Guide to the Vascular Flora of Picture Creek Diabase Barrens, Granville County, North Carolina, USA. 2019. (BRIT, Bot. Miscellany, 51). ca 300 col. photogr. VIII, 367 p. Paper bd.

Picture Creek Diabase Barrens (PCDB) is a biologically unique area located in the northeastern Piedmont of North Carolina in Granville County. The 407.4-acre site lies within one of North Carolina’s Triassic basins, where diabase intrusions have given rise to mafic soils rarely found in the Piedmont. PCDB hosts a remnant Piedmont prairie that boasts a high density of rare plant species. Though several incomplete floristic species lists have been compiled previously for PCDB, very few vouchers exist from the site, and a comprehensive inventory has been lacking. A current and comprehensive assessment of the floristic diversity of PCDB is vital for the development of successful management and conservation strategies. The resulting Guide to the Vascular Flora of Picture Creek Diabase Barrens provides a comprehensive checklist of the flora compiled from the first author’s collections, historic collections, and reports of species from the site. The illustrated guide treats 676 species and subspecific taxa (48 of these rare) from 113 plant families. Keys are provided to all vouchered or reported taxa. In addition, the following information is given for each taxon: taxon name and authority, synonymy, common name(s), state and federal status (if applicable), habitat, associated soils, abundance at PCDB, phenology, collections, sources reporting the taxon, and illustrations, if available. This is the third in a series from the Illustrated Floras of North Carolina Project at the North Carolina State University Vascular Plant Herbarium (NCSC), designed to be useful to both botanical specialists and a more general audience.