Customer Reviews

Palms of South Florida

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While an excellent and detailed explanation of the confusing world of palm botany, I have two problems with this book. 1) It contains comprehensive, detailed drawings of the trees reviewed, but not a single photo! Of course it costs a publisher more to use the type of paper that color can print on, not to mention the ink itself, but a garden book with no photographs at all?? 2) It would be most helpful for us beginners if the pronunciation and the derivation of the botanic names was listed. It's hard to remember a plants proper name when you cannot even pronounce it!

Competent, descriptive accounts of Florida's plants are scarce. This work is affordable, competent and descriptive. Pictures are limited to B&W drawings, which are sufficient for identification.

Palms of South Florida
Having considerable experience in using analytical methods for scientific identification,this book was perfect for my needs. It might be daunting to a beginner who is looking for photographs to match an unknown plant at hand. However if the student of plant identification is willing to take the time to learn the defined botanical terms and to use the Keys to focus on observable features, the line drawing format is a superior reference basis for making a correct identification.

If you are interested in using botanical features to accurately identify palms by their family, genus and species, then this book is excellent. The book begins with a dichotomous key that is essential for field identification. It has indexes by scientific name and common name, and it has a pronunciation guide right before the index. There are a few species and varieties that were recently introduced to Florida that aren't in this book, but it is still my go-to book getting the record straight on palm identification. The book only includes true palms, so you will not find plants that are often confused with palms like cycads (sago), traveler's palm, cardboard plant and bird of paradise.

Very well done. Easy to use and understand
Recommend for anyone who is into palms or Florida gardening in general