Flora of the Great Plains SYNOPSIS
To botanists a flora is a reference work that systematically describes the plants of a particular region, listed by species and considered as a whole. In this case the region constitutes approximately one-fifth of the land area of the conterminous United States. Flora of the Great Plains is the culmination of a monumental undertaking, begun some thirty-five years ago and founded on a massive specimen collection program. The Great Plains Flora Association itself was formed to combined the resources of fourteen botanists and their herbaria at various institutions in the region and to compile the flora.
Flora of the Great Plains is a manual of the vascular plants that occur spontaneously in the region that extends from the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountain uplift, eastward to the potential beginning of continuous woodland, and from the Canadian border south through the Texas Panhandle. Thus included are the states of Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota; eastern Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado; northeast New Mexico; the Texas Panhandle; northwest Oklahoma; and western Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota. This volume is the only up-to-date floristic treatment in existence for the area.
Flora of the Great Plains includes general keys, descriptions, statements of range, flowering times, ecological data, and relevant synonymies for every flowering plant, conifer, and fern known to occur in the region. Specimens for the compilation are housed in the herbaria of the institutions of the Great Plains Flora Association's members and at the New York Botanical Garden.
This volume will serve as the definitive compendium of information about plants of the Great Plains for generations. It will be used as a a textbook in plant taxonomy classes and as a sourcebook for naturalists writing on weeds, wild flowers, trees grasses, etc. It will also appeal to biologists, agronomists, and horticulturalists who require current information about regional plants.
Author Biography: Members of the Great Plains Flora Association and participants in the Flora of the Great Plains are: Ronald L. McGregor, University of Kansas (Coordinator); T. M. Barkley, Kansas State University (General Editor); Ralph E. Brooks, University of Kansas (Associate Editor); Eileen K. Schofield, Kansas State University (Associate Editor); William T. Barker, North Dakota State University; Margaret Bolick, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Steven P. Churchill, New York Botanical Garden; Ronald L. Hartman, University of Wyoming; Robert B. Kaul, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Ole A. Kolstad, Kearney State College; Gary E. Larson, South Dakota State University; David M. Sutherland, University of Nebraska at Omaha; Theodore Van Bruggen, University of South Dakota; Ronald R. Weedon, Chadron State College; and Dieter H. Wilken, Colorado State University.
FROM THE CRITICS
Science
2,933 species in 841 genera and 160 families are treated in detail. . . . Will be useful for many years to come.
Canadian Field-Naturalist
A most welcome tool for every botanical student both in the region and areas adjacent.
American Reference Books Annual
Will be the standard reference for the flora of central North America for decades to come.
Public Garden
Monumental. . . . Should become a standard part of the library of every scientist working in the area of the Great Plains.
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