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two matrices of diagnostic characteristics, one for dicots
and one for woody plants in winter condition. These matrices
can be used to identify a specimen displaying limited information,
or to find examples of given vegetative, flower, or fruit
characteristics for use in teaching.
Throughout
the book, the keys have been made as user-friendly as possible,
employing short, concise couplets rather than long, cumbersome
ones. Presenting a wealth of scientifically accurate information
in a precise and clear format, this volume will be extremely
useful as a reference work, as a textbook for courses in plant
systematics, and as a field manual.
Unique
Features of Flora of the Northeast
• Treats
only New England and adjacent New York counties, which represent
a distinct phytogeographic unit. The book is therefore much
more useful than other guides for botanists interested only
in the greater New England area.
•
The keys have been written to be easy to use by employing
easily observable features whenever possible. Other floras,
more oriented to the academic botanist, contain keys that
generally begin with plant features that are more difficult
to see and interpret.
•
Designed as a four-season book. The fourteen keys at the beginning
of the manual include such groups as aquatic plants, vines,
and woody plants that flower before leaf-out, and woody plants
in winter condition. The keys for herbaceous as well as woody
plants include fruiting as well as flowering condition, greatly
extending the time period for identifying certain plants.
•
Contains 995 line drawings of specific plant parts designed
to facilitate use of the keys.
•
Contains range maps for over 2,400 species.
•
Family and genus descriptions begin with vegetative characteristics
and progress to flowering and fruiting characteristics. This
order of presentation greatly facilitates the manual’s
use in the field, especially for specimens in vegetative condition
and having limited information.
•
Species accounts contain information on synonymy, habitats,
and range, as well as material of interest to the field botanist
and naturalist such as wetland site index, threatened/endangered
status, wildlife and human food value, and medicinal and poisonous
properties.
•
Contains a matrix of approximately forty characteristics for
dicotgenera and a matrix of more than thirty diagnostic features
for woody plants in winter condition. The matrices include
data on vegetative, flowering, and fruiting characteristics
than can be used to aid identification of specimens displaying
limited information or to find examples for teaching.
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