Flora of the Gran Desierto and Rio Colorado of Northwestern Mexico (Southwest Center Series)
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: January 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 673
ISBN-13: 9780816520442
Subjects: Sonoran Desert; Science; Ethnobotany; Plant Geography; Biography/Autobiography; Sonora (State); Life Sciences - Botany; Desert plants; Mexico
Description: "From the Pinacate lava fields and expansive dunes to the shores of the Gulf of California, the Gran Desierto is one of the hottest and driest places in the Western Hemispshere. Yet this region in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico embraces a remarkable number of habitats with a fascinating and surprisingly rich flora. This is the heart of the Sonoran Desert, still in a largely primordial state, in juxtaposition with the ravished wetland of the once great Rio Colorado."

"Flora of the Gran Desierto is the culmination of more than twenty-five years of research in this magnificent desert and delta by botanist Richard Felger. This comprehensive floristic study of more than 565 species of vascular plants features original diagnostic descriptions and innovative identification keys to the families, genera, and species. Particular attention has been devoted to taxa that are poorly known. Even weeds and their histories are treated in detail. Hundreds of illustrations by such eminent botanical artists as Lucretia Brezeale Hamilton, Matt Johnson, and Bobbi Angell will aid in the identification of plants. Common names of plants are given in English, Spanish, and O'odham."

"While emphasizing scientific accuracy, the book is written in an accessible style. Felger's observations and knowledge of plant ecology, geographic distribution, evolution, ethnobotany, plant variation and special adaptations, and the history of the region provide botanists, naturalists, ecologists, conservationists, and anyone else celebrating the desert with readable, interesting, and important information."--Jacket.