Awards
Winner of the R. R. Hawkins Award for the Outstanding Professional Reference or Scholarly Work of 2001.
Synopses & Reviews
This comprehensive manual offers accurate, up-to-date, and clear information for identifying New England's remarkable array of tracheophytes (vascular plants, excluding mosses). With fully researched entries on some 3,500 native and nonnative species, the book is the first in decades to provide a complete and correct botanical reference for the region's noncultivated plants. The volume includes many new species not documented in New England before, while also excluding many species that have erroneously appeared in earlier manuals.
Focusing on the taxonomy and distribution of New England plants, the manual is largely dedicated to identification keys and to species entries that provide scientific name, origin, regional conservation ranking, common name, synonyms, distribution, ecology, and other miscellaneous items of interest. Nearly one-third of the entries are accompanied by helpful black-and-white line illustrations.
Additional special features:
• Precise distribution information, accurate to the state level
• Details on unusual plant groups not included in other sources
• Reliable and versatile keys for identification
• Tips on recognizing hybrid plants in the field
• A companion interactive teaching Web site (under development)
• Comprehensive glossary
Review
"Lichens of North America takes you through a looking glass to a magical world of partner-organisms, as beautiful as medieval manuscript illuminations and as important as any of the other fundamental players on our living planet." Thomas E. Lovejoy, Smithsonian Institution
Review
"This is a book to love. It is a reminder that many of the most environmentally important organisms are also at first glance the most humble in appearance." E.O. Wilson
Review
"This long-sought triumph, gorgeously illustrated, accurate, accessible, and comprehensive, brings lichens to the people." Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts
Review
"[A] work in which art and science are perfectly united in tribute to one of the most beautiful, important, and least described parts of nature." David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University
Review
"One of the high points of American lichenology, bringing together beautiful photographs and more information...than any other work yet published." Richard C. Harris, Institute of Systematic Botany, New York Botanical Garden
Synopsis
Lichens are a unique form of plant life, the product of a symbiotic association between an alga and a fungus. The beauty and importance of lichens have long been overlooked, despite their abundance and diversity in most parts of North America and elsewhere in the world. This stunning book the first accessible and authoritative guidebook to lichens of the North American continent fills the gap, presenting superb color photographs, descriptions, distribution maps, and keys for identifying the most common, conspicuous, or ecologically significant species.
The book focuses on 805 foliose, fruticose, and crustose lichens (the latter rarely included in popular guidebooks) and presents information on another 700 species in the keys or notes; special attention is given to species endemic to North America. A comprehensive introduction discusses the biology, structure, uses, and ecological significance of lichens and is illustrated with 90 additional color photos and many line drawings. English names are provided for most species, and the book also includes a glossary that explains technical terms. This visually rich and informative book will open the eyes of nature lovers everywhere to the fascinating world of lichens.
Synopsis
Created in response to requests from longtime users, this addition to the acclaimed reference to North American lichens compiles updated and expanded keys for the identification of these fascinating organisms. An ideal laboratory resource, it covers over 2,000 species of lichens indigenous to the continent. There is no comparable volume available for classroom, workshop, or private use. A glossary is illustrated with photographs by Sylvia Duran Sharnoff and Stephen Sharnoff and drawings by Susan Laurie-Bourque, all from the original book. The revised keys are an indispensable identification tool for botanists, students, scientists, and enthusiasts alike.
About the Author
Irwin M. Brodo is emeritus research scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario, and is considered a world authority on lichens and their biology.
Stephen Sharnoff is and the late Sylvia Duran Sharnoff was research associate at the Missouri Botanical Garden and research affiliate at the University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley.