From Book News, Inc.
This definitive account of tropical, subtropical, and even temperate (down to 5 degrees F) landscape and garden palms provides detailed information on nearly 900 species including cold hardiness, height, geographical distribution, cultivation requirements, a botanical description, and historical and ethnobotanical details. Includes a thorough glossary of scientific name pronunciation and some 900 fine color photographs. Well suited to the amateur or professional grower, with useful landscaping lists and an appendix with notes on germinating seed.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
Co-written by the author of the award-winning The Tropical Look, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms offers a definitive account of palms that may be grown in the garden and landscape. Because palms are often underutilized as a result of their unfamiliarity---even to tropical gardeners---Robert Lee Riffle and Paul Craft have exhaustively documented every genus in the palm family. Approximately 890 species are described in detail, including cold hardiness, water needs, height, and any special requirements. No gardener or landscaper who reads this book should ever again lose a palm solely because of lack of horticultural information. Generously illustrated with more than 900 photos, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms is as valuable as an identification guide as it is a practical handbook. The volume even contains photos of several palm species that have never before appeared in a general encyclopedia. Interesting snippets of history, ethnobotany, and biology inform the text and make this a lively catalog of these remarkable plants. As well as all of the tropical and subtropical palms, the encyclopedia includes many species that can withstand freezing; thus it is applicable for areas where average low temperatures do not drop below 5ºF (-15ºC). Many features of the book add to its usefulness for the amateur or professional grower. Extensive landscape lists group together palms with special characteristics, such as drought tolerance, salt tolerance, and slow growth, to name a few. A unique appendix with notes on germinating seed of selected palms will prove invaluable to gardeners and nursery professionals who wish to grow palms from seed. In all, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms offers a wealth of information to horticulturists at every level of experience.


About the Author
Paul Craft trained as a chemist and is vice president of the International Palm Society. A resident of Florida, he was the founding president of the Palm Beach Palm and Cycad Society and also a palm nurseryman. He is currently active in efforts to promote palm conservation. Robert Lee Riffle resides and gardens in Fort Pierce, Florida. His landmark book, The Tropical Look, won the American Horticultural Society Book Award in 1999. Formerly a manager of a nursery specializing in tropical plants, he has traveled extensively throughout the tropics. Riffle received a degree in music from Centenary College and briefly pursued studies in botany at the University of Texas, Austin.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Cowritten by the author of the award-winning The Tropical Look, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms offers a definitive account of palms that may be grown in the garden and landscape. Because palms are often underutilized as a result of their unfamiliarity --- even to tropical gardeners --- Robert Lee Riffle and Paul Craft have exhaustively documented every genus in the palm family. Approximately 890 species are described in detail, including cold hardiness, water needs, height, and any special requirements. Generously illustrated with more than 900 photos, this volume is as valuable as an identification guide as it is a practical handbook. It even contains photos of several palm species that have never before appeared in a general encyclopedia. Interesting snippets of history, ethnobotany, and biology inform the text and make this a lively catalog of these remarkable plants.

SYNOPSIS