Baboquivari Mountain Plants

The Baboquivari Mountains, long considered to be a sacred space by the Tohono OÕodham people who are native to the area, are the westernmost of the so-called Sky Islands. The mountains form the border between the floristic regions of Chihuahua and Sonora. This encyclopedic work describes the flora of this unique area in detail. It includes descriptions, identifications, ecology, and extensive etymologies of plant names in European and indigenous languages. Daniel Austin also describes pollination biology and seed dispersal and explains how plants in the area have been used by humans, beginning with Native Americans. The term Òsky islandÓ was first used by Weldon Heald in 1967 to describe mountain ranges that are separated from each other by valleys of grassland or desert. The valleys create barriers to the spread of plant species in a way that is similar to the separation of islands in an ocean. The 70,000-square-mile Sky Islands region of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico is of particular interest to botanists because of its striking diversity of plant species and habitats. With more than 3,000 species of plants, the region offers a surprising range of tropical and temperate zones. Although others have written about the region, this is the first book to focus exclusively on the plant life of the Baboquivari Mountains. The book offers an introduction to the history of the region, along with a discussion of human influences, and includes a useful appendix that lists all of the plants known to be growing in the Baboquivari Mountain chain.

The Baboquivari Mountains, long considered to be a sacred space by the Tohono OÕodham people who are native to the area, are the westernmost of the so-called Sky Islands. The mountains form the border between the floristic regions of Chihuahua and Sonora. This encyclopedic work describes the flora of this unique area in detail. It includes descriptions, identifications, ecology, and extensive etymologies of plant names in European and indigenous languages. Daniel Austin also describes pollination biology and seed dispersal and explains how plants in the area have been used by humans, beginning with Native Americans. The term Òsky islandÓ was first used by Weldon Heald in 1967 to describe mountain ranges that are separated from each other by valleys of grassland or desert. The valleys create barriers to the spread of plant species in a way that is similar to the separation of islands in an ocean. The 70,000-square-mile Sky Islands region of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico is of particular interest to botanists because of its striking diversity of plant species and habitats. With more than 3,000 species of plants, the region offers a surprising range of tropical and temperate zones. Although others have written about the region, this is the first book to focus exclusively on the plant life of the Baboquivari Mountains. The book offers an introduction to the history of the region, along with a discussion of human influences, and includes a useful appendix that lists all of the plants known to be growing in the Baboquivari Mountain chain.

George C. West provides a simple and quick guide written especially for amateur plant lovers, nature enthusiasts, interested hikers, tourists, and botanists who want to learn more about the plants of the White Mountains in east-central Arizona. The book is neatly organized into three parts, which include woody trees; all other annual, biennial, and perennial flowers, shrubs, and vines; and ferns. This useful guide is written in accessible language that makes it easy to identify over five hundred plant species found in the region. More than a thousand incredible color photographs of flowers, leaves, and other features provide nuanced detail that helps the reader differentiate various species of flowering plants, trees, and ferns. Guide to the Plants of Arizona's White Mountains is a must-have reference for all outdoor enthusiasts exploring this popular region of the Southwest.

"Written to be easily accessible to general readers, the book is a valuable compendium for anyone interested in the desert's hidden bounty."--Jacket.

Nearly every life form found among North American flowering plants is represented in Arizona. This amazing diversity is partly explained by the fact that the altitudinal range extends from a few feet above sea level to approximately 12,000 feet at the summit of the San Francisco Peaks. The life zone range from Arctic-Alpine on these peaks to Lower Sonoran in the southwest and Subtropical in the extreme south. The main objective of this book is to provide means for identifying the approximately 3438 species of flowering plants, ferns, and fern-allies growing without cultivation in Arizona. Keys for identification of the families, genera, and species are provided. Under each species the authors give the geographical distribution within and outside Arizona, and usually the altitudinal range and time of flowering. They describe economic uses, toxic or other properties, and ornamental value of many plants, giving particular attention to the utilization of native plants by the large Indian population of the state. Introductory chapters describe the topography, geology, soils, and climate of Arizona, the several types of vegetation in relation to the physical conditions, and the proportional representation of the larger plant families. There is also a brief account of botanical explorations in Arizona since 1832. This is the only available work on the flora of Arizona that includes the results of intensive, botanical research in the state during the past twenty years. It is based on an earlier publication, Flowering Plants and Ferns of Arizona, issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1942 and now out of print. For the present revision, a supplementary section of more than fifty pages has been prepared under the direction of John Thomas Howell and Elizabeth McClintock of the California Academy of Sciences. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1960.