Understanding the flowering plants of any region begins with the recognition of families. This remarkable volume, created to serve students, professionals, and other plant enthusiasts, covers 130 temperate to tropical families common in North America with detailed illustrations and modern referenced commentaries. Each family discussion includes a diagnosis and summary of characteristics, distribution data, important economic members, and pollination ecology. The book's most striking feature is Zomlefer's 158 original pen-and-ink plates depicting intricate dissections of 312 species.
The content of the family discussions is geared to readers who have completed one introductory biology course. For readers less familiar with botanical terminology, Zomlefer provides an illustrated glossary of 551 terms with more than 300 drawings. Other important tutorial features are twenty-two detailed charts that compare pertinent characteristics of certain related plant groups and a general chart that summarizes the salient features of the families covered in the text. Both amateurs and professionals will particularly enjoy the chapter on examining, dissecting, and sketching live material.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
"Dicotyledons" and monocotyledons: an example of paraphyly -- Observing, dissecting, and drawing flowering plants -- Plant families.
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Library Journal Review
This comprehensive, illustrated guide characterizes 130 flowering plant families common in the native and naturalized floras of the temperate and tropical regions of the United States. Arranged according to Thorne's classification scheme, each family entry contains descriptions of major plant parts (leaves, flowers, fruits), distinguishing chemical and morphological features, distribution data, major genera and species in the group, economic plants and products, and commentary on pollination biology and taxonomic problems. High-quality pen-and-ink artwork by Zomlefer, a plant taxonomist and scientific illustrator, is used to illustrate the important family characteristics of over 300 representative species. Information on botanical illustrations, comparative data charts, an illustrated glossary, and a family summary chart with floral formulas round out this quality work. This affordable taxonomy textbook is an excellent purchase for every library supporting horticultural or botanical studies.-Teresa Elberson, Lafayette P.L., La. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
CHOICE Review
Of the 130 families of flowering plants described, 115 are considered in detail and 15 are included in comparative charts. All families are well illustrated with beautifully and accurately rendered line drawings done by the author. The sequence of families follows closely that proposed by Thorne. The descriptions give in detail the characters of the families, and each description is followed by a summary of distinguishing characters, a statement of distribution, notation of major genera with species numbers, and economics. A commentary about each family includes pollination processes and a discussion of different interpretations of relationships. Zomlefer is widely read and includes an excellent list of references for each family. As an artist, she has included a chapter providing suggestions on how to dissect and draw flowering plants. Unfortunately, some widely distributed common families, such as Crassulaceae, Hydrophyllaceae, and Primulaceae, were omitted, whereas many rare or small segregated families were included. Undergraduate through faculty. C. T. Mason Jr.; University of Arizona
Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics
Dr. Wendy B. Zomlefer is a curator at the University of Georgia Herbarium. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in botany from the University of Florida and her B.S. in botany from the University of Vermont. She is a plant taxonomist with numerous scientific publications and also has over twenty-five years experience as a professional scientific illustrator.
