A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of Northwest South America: With Supplementary Notes on Herbaceous Taxa (Hardcover)

by Alwyn H. Gentry (Author), Rodolfo Vasquez (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
To understand almost any part of the tropical rain forest's fabulously complex web of life, one must first learn to identify a bewildering array of plants. Alwyn Gentry's landmark book, completed just before his tragic death in 1993, is the only field guide to the nearly 250 families of woody plants in the most species-rich region of South America.

As a consummate field researcher, Gentry designed this guide to be not just comprehensive, but also easy to use in rigorous field conditions. Unlike many field guides, which rely for their identifications on flowers and fruits that are only present during certain seasons, Gentry's book focuses on characters such as bark, leaves, and odor that are present year-round. His guide is filled with clear illustrations, step-by-step keys to identification, and a wealth of previously unpublished data.

All biologists, wildlife managers, conservationists, and government officials concerned with the tropical rain forests will need and use this field guide.

Alwyn Gentry was one of the world's foremost experts on the biology of tropical plants. He was senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and was a member of Conservation International's interdisciplinary Rapid Assessment Program (RAP) team, which inventories the biodiversity of the most threatened tropical areas. From 1967 to 1993 he collected more than 80,000 plant specimens, many of them new to science.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 920 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (June 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226289435
• ISBN-13: 978-0226289434
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,801,509 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Certainly the best book of its kind, September 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of North west South America : (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) : With Supplementary Notes) (Paperback)

This book is the only one to cover so extensively the flora of Colombia in such an accessible way. You won't regret this purchase. It certainly deserves five stars.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for advanced amateurs -- or displaced professionals, February 9, 2000

By	H. Paul Greenough (Blaine, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of North west South America : (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) : With Supplementary Notes) (Paperback)

I'm an amateur naturalist -- and had the plants of the Eastern US pretty well under control. All that went out the window when I moved to Nicaragua. This is the first broad, clear, complete guide to neo-tropical woody plants (and lots of the herbaceous plants as well) I've seen. Although it was written for Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru, it does well enough for Central America. Just leafing through the illustrations has given me the family, and often the genus, of lots of the plants I've seen in our cloud forests. The author has a very readable style, laced with an understated sense of humour that bubbles to the surface on several occasions. See the entry for Euphorbiaceae, for example.

The book is not, however, for the complete beginner. Unless you are thoroughly familiar with the arcane botanical terminology, you will need a botanical dictionary. "Plant Identification Terminology" by Harris is a good one.

5.0 out of 5 stars People interest in plants!!, December 23, 2007

By	Gabriela Jolochin "Gaba" (Monte VI E-O) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: A Field Guide to the Families and Genera of Woody Plants of North west South America : (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) : With Supplementary Notes) (Paperback)

If you are interesting in plants, and you live in latin_america this is a book for you!! Al Gentry give us a view of tropical plats...in a taxonomic way... but includes practical and field tips to recognize families and some genera, and includes some simply and helpful illustrations . This "little" field guide it is some like the "Botanic Bible" of tropical American botanists (However I am a template Southamerican, I found this like a book of "head"....!!)