"Pinguicula of the Temperate North is the first volume of a series of two books that document all carnivorous butterworts (Pinguicula) of the world, for the very first time and in unparalleled detail. These spectacular carnivorous plants produce leaves lined with tiny tentacles tipped with droplets of glistening, sticky mucus. Small insects become affixed to the sticky, fly-paper leaves of Pinguicula, die and are digested offering the plant nutrients to grow. In this volume, all Pinguicula taxa from the USA, Canada, Europe, Asia and northern Africa are documented in lavish detail. The morphology, diversity, taxonomy and botanical history of all recognised taxa is described in depth in clear English prose. All descriptions are accompanied with numerous spectacular images covering many Pinguicula taxa that have never been photographed before"--Publisher's description.

"Pinguicula of Latin America is the second volume of a series of two books that document all carnivorous butterworts (Pinguicula) of the world, for the very first time and in unparalleled detail. These spectacular carnivorous plants produce leaves lined with tiny tentacles tipped with droplets of glistening, sticky mucus. Small insects become affixed to the sticky, fly-paper leaves of Pinguicula, die and are digested offering the plant nutrients to grow. In this volume, all Pinguicula taxa from Latin American countries (including the Caribbean) are documented in lavish detail. The morphology, diversity, taxonomy and botanical history of all recognised taxa is described in depth in clear English prose. All descriptions are accompanied with numerous spectacular images covering many Pinguiculataxa that have never been photographed before"--Publisher's description.

"Australian Carnivorous Plants" is a beautifully produced coffeetable book with extensive colour photographs of all carnivorousplant genera found in Australia (Aldrovanda, Byblis, Cephalotus,Drosera, Nepenthes, and Utricularia). Incorporating 180 images ofover 150 species taken over the past two decades by acclaimedwildlife photographers and carnivorous plant experts, Greg Bourkeand Richard Nunn, this visually striking book is the first workdedicated to highlighting the beauty of Australian carnivorousplants in the wild through high-quality photographs.The selection of breathtaking images featured in this lavishlyillustrated work was carefully chosen to highlight theextraordinary diversity of carnivorous plants found in Australia,an assemblage that is greater than on all other continents onEarth. The spectacular images and detailed captions, written inaccessible English, offer a uniquely informative portrait of someof the Southern Hemisphere's most extraordinary and beautifulplants. It is a work that will fascinate amateur natureenthusiasts and specialist botanists alike.This beautiful book includes a foreword by Allen Lowrie, a worldauthority on carnivorous plants; a short introductory chapter tothe carnivorous plants of the world with a summary and completelisting of all carnivorous plant species found in Australia;chapters dedicated to each genus of Australian carnivorous plantwith introductory descriptions; a chapter on conservation; andinformation relating to the photographic techniques used by theauthors. Many of the taxa covered here have never been depicted inprint before.Particular highlights include:1. The first complete listing of all currently known carnivorousplants of Australia.2. Many rare, little known and seldom photographed taxa, includingByblis aquatica, B. rorida, Drosera browniana, D. bulbosa subsp.major, D. gibsonii, D. nivea, D. oreopodion, D. radicans, D.zigzagia, Utricularia circumvoluta, U. leptoryncha, U. paulineae,U. singeriana, and many more.

Readers of this expansive, three-volume encyclopedia will gain scientific, sociological, and demographic insight into the complex relationship between plants and humans across history. Comprising three volumes and approximately half a million words, this work is likely the most comprehensive reference of its kind, providing detailed information not only about specific plants and food crops such as barley, corn, potato, rice, and wheat, but also interdisciplinary content that draws on the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The entries underscore the fascination that humans have long held for plants, identifies the myriad reasons why much of life on earth would be impossible without plants, and points out the intertwined relationship of plants and humans—and how delicate this balance can be. While the majority of the content is dedicated to the food plants that are essential to human existence, material on ornamentals, fiber crops, pharmacological plants, and carnivorous plants is also included.

This book represents the most comprehensive compilation of data on threatened vascular plants ever published. It includes the names of some 33,000 plant species determined to be rare or threatened on a global scale. Conservation assessments were provided by the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the National Botanical Institute (South Africa), Environment Australia, and CSIRO, The Nature Conservancy, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, together with hundreds of botanic gardens and botanists throughout the world. The Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh and the New York Botanical Garden have made major in-kind contributions.The result of 20 years work by botanists and conservationists around the world, it is intended as a conservation tool, a provider of baseline information to measure conservation progress and as a primary source of data on plant species. Most importantly, however, it provides the building blocks on which to base a worldwide effort to conserve plant species.

Carnivorous plants have fascinated botanists, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, physiologists, developmental biologists, anatomists, horticulturalists, and the general public for centuries. Charles Darwin was the first scientist to demonstrate experimentally that some plants could actually attract, kill, digest, and absorb nutrients from insect prey; his book Insectivorous Plants (1875) remains a widely-cited classic. Since then, many movies and plays, short stories, novels, coffee-table picture books, and popular books on the cultivation of carnivorous plants have been produced. However, all of these widely read products depend on accurate scientific information, and most of them have repeated and recycled data from just three comprehensive, but now long out of date, scientific monographs. The field has evolved and changed dramatically in the nearly 30 years since the last of these books was published, and thousands of scientific papers on carnivorous plants have appeared in the academic journal literature. In response, Ellison and Adamec have assembled the world's leading experts to provide a truly modern synthesis. They examine every aspect of physiology, biochemistry, genomics, ecology, and evolution of these remarkable plants, culminating in a description of the serious threats they now face from over-collection, poaching, habitat loss, and climatic change which directly threaten their habitats and continued persistence in them.