The Plant-Book: A Portable Dictionary of the Vascular Plants

The third edition of this tome is greatly expanded and revised, and continues to be an indispensable reference for anyone working in the area of phytochemical systematics. It is a 'must have'.

"Mabberly" is a definitive resource in any botanist's library. The treatment provides information about every seed bearing plant family and genus in the world. There is often additional information regarding special domestic culture, and/or special morphological or chemical traits within a genus. This is not a picture book- it is very dense with information and great buy. The book is hardbound in fascicles, which means the high quality binding will ensure it will last. It is such a significant resource in my personal and professional life that I bought one for my home and one for the office (Ok- I'm a plant nerd).

I purchased this reference a few years ago. Once I received it and began using it, I wondered how I'd ever gotten along without it. The author's British and so the dictionary's common names are more often "British" than "American", but it is still the handiest plant dictionary I have. It is a little larger than pocket size, but it is still small enough to be held comfortably in one hand.

This book does not need a review. Anybody who is involved in plants, other than the garden kind, knows full well that this is an essential reference. Quite up to date too, which is pretty amazing in view of the pace that science sets. There is an enormous mass of data in here, printed on very thin paper, making for a very handy book that will fit a spot near where you need it, which is likely to be often.

As a graduate student in ecology I often encounter unfamiliar genera in the literature, and a quick peek in Mabberley gives me enough taxonomic grounding to keep plowing ahead. By constantly referring to this book, I have greatly improved my knowledge of plant relationships.