The Kew Tropical Plant Families Identification Handbook

A guide to the commonly encountered and ecologically important plant families of the tropics, written by Kew's experts who teach the Kew Tropical Plant Identification course.

The tropics with their lush rainforests are extremely rich in plant life but are still comparatively unknown. Botanists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have a long tradition of exploring and plant collecting in the tropics, accumulating an unsurpassed practical knowledge of the tropical plants they encounter.This second edition of The Kew Tropical Plant Families Identification Handbook brings together this knowledge in a guide to the commonly encountered and ecologically important plants of the tropics. Written by Kew's experts, this handbook is based on Kew's Tropical Plant Identification course, which uses classical morphology, as well as more simple 'spot' characters, to teach plant identification.

The Kew Temperate Plant Families Identification Handbook brings together the combined knowledge of Kew experts in a guide to the commonly encountered plants of temperate regions. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a centre of expertise for cultivating a range of plants from around the world, especially temperate plants which are grown in the Arboretum, Alpine House and Temperate House, as well as at Wakehurst. In this book, Kew's experts have accumulated an unsurpassed practical knowledge of the plants they encounter, both scientific and horticultural.100 plant families are described in detail and richly illustrated with photographs showing the important identification characters, along with distribution maps, line drawings and herbarium sheets. This book is the primary resource for plant identification for those working in temperate regions around the world.

Plants of the World is the first book to systematically explore every vascular plant family on earth—more than four hundred and fifty of them—organized in a modern phylogenetic order. Detailed entries for each family include descriptions, distribution, evolutionary relationships, and fascinating information on economic uses of plants and etymology of their names. All entries are also copiously illustrated in full color with more than 2,500 stunning photographs. A collaboration among three celebrated botanists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Plants of the World is authoritative, comprehensive, and beautiful. Covering everything from ferns to angiosperms, it will be an essential resource for practicing botanists, horticulturists, and nascent green thumbs alike.

This plant glossary includes all descriptive terms used in floras, plant field guides and monographs. This is an essential companion for anyone working with plant descriptions, plant identification keys, floras, monographs and field guides. In this second edition 4,500 botanical terms are described with accompanying illustrations, including a new section on vegetation terms and an updated colour section.'Catnip for the garden geek...this fascinating, authoritative volume may seduce even the most casual browser.'The New York Times, 27 May 2010

A superb reference for anyone interested in the world's tropical flora.