When I took plant tax (geez, almost 20 years ago!) Gleason and
Cronquist's manual was required, not so much as a text, but for plant
I.D., in conjuction with Britton & Brown. The Gleason and Cronquist
reference was recently updated, but getting ahold of the three volume
Britton & Brown (at least the latest edition) is next to impossible.
Yesterday I received in the mail my copy of the following:
Holmgren, Noel H and Collaborators, Editors. ILLUSTRATED COMPANION TO
GLEASON AND CRONQUIST'S MANUAL, New York Botanical Garden, 1998, 827
plates of illustrations. Years in the making, this book is based on
the original artwork of the NEW BRITTON AND BROWN ILLUSTRATED FLORA OF
THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND ADJACENT CANADA, the 1952 Edition.
This is more than a reprint. It has been completely restructured and
richly enhanced to include new illustrations of several species not
treated in the earlier work as well as many useful diagnostic details
not included in the earlier plates. It contains 827 plates of
meticulously rendered botanical illustrations which are specially
arranged and labeled to cross-reference with the second edition of Gl
eason and Cronquist's MANUAL OF VASCULAR PLANTS OF
NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES AND ADJACENT CANADA. NEW PUBLICATION.
(Taken from www.ledlie.com )
Essentially, this book is 99% illustrations with no accomanying text.
While you may not wish to require the purchase of both of these books
for all of your students, having a classroom copy of both the Gleason
and Cronquist "Manual" and the "Illustrated Companion" would be a
valuable tool.
You may want to check out Ledlie Booksellers @ www.ledlie.com for a
good selection of botanical books.
NOTE: I am NOT affiliated with Ledlie in any way, other than being a
satisfied customer.
