Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida

9780813026329

0813026326

In this second edition of the only comprehensive identification manual and definitive guide to the highly diverse flora of Florida, over 100 additional species have been added, nomenclature updated, and families arranged alphabetically for easier reference. With more than 4,000 kinds of native and non-native ferns and fern allies, non-flowering seed plants, and flowering seed plants that reproduce outside of cultivation, Florida has the third largest plant diversity of any state in the nation. Some of its plant species are found nowhere else in the world; many of these are endangered. Because of the state's mild climate, many non-native species--including major pest species--readily become naturalized, contributing nearly one-third of the species of known flora. Wunderlin and Hansen provide a means to identify these plants through a series of taxonomic keys to family, genus, and species. They give the up-to-date accepted scientific name of each species, the major nomenclatural synonyms, many common names, the general habitat preference, and, for plants not native to Florida, the place of origin. For biologists, conservationists, gardeners, educators, and environmental consultants, this guide provides in a single volume a means to identify the abundant and diverse flora of the Sunshine State.