Packer and Gould have provided an invaluable service for anyone interested in western North American botany by creating a simple, user-friendly and portable key to the 21,000 Alberta species found in the 30-volume set of Flora of North America. Designed to be carried into the field for handy reference and use, Vascular Plants of Alberta, Part 1 incorporates the new names and taxonomical understandings that have accumulated over the years. Part 1 of what will be a three-volume set contains the up-to-date classification of the ferns, fern allies, gymnosperms, and monocots found in Alberta according to the latest taxonomic findings.
John G Packer is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta. He was curator of the Vascular Plant Herbarium at the University of Alberta from 1958 to 1988. He is the author of Flora of Alberta, 2nd edition (1983).
A Joyce Gould is the Science Coordinator in the Parks Division of Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation. She is the co-editor of Rare Vascular Plants of Alberta (2000).