One of the most beautiful little books on flowers of the Southwest deserts has just been published in Phoenix. The paper-bound book contains 100 color portraits of the more common wildflowers of the desert regions of Arizona, New Mexico, California, Texas, northern Mexico, and Nevada. The text presents interesting facts about each flower illustrated, including derivation of names, distribution, blooming periods, uses to man and animals, and so on.
This biography of John Clayton is a most scholarly and elaborately documented history of the life and times of one of the earliest botanists of the British colonies in North America. It is remarkable that such a wealth of detail has been brought together concerning a man whose biography has hitherto been only sketchily known, the very date of his birth unknown.
One of the most remarkable books on identification of familiar shrubs of northeastern United States is this recently published book by George W. D. Symonds, a companion volume to his well-known Tree Identification Book published in 1958. It is not often that such a large number (3550) of very excellent photographs, selected with such meticulous attention to detail, are assembled in a manner which renders them so very helpful in the identification of our common (and uncommon) shrubs. Both broad-leaved and needle-leaved shrubs are included, with lianas and sub-shrubs used as ground cover.
In this work Dr. Kenneth Graham adopts a new and refreshing approach to the study of forest insects and protection. The purpose is to direct the students’ attention to the ecological position of insects and those principles on which current control practices are founded.
Dr. Henry A. Gleason, the author of the New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora, hoped to follow that work with a condensed volume which would serve as a field manual. The present work is of that nature, being condensations of the keys, descriptions, etc., of the illustrated flora. Although begun by Dr. Gleason, the final preparation of the Manual was done by Dr. Arthur Cronquist, Curator of the New York Botanical Garden.
This rather short text on Cytology is not as elementary as its size might lead one to believe—the contents are quite close (for a textbook) to the frontiers of our knowledge, with references as late as 1960 often being quoted.
A copy of this book sent to the book review editor, looks to be one of the best in the field. Jollie has used morphology and materials to let the student draw his own conclusions about the validity of the evolution theory. Plentifully illustrated with original or new drawings.
Principles in Mammalogy represents a departure from the traditional approach followed by texts and references of this type. Although the major mammal groups are described, the ecological point of view is emphasized by utilizing recent studies of population dynamics, metabolism, and behavior. In singling out the roles which mammal populations play in natural communities, the authors emphasize the great challenge of the “unknown” in this field.
This little plastic ringbound, open-flat book has a great store of information for the nature-lover, botanist, woodsman and teacher. It is a compilation of the culinary uses of north-eastern plants, from a fern salad of Osmunda fiddleheads to a cup of “coffee” made from chicory. Each plant has its common and scientific names listed, as well as its habitat preference and range in West Virginia. The various uses, such as salads, herbs, teas, and nibbling, are given, with directions for preparation in each case. The book is completely illustrated, with nearly every plant being pictured, and the time of development of the edible part is given.
The publication of an additional installment of Miss Ross-Craig’s representations of British plants is always a noteworthy event in the botanical annals of the British Isles. The work is designed to provide a standard set of drawings of all the wild plants of the area. Each plant, or part of a plant, is depicted natural size, while flowers, fruits, etc., are often shown in magnification. Underground parts are often shown.