Practical Plant Identification: Including a Key to Native and Cultivated Flowering Plants in North Temperate Regions

by James Cullen

• ISBN13: 9780521678773
• ISBN10: 0521678773
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-10-09
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Practical Plant Identification is an essential guide to identifying flowering plant families (wild or cultivated) in the northern hemisphere. Details of plant structure and terminology accompany practical keys to identify 318 families into which flowering plants are currently divided. Specifically designed for practical use, the keys can easily be worked backwards for checking identifications. Containing descriptions of families and listings of the genera within, it also includes a section on further identification to generic and specific levels. A successor to the author's bestselling The Identification of Flowering Plant Families, this new guide is fully revised and updated, and retains the same concise user-friendly approach. Cullen skillfully leads the reader from restrictive disciplines of older taxonomy, into an era of increasing numbers of plant families defined by DNA analysis. Aimed primarily at students of botany and horticulture, this is a perfect introduction to plant identification for anyone interested in plant taxonomy.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Examining the plant: a brief survey of plant structure and its associated terminology

Using the keys

Keys

'Spot' characters

Arrangement and description of families

Further identification and annotated bibliography

Glossary

Index.