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The Iris Family: Natural History and Classification

By Peter Goldblatt and John C. Manning

[A] comprehensive, well-illustrated volume.

Choice

Irises and their relatives are lily-like plants related to the orchid and narcissus families, with whom they share a propensity for large, brightly colored, attractive flowers. Many have longlasting flowers — Iris, Gladiolus, and Freesia are among the most important cut-flower crops in the world. The intricate flowers of the iris family are finely adapted for pollination by a variety of animals, including hummingbirds, sunbirds, beetles, butterflies, moths, wasps, and bees. This intimate connection between flower form and pollination biology reveals how the marvelous range of flower colors, shapes, and scents are vital to the lives of the species. The diversity of Iridaceae is illustrated in more than 200 superb photographs supplemented by expert line drawings. A lifetime of work by the world's expert on Iridaceae is distilled in this definitive account. Botanists, ecologists, naturalists, and gardeners will find this an essential reference.

Filed under: family specific, natural history, professional, botany, bulbs, instructional, science

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 336 pp.
Book dimensions: 8½ x 11 in. (215 x 280 mm.)
Images: 233 color photos, 63 line drawings, 1 map
ISBN-10: 0881928976
ISBN-13: 9780881928976

Media reviews

"Three additional helps, a glossary, cited literature, and index, complete the work. These tools, along with a writing style that the specialist and nonspecialist alike will appreciate, make this comprehensive, well-illustrated volume a must for any academic or large public library."

—T. Johnson, Choice

"Take this review in and wave it at your librarian. This book is very, very good."

—Jim Dronenburg, Washington Gardener

About the authors

Peter Goldblatt

Peter Goldblatt, a leading expert on the iris family and its relatives, is B. A. Krukoff Curator of African Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Author of many papers, Goldblatt has also written numerous books. He is the co-author, with John C. Manning, of The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs ( 2002), Crocosmia and Chasmanthe (2004), and The Iris Family (2008).

John C. Manning

John C. Manning is Senior Specialist Scientist in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch. Collaborator with Peter Goldblatt on several books, Manning has studied the anatomy, embryology, and seed development of diverse plants and is an accomplished botanical artist.