Botany Books - Page 23

Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida, 2nd edition

RICHARD P. WUNDERLIN, BRUCE F. HANSEN

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The only book of its kind covering the entire state. 5 out of 5 stars.
24 of 24 people found this review helpful.

This book is a series of keys to identify all Florida vascular plants from ferns to sunflowers; from the temperate to the tropical. Although mainly for a more serious botanist, the keys seem to home in to the main non-technical characters for field identification. This brevity is perhaps a problem when plant material is limited. There are no illustrations except a map of Florida counties (and one plant picture below the title). A synopsis of the flora is given (covers 3,834 species of which 1,180 are introduced and 155 endemics). A glossary will assist the laymen and the forgetful with terminology.

Good features:

1. Taxonomy/nomenclature appears to be open to the recent revisions that were unfortunately not accepted by more conservative authors such as Cronquist (e.g. Eupatorium is treated as several genera here).

2. Explicitly states whether the plant is native, endemic, or introduced, and where in Florida (no maps, but a complete atlas available online.

3. All in one very portable volume for reasonable price; pages sturdy with legible sized print.

4. The book includes endemic species (e.g. Boltonia apalachicolensis) which were new discoveries since Clewell (1985) wrote the guide to the panhandle region.

The main complaints that I have (beside not being in Florida to test it out) are:

1. Families arranged by Englar/Prantl system and not shown in page header, hindering search for families (although genera are arranged alphabetically).

2. Aloe vera is listed in Agavaceae but doesn't appear in the key to genera.

3. No descriptions (but will be in future work according to author) END

Editorial Review:

An identification manual and guide to the highly diverse flora of Florida. In this second edition over 100 additional species have been added, the nomenclature has been updated, and families have been arranged alphabetically for easier reference.

Sports Fields: A Manual for Design Construction and Maintenance

Jim Puhalla, Jeff Krans, Mike Goatley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Great book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

As a lawn care business owner we are always looking for new learning opportunities. There is so much info on field maint. This is a great book. I think it was well worth the price.

Editorial Review:

A definitive how-to book for every practitoner of sports turf -- from football to baseball to soccer and everything in between. Sports Fields covers every important aspect of planning, design, construction, and turfgrass maintenance with hundreds of illustrations and step-by-step procedures to help you get the job done right -- first time, every time. No other book provides such intricate detail, combined with easy-to-understand guidance.

The Evolution of Plants

K. J. Willis, J. C. McElwain

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Fossil plants 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 20 people found this review helpful.

This is a user friendly sized book reviewing the evolution of plants. The oldest plants are found in rocks 3,500 million years old, the stromatolites and prokaryotes. From that beginning the book describes the evolution of the mosses and ferns, and the living trees with the longest geologic history: Cycads, and Ginkgos. The rest of the book describes the evolution of Gymnosperms and Angiosperms and flowering plants.

Well written and comprehensive, but not encyclopedic. I enjoyed reading and refering to it.

Editorial Review:

This is a broad but provocative examination of the evolution of plants from the earliest forms of life to the development of our present flora. Taking a fresh, modern approach to a subject often treated very stuffily, the book incorporates many recent studies on the morphological evolution of plants, enlivens the subject with current research on ancient DNA and other biomolecular markers, and places plant evolution in the context of climate change and mass extinction. It is written to be accessible to undergraduates, so, for example, geological time is discussed in terms of 'millions of years ago' as well as by the names of the ages, and English equivalents of plant names are prefered, e.g. seed plants (instead of gymnosperms), flowering plants (instead of angiosperms).

Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates: California, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin

Peter R. Dallman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A thoughtful, beautifully produced book 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This book falls into a category somewhere between botany, climatology, and geography; it looks at several different types of "mediterranean climate" around the world, and describes the different vegetational types within each region, explaining (in a scholarly but accessible way) why these plant communities look the way they do.

It's beautifully produced, with both climate maps and full-color illustrations of plants and plant communities. I know of no other book that explains the relationship between geography and botanical ecology this elegantly; it's a lot of fun to browse, and I would recommend it *very* highly to armchair travellers with botanical inclinations.

Editorial Review:

Here is a wonderful overview of the landscape and vegetation of the five regions of the world that have a Mediterranean climate. In addition to the Mediterranean Basin itself, this climate of mild, rainy winters and dry, warm summers is found in California and parts of Chile, South Africa, and Australia. 30 maps. 18 tables. 46 line illustrations. 75 color and 90 b&w photos.

Introduction to the Plant Life of Southern California: Coast to Foothills (California Natural History Guides)

Philip W. Rundel, John Robert Gustafson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Field guides often provide little ecological information, or context, for understanding the plants they identify. This book, with its engaging text and attractive illustrations, for the first time provides an ecological framework for the plants and their environments in the coast and foothill regions of Southern California, an area that boasts an extremely rich flora. It will introduce a wide audience--from general readers and students to natural history and outdoor enthusiasts--to Southern California's plant communities, their ecological dynamics, and the key plants that grow in them.
Coastal beach and dune habitats, coastal and interior sage scrub, chaparral, woodlands, grasslands, riparian woodlands, and wetlands all contribute unique plant assemblages to Southern California. In addition to discussing each of these areas in depth, this book also emphasizes ecological factors such as drought, seasonal temperatures, and fire that determine which plants can thrive in each community. It covers such important topics as non-native invasive plants and other issues involved with preserving biodiversity in the ecologically rich yet heavily populated and increasingly threatened area. * 327 color photographs provide overviews of each plant community and highlight key plant species

* Describes more than 300 plant species
* Covers the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, western Riverside, San Bernardino, and the Channel Islands
* Includes a list of public areas and parks for viewing Southern California's plant communities

Plant Physiology

Lincoln Taiz, Eduardo Zeiger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

With this Third Edition, the authors and contributors set a new standard for textbooks in the field by tailoring the study of plant physiology to virtually every student—providing the basics for introductory courses without sacrificing the more challenging material sought by upper-division and graduate-level students.

Key pedagogical changes to the text will result in a shorter book. Material typically considered prerequisite for plant physiology courses, as well as advanced material from the Second Edition, will be removed and posted at an affiliated Web site, while many new or revised figures and photographs (now in full color), study questions, and a glossary of key terms will be added. Despite the streamlining of the text, the new edition incorporates all the important new developments in plant physiology, especially in cell, molecular, and developmental biology.

The Third Edition's interactive Web component is keyed to textbook chapters and referenced from the book. It includes WebTopics (elaborating on selected topics discussed in the text), WebEssays (discussions of cutting-edge research topics, written by those who did the work), additional study questions (by chapter), additional references, and suggestions for further reading.

Handbook of Microalgal Culture

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Editorial Review:

Handbook comprises comprehensive reviews of the current available information on microalgal culture, written by 40 contributing authors from around the world. For phycologists and those researching aquatic systems, aquaculture, and plant sciences. Includes index and references. DLC: Algae culture--Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Fruits and Plains: The Horticultural Transformation of America

Philip J. Pauly

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The engineering of plants has a long history on this continent. Fields, forests, orchards, and prairies are the result of repeated campaigns by amateurs, tradesmen, and scientists to introduce desirable plants, both American and foreign, while preventing growth of alien riff-raff. These horticulturists coaxed plants along in new environments and, through grafting and hybridizing, created new varieties. Over the last 250 years, their activities transformed the American landscape.

"Horticulture" may bring to mind white-glove garden clubs and genteel lectures about growing better roses. But Philip J. Pauly wants us to think of horticulturalists as pioneer "biotechnologists," hacking their plants to create a landscape that reflects their ambitions and ideals. Those standards have shaped the look of suburban neighborhoods, city parks, and the "native" produce available in our supermarkets.

In telling the histories of Concord grapes and Japanese cherry trees, the problem of the prairie and the war on the Medfly, Pauly hopes to provide a new understanding of not only how horticulture shaped the vegetation around us, but how it influenced our experiences of the native, the naturalized, and the alien--and how better to manage the landscapes around us.

(20080425)

Imperial Nature: Joseph Hooker and the Practices of Victorian Science

Jim Endersby

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) was an internationally renowned botanist, a close friend and early supporter of Charles Darwin, and one of the first—and most successful—British men of science to become a full-time professional. He was also, Jim Endersby argues, the perfect embodiment of Victorian science. A vivid picture of the complex interrelationships of scientific work and scientific ideas, Imperial Nature gracefully uses one individual’s career to illustrate the changing world of science in the Victorian era.
By analyzing Hooker’s career, Endersby offers vivid insights into the everyday activities of nineteenth-century naturalists, considering matters as diverse as botanical illustration and microscopy, classification, and specimen transportation and storage, to reveal what they actually did, how they earned a living, and what drove their scientific theories. What emerges is a rare glimpse of Victorian scientific practices in action. By focusing on science’s material practices and one of its foremost practitioners, Endersby ably links concerns about empire, professionalism, and philosophical practices to the forging of a nineteenth-century scientific identity.

(20090101)

The Art of Floral Design

Norah T. Hunter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Student and an Experts Bible 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Art of Floral Design

I am curently a student of floral design and i have to say that this book is my bible. It has helped me so much i love it and so do all of my friends even thoughs whom dont attend my class. They have learned so much from it i have a cupple friends that purchesed the book and next year are going to attened the class. the book is simple enough for everyone and yet difficult enough so you dont get bored if it. i love this book, if you want to learn more about floral design i strongly suggest you bye it. thanks for your time and you have my best wishes.

Editorial Review:

Since its first appearance, The Art of Floral Design has become the definitive standard in teaching design techniques. In-depth and illustrated in full color, it offers comprehensive information on the principles and mechanics of flower arranging, basic flower anatomy, and arrangement styles for all occasions. This well-written text combines theory and practice to familiarize readers with the basics and guide them through more advanced floral techniques. This book is sure to remain on your reference shelf throughout your career in floral design.