[.ca] A Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida (ISBN 0813015561)

The only book of its kind covering the entire state.:
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

A must-have for the true florida naturalist.:
I never realized how often I would use this book in my studies of florida's ecosystems until I purchased it. It is an extremely thourough "all-in-one" botanical description of the state that appears to benefit those roughly familiar with our flora. My only wish is that more complete descriptions and illustrations were given for each species i.e. "A Flora of Tropical Florida" and "Flora of the Bahama Archipelago". These enhancements would no doubt increase the cost of the book though and at its price it is still affordable. For its completeness though once again there is no equal and I consider it a necesity.