The second edition of The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California thoroughly updates this acclaimed work, the single most comprehensive resource on California's amazingly diverse flora. It integrates the latest science with the results of intensive fieldwork, institutional collaboration, and efforts of hundreds of contributing authors into an essential reference on California's native and naturalized vascular plants.
The second edition includes treatments of many newly described or discovered taxa and recently introduced plants, and reflects major improvements to plant taxonomy from phylogenetic studies. Nearly two-thirds of the 7600 species, subspecies, and varieties the volume describes are now illustrated with diagnostic drawings. Geographic distributions, elevation ranges, flowering times, nomenclature, and the status of non-natives and native taxa of special concern have all been updated throughout. This edition also allows for identification of 240 alien taxa that are not fully naturalized but sometimes encountered. A new chapter on geologic, climatic, and vegetation history of California is also featured.
Bruce G. Baldwin is Curator of the Jepson Herbarium and Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.
Douglas H. Goldman is Herbarium Associate at the Harvard University Herbaria.
David J. Keil is Professor Emeritus and Director of the Robert F. Hoover Herbarium at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Robert W. Patterson is Professor of Biology at San Francisco State University.
Thomas J. Rosatti is Specialist at the University and Jepson Herbaria, University of California, Berkeley.
Dieter H. Wilken is Director of Conservation at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
"A book that will stand for many years as the ultimate reference and guide to California flora. . . . A miracle of descriptive botany."
- San Francisco Chronicle
"This is one remarkable cutting-edge flora. Put it on your shelf, peruse it and abuse it, fondle it, learn from it. But most importantly, do yourself a favor – buy it!"
- American Society of Plant Taxonomists
"California's extraordinary flora is described in contemporary detail in this handy volume, which should prove an inspiration to all of those interested in these plants, their habitats, and their importance to a state richer in botanical diversity than any other part of the United States. This is a thorough revision of an indispensible book."
- Peter H. Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden
"This second edition of The Jepson Manual is a monumental achievement! Far more than a simple update, the book has gone through a thorough revision, making it a must-have book for California plant enthusiasts-professional and lay alike."
- Lucinda McDade, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden
"Biogeographers, vegetation ecologists, and practitioners of conservation and restoration will all welcome the second edition of the Jepson Manual. Many improvements in this second edition include major taxonomic name changes, more information on habitat/range/phenology, better keys, and new illustrations. The second edition is more user-friendly, accurate, and scientifically rigorous. And these improvements are exactly the kind of recent, authoritative, and trusted flora needed."
- Michael G. Barbour, University of California, Davis