Plants of Deep South Texas. A Field Guide to the Woody and Flowering Species. 2010. 1026 col. photogr. figs. maps. XII, 457 p. gr8vo. Plastic cover.

Covering the almost three million acres of southernmost Texas known as the Lower Rio Grande Valley, this guide is an reference for nature enthusiasts, farmers and ranchers, professional botanists, and anyone interested in the plant life of Texas. The authors offer abundant photographs and short descriptions of more than eight hundred species of ferns, algae, and woody and herbaceous plantstwo-thirds of the species that occur in this region. The book opens with a brief introduction to the region and an illustrated guide to leaf shapes and flower parts. The book's individual species accounts cover leaves, flowers, fruit, blooming period, distribution, habits, common and scientific names. In addition, the authors' comments include information that cannot be seen in a photograph, such as the etymology of the scientific name, the plant's use by caterpillars and its value from the human perspective. The authors also provide a glossary of terms, as well as an appendix of butterfly and moth species mentioned in the text.