This profusely illustrated field guide covers the 31 species of orchids that grow wild in California. The first book on California's native orchids, it will be a valuable resource for professionals and hobbyists alike. The Wild Orchids of California is an impressive extension of Ronald A. Coleman's wide fieldwork, literature review, and herbarium research. Written in a clear narrative style, Coleman's species accounts describe the plants and flowers, their habitats, distribution, pollinators, and blooming season.

"In his tenth book covering the wild orchids of North America, botanist Paul Martin Brown turns to the Lone Star State. From the Big Thicket to the Big Bend, from the panhandle to the coastal plains, FIELD GUIDE TO THE WILD ORCHIDS OF TEXAS is the first native orchid field guide to cover all of the state's eco-regions. In addition to the many insider orchid-hunting tips Brown provides, he also recommends trip itineraries offering the fullest viewing of native orchids at their peak seasons. This handy guide covers more than 50 species and varieties, several of which are new to Texas and, in some cases, even brand-new to the orchid world. Brown also covers numerous color and growth forms. FIELD GUIDE TO THE WILD ORCHIDS OF TEXAS includes all the essential tools-field photographs, diagnostic line drawings, and useful reference keys-to quickly and easily identify an orchid discovered in the wild. A checklist of the state's wild orchids and charts listing optimal flowering times and distribution by region make this a user-friendly year-round guide. Though many may not realize it, Texas is home to some of the rarest orchid species in the world. FIELD GUIDE TO THE WILD ORCHIDS OF TEXAS is a valuable and comprehensive resource for the casual hiker and lover of the outdoors."--BOOK JACKET.

"Based on groundbreaking research that has the power to change the lives of countless children--and the adults who love them." --Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts. A book that offers hope and a pathway to success for parents, teachers, psychologists, and child development experts coping with difficult children. In Tom Boyce's extraordinary new book, he explores the "dandelion" child (hardy, resilient, healthy), able to survive and flourish under most circumstances, and the "orchid" child (sensitive, susceptible, fragile), who, given the right support, can thrive as much as, if not more than, other children. Boyce writes of his pathfinding research as a developmental pediatrician working with troubled children in child-development research for almost four decades, and explores his major discovery that reveals how genetic make-up and environment shape behavior. He writes that certain variant genes can increase a person's susceptibility to depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and antisocial, sociopathic, or violent behaviors. But rather than seeing this "risk" gene as a liability, Boyce, through his daring research, has recast the way we think of human frailty, and has shown that while these "bad" genes can create problems, they can also, in the right setting and the right environment, result in producing children who not only do better than before but far exceed their peers. Orchid children, Boyce makes clear, are not failed dandelions; they are a different category of child, with special sensitivities and strengths, and need to be nurtured and taught in special ways. And in The Orchid and the Dandelion, Boyce shows us how to understand these children for their unique sensibilities, their considerable challenges, their remarkable gifts.

This action plan chronicles the threats faced by wild orchids, but more importantly to critical habitats that host extraordinarily high orchid diversity and endemicity. It explores and recommends specific ways that national and local government, legislators, scientists and orchid conservationists as well as growers can all help to reverse present trends. The facts and viewpoints presented in this comprehensive document update and supplement the information available to conservation organizations and agencies through the world so that they can lobby their appropriate government offices more effectively.