Flowering Plants of the World

Intended as a coffee table book for every household, Heywood became in the 1970's the "botany bible" that opened the eyes of world-traveling naturalists to the magnificent diversity of the world's flowering plants . At long last we had a chance to identify that fantastic tropical tree and what it was used for economically. To this day, 40 years later, I consult Heywood daily with joy. I have bought crates of this book to distribute as gifts to my students. It is true that contemporary plant systematists are revolutionizing the world of plant taxonomy with new molecular data, and deride Heywood as obsolete. Family names and relationships are in a maddening confusing state of flux, will change tomorrow. Heywood provides great practical and professional information under the traditional family names.

The book is a good, fundamental reference for flowering plants. I use it to supplement courses in botany and find it popular with my students. Indices & glossary are excellent, as are the figures for identifying features of reproductive and vegetative anatomy of plants.