors, for example in the distributional information. In some cases the distribution of a given family in the map even differs from that in the text. There are this kind of small errors particularly in the descriptions written by V. H. Heywood. Also, I would have liked to find some basics of ecology of the families, but even pollination mechanism is mostly not given.