TROPICAL FLOWERING PLANTS: A GUIDE TO IDENTIFICATION AND CULTIVATION

Text and Photography by
KIRSTEN ALBRECHT LLAMAS
Publication Aug. 2003

August 2003 from Timber Press ...0-88192-585-3, 430 pp 1553 color photos, 1 zone map, 8½ x 11, hardcover

PRAISE FOR Tropical Flowering Plants...

-LARRY SCHOKMAN director, The Kampong of the National Tropical Botanic Garden
"Since it describes over 1500 species, I'll irreverently call Tropical
Flowering Plants the new bible for tropical plants. Over fifteen hundred
superb color photographs are the icing on the cake. There is a dearth of
good books on tropical and subtropical horticulture, and this publication
fills a big void. I heartily recommend this book to every horticultural
aficionado.
- DEREK BURCH former professor, University of Florida
"The magnificent pictures speak for themselves, of course, but what really
sets Kirsten's book apart from all the others is that she has gone to
primary sources for her information and presented it in a concise and easily
available form."
- WALTER JUDD professor of botany, University of Florida
"Tropical Flowering Plants is sure to become a popular reference in
identification of cultivated tropical plants. Packed with useful information
and beautiful photographs, it is the first identification guide to reflect
recent discoveries in the evolutionary relationships of flowering plants. It
is a pleasure to recommend this book."


"Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation bridges a long-standing gap between obscure references in tropical botany and the gardener's need for an accurate, practical guide with clear photographs." Incorporating the latest advances in plant taxonomy from the definitive text of Dr. Walter Judd, the book is a rare work of scrupulous research-and magnificent photography that will be as useful to the gardener as it is to the botanist.

Kirsten Llamas exhaustively documents more than 1500 flowering trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants grown in tropical and subtropical gardens. She provides thorough information on cultivation for each plant, including growth characteristics, light exposure, cold hardiness, invasive tendencies, and unique horticultural features. Drawing upon an extensive database gathered over several decades of firsthand examination and research, the author lists concise and easily discernable characteristics for plant identification.

Plant descriptions are listed alphabetically by botanical family for ease of comparison. For all its authoritativeness, however, this book will be truly unforgettable because of its stunning photography. More than 1500 color photos of magnificent flowering specimens make this book as much a pleasure to browse as it is a resource for research.

This book contains totally new and detailed information about tropical plants in cultivation never before available to the home gardener. It is considered a watershed volume - for the first time bringing horticulture into step with the new botany, which bases identification upon DNA and not guesswork. Every source has been challenged and verified. You will find it accurate and trustworthy, with over 1500 photos by an awarded nature photographer. It will be thoroughly enlightening and pleasurable to both beginners as well as seasoned plant lovers and advanced students. It was written with the diversity of members of TFTS in mind and contains both familiar and unusual plants for the jaded. It is broad - from herbaceous beauties such as gingers, heliconias and palms, to splendid shrubs, vines and trees. It includes floriferous "natives" as well as tropical fruits. There are useful lists - including rare and endangered species, pest plants, xeric and seaside plants. It can be used as a guide to collections at Fairchild and the Kampong as well as plants in tropical gardens throughout the world.