The product of twenty-five years of planning, research, and writing, Guide to the Vascular Plants of Tennessee is the most comprehensive, detailed, and up-to-date resource of its kind for the flora of the Volunteer State, home to nearly 2,900 documented taxa. Not since Augustin Gattinger's 1901 Flora of Tennessee and a Philosophy of Botany has a work of this scope been attempted.
The team of editors, authors, and contributors not only provide keys for identifying the major groups, families, genera, species, and lesser taxa known to be native or naturalized within the state--with supporting information about distribution, frequency of occurrence, conservation status, and more--but they also offer a plethora of descriptive information about the state's physical environment and vegetation, along with a summary of its rich botanical history, dating back to the earliest Native American inhabitants.
Other features of the book include a comprehensive glossary of botanical terms and an array of line drawings that illustrate the identifying characteristics of vascular plants, from leaf shape and surface features to floral morphology and fruit types. Finally, the book's extensive keys are indexed by families, scientific names, and common names. The result is a user-friendly work that researchers, students, environmentalists, foresters, conservationists, and indeed anyone interested in Tennessee and its botanical legacy and resources will value for years to come.
Edward W. Chester is professor emeritus of biology at Austin Peay State University, where he taught botany and curated the herbarium for more than forty-five years.
B. Eugene Wofford is director of the University of Tennessee Herbarium and coauthor (with Professor Chester) of Guide to the Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Tennessee.
Joey Shaw is associate professor of biological and environmental sciences at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Dwayne Estes is associate professor of biology and curator of the herbarium at Austin Peay State University.
David H. Webb is a retired biologist from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
In addition, more than 20 experts from throughout the country contributed family or genera treatments, including
Andrea Shea Bishop (rare species botanist, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation),
Claude Bailey (associate professor, Jackson State Community College),
Hal R. DeSelm (professor emeritus, University of Tennessee),
Dennis Horn (amateur botanist and wildflower photographer, retired engineer),
Chris Fleming (senior project scientist, BDY Environmental),
Aaron Floden (graduate student, University of Tennessee),
William H. Martin (professor emeritus, Eastern Kentucky University and former commissioner of Kentucky's Department of Natural Resources),
Mary Patten Priestley (curator of the herbarium, The University of the South), and
Edward Schilling (professor, University of Tennessee).
