Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation

This book bridges a long-standing gap between obscure references in tropical botany and the gardener's need for an accurate, practical guide with clear photographs. Incorporating the latest advances in plant taxonomy from the definitive text of Dr. Walter Judd, the book is a rare work of scrupulous research — and magnificent photography — that will be as useful to the gardener as it is to the botanist. Kirsten Llamas exhaustively documents more than 1400 flowering trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants commonly grown in tropical and subtropical gardens. She provides thorough information on cultivation for each plant, including growth characteristics, light exposure, cold hardiness, invasive tendencies, and unique horticultural features. More than 1500 color photos of magnificent flowering specimens make this book as much a pleasure to browse as it is a resource for research. Sure to appeal to gardeners, landscapers, nurseries, collectors, botany students, florists, and botanical gardens, Tropical Flowering Plants promises to be a staple reference for decades to come.

Kirsten Albrecht Llamas received a master's degree in tropical botany from the University of Miami and developed the first human cytogenetics laboratory in South Florida. She is a longtime member of the Tropical Flowering Tree Society and has provided numerous plant identification updates to The Kampong of the National Tropical Botanic Garden and at Fairchild Tropical Garden. Her lifelong avocation has been photography, with an emphasis on nature, culminating in a photo collection of flowering tropical plants and the publication of this book.