A stunning expert guide to the most significant wild flowers, trrees, shrubs, herbs, cacti, grasses, mosses, aquatic plants and weeds of the world, beautifully illlustrated with 1700 botanical artworks, photographs and maps.
Flowering plants provide a welcome and colourful sight, whether long-loved shrubby perennials or bright and fleeting annuals. They are vital to our ecology and a clear indication of the health of the countryside.
This lavishly illustrated and accessible reference book provides a comprehensive guide to the world of wild flowers and flora--including trees, shrubs, herbs, cacti, weeds, grasses, aquatic plants abd mosses. An expertly written introduction explains what wild flowers are, and how they are classified. Detailed annotated illustrations show how to recognize the dirrerent parts of a plant, including petals, buds, fruit, seeds and stigma. The role of each of these plays in the life of the plant is explained, and the diversity of leaf and flower form, shape, structure and plant habit are discussed as key features of plant identification. Wild flowers survive and proliferate in many differing landscapes, from desert scrub, heaths, mountains and moors to hedgrows, sand dunes, riversides and lakeland. The main features of each of these habitats are described in full. Next, there is a lavishly illustrated encyclopedia arranged according to geographic region. The flowers are grouped within plant families, and the key features of each are described. For enery entry, information is given on flower coloration, size and shape, stem height and spread, leaf size and shape and number of flower per flowerhead, as well as details of its environment and the pollinator. With more than 1700 wonderful illustrations, maps and photographs, this richly illustrated to the world's flora provides a comprehensive reference book to be used by the whole family.--Front book flap.
Offers information on growing and propagating over 1,000 different species of wildflower, and includes an encyclopedia of plants native to the United States and Canada.
An expert identification guide to more than 2,000 of the most prominent plants of North America is complemented by easy-reference watercolor illustrations of an extensive variety of trees, flowers, shrubs, herbs and grasses.
Let the experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens guide you around the beautiful and mysterious world that is the plant kingdom. From regulating the air we breathe to providing food, clothes, fuels, and medicines - plants are fundamental to our lives. Discover an extraordinary diversity of species, which includes a grass that grows a meter a day, roots that breathe air, and "queen of the night" cactuses whose rare blooms vanish before dawn. In a combination of art and science, Flora celebrates plants from majestic trees to microscopic algae, explaining how they germinate, grow, and reproduce. It presents species that have evolved to accommodate pollinating insects such as the foxglove, and plants that have adapted to flourish in even the most hostile of habitats. Pierre-Joseph Redoute in the 18th-century was described as the "Raphael of flowers". Flora showcases his botanical paintings as well as those of Georg Ehret and others in this gorgeous visual celebration of plants through the ages. Whether you are a keen gardener, naturalist, or botany student, this beautiful book is a treat that will entice, inform, and amaze.
This beautifully illustrated book presents a comprehensive identification guide to more than 650 native and introduced floras. It is arranged in two sections covering first the trees and then the wild flowers of Britain.