News Release

Illustrated Companion To Gleason And Cronquist's Manual Soon To Be Available From The New York Botanical Gardens

Book Announcement

The New York Botanical Garden

BRONX, NY, December 1, 1997 -- The veracity of the adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" is probably never better borne out than when it comes to well-prepared botanical illustrations. No matter how detailed and thoughtfully rendered written descriptions of plant species may be, there is no substitute for a good line drawing to confirm or reject plant identification.

Four years in the making, the ILLUSTRATED COMPANION TO GLEASON AND CRONQUIST'S MANUAL will be published next January by THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN. The volume was edited by Noel H. Holmgren and collaborators and is based on the original artwork of the New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, published in 1952 and now out of print. But the new book is much more than a reprint -- it has been completely restructured and richly enhanced to include new illustrations of several species not treated in the earlier work as well as many useful diagnostic details previously omitted from the old illustrations.

Here you will find 827 PLATES containing meticulously rendered botanical illustrations which are specially arranged and labeled to cross-reference with the second edition of Gleason and Cronquist's Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Brian M. Boom, Vice President for Botanical Science and Pfizer Curator of Botany for THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN, states, "Noel Holmgren and his collaborators are to be congratulated for the great service they have rendered to all students of the flora of northeastern North America by making available again the illustrations from Gleason's New Britton and Brown Illustrated Flora. This book follows in a proud tradition of scholarly publishing by THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN in North American floristic studies."

Because the scientific study of plants is not complete until the results are published, the SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN was established in 1896 for the purpose of disseminating the Garden's research results and information to the scientific community and the general public. It is presently the largest publishing program of any independent botanical garden in the world. Current catalog offerings include four scholarly journals, five monographs, and more than 30 books.


ILLUSTRATED COMPANION TO GLEASON AND CRONQUIST'S MANUAL, edited by Noel H. Holmgren and Collaborators, ISBN 0-89327-399-6, Hardcover, 827 Plates of Illustrations, $125.00 (plus postage and handling). Order No. 3996. To order, call (718) 817-8721, fax (718) 817-8842, or e-mail scipubs@nybg.org.

The New York Botanical Garden


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