Plants of the World : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vascular Plants

Plants of the World is the first book to systematically explore every vascular plant family on earth—more than four hundred and fifty of them—organized in a modern phylogenetic order. Detailed entries for each family include descriptions, distribution, evolutionary relationships, and fascinating information on economic uses of plants and etymology of their names. All entries are also copiously illustrated in full color with more than 2,500 stunning photographs. A collaboration among three celebrated botanists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Plants of the World is authoritative, comprehensive, and beautiful. Covering everything from ferns to angiosperms, it will be an essential resource for practicing botanists, horticulturists, and nascent green thumbs alike.

“This is destined to become a classic reference work—and one where beauty and science are combined to illustrate the incredible diversity and importance of plants to life on earth. From the first page onwards, the text and illustrations portray the unique, bizarre, functional, and useful aspects of the plant kingdom in intricate detail. It is entirely fitting that Kew should be publishing this exceptional work; Kew’s strategic aim is ‘to be a global resource in plant knowledge’—this book brings this knowledge into the public domain in glorious technicolor detail.” - Kathy Willis, director of science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew