This is the first fully documented flora for the former South Yorkshire Metropolitan County, containing the Districts of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield. The area ranges from the Pennine moorland plateau in the west, through the central Coal Measure woodland and mixed agricultural/industrial belt, to the varied Magnesian Limestone country and the famous lowland peat habitats of Thorne and Hatfield Moors in the east, the altitude ranging from 2,000 feet on the Pennine tops, down to sea level east of Doncaster.
Lavishly illustrated in full colour, this major work details over 2,000 vascular plant species, with 1 km square distribution maps for around 1,000 taxa, and contains upwards of 200,000 individual records collected since 2001.
There is comprehensive treatment of the climate, vegetation and soils; a chapter on botanical history since 1597; a guided tour of botanical "hotspots"; a section on alien and introduced plants; a complete guide to the geology of the area, and a section on plant conservation.
This publication will be an essential reference for everyone interested in the natural history of the region: academic, professional ecologist/land manager and amateur botanist/wildlife enthusiast. It provides a baseline against which human impact and environmental change across a dynamic and varied landscape can be assessed in the future.