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Books on Palms, Cycads, and Exotic Tropical Plants
Books can be an essential part of the
gardening and plant collecting experience. The selections listed here are
the books that I have found to be the most useful and interesting through
my years of reading and review. Any (or actually all) of these books should
have a valuable place in your plant library.
To buy any of these books please follow
the links below to Amazon.com.
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Palms
Throughout the World
by David L. Jones
Cycads
of the World
by David L. Jones
David Jones' palm and cycad books are
some of the best available general overviews of their topic. Each has a
long and detailed introduction filled with both botanic and
horticultural information presented in a way that is understandable to
the beginner without being boring to the expert. Growers of all
abilities will find that a thorough reading of these sections will give
them a solid grounding in the basics of either palm or cycad growing,
better then will be found elsewhere. For me the beauty (and utility) of
these books comes in the long and profusely illustrated sections
describing individual species. Palms Throughout the World has some of
the most complete descriptions of some genera, notably Licuala and
Pinanga, that I've seen anywhere.
Cycads of the World is one of my indispensable references, especially
with the large number of species of cycads which have been recently
described. Cycad taxonomy is an active field and this book is one of
the most comprehensive that I know of. These books are not only
valuable reference books, but also genuine fun to read.
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Field
Guide to the Palms of the Americas
by Andrew Henderson
Softcover, also available in Hardcover.
Although this book is somewhat
controversial in palm circles for its combinations of species (lumping,
not splitting), I find that it is one of the palm reference books I use
most often. It has virtually no cultivation information and few
photographs, but the detailed descriptions of every palm in this
hemisphere are certainly worth the price of the book.
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Betrocks
Guide to Landscape Palms
by Alan Meerow
This is a good introductory guide to
palms for use in landscaping, especially in Florida where the author
resides. The format, where each page is a data sheet on a single
species, makes comparison of choices between species easier and should
make this book useful for the landscaper or homeowner deciding on how
to plant their lot. It has good color photos of each species and also frequently
hard to find information on factors like salt tolerance and LY
resistance.
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Diseases
and Disorders of Ornamental Palms
by
Henry Donselman
The problem with a book such as this
one is the tendency for the reader to become a bit of a plant
hypochondriac, seeing diseases that aren't really there and always
worrying about the terrors of the natural world. Nonetheless, this is
the definitive work on palm diseases and is profusely illustrated with
color photographs. While I hope not to have to use it too often, it is
an indispensable reference work and one I recommend to anyone who has
wondered if that recently sickly plant is just underfertilized or if
something worse is happening.
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Genera
Palmarum: A Classification of Palms
Based
on the Work of Harold MooreJR
by Natalie W. Uhl & John Dransfield
The big book of palm genera. This
book features a detailed botanic description of every genus of palms
known at the time of publication. While it is not much on cultivation
information or detailed species lists, there is more botanical
information on palms here than anywhere else. No other book has
information on every genus, and, although it reads like an
encyclopedia, it should be in every serious palm collector's library.
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The
Palms of Madagascar
by John Dransfield & Hank
Beentje
The many and varied palms of
Madagascar have been hot recently, and their popularity has certainly
been fueled by this wonderful book. With more color photos than any
serious botanic text that I have ever seen, this is another of the
books that is off my shelves the most often. I use it both for
reference, to research some new palm of which I have just been offered
seeds, and to browse through the profusion of photographs. Expensive
and totally worthwhile.
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Chamaedorea
Palms, The Species and Their Cultivation
by
Don Hodel
This is the definitive book on the most popular genus of palms for
indoor growing. It is written and filled with color photographs by Don
Hodel, who is a well known expert on the genus. Just as Chamaedorea
palms deserve a place in any serious palm collection, this book
deserves a space on any serious palm collector's bookshelf.
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The
Palms of the Amazon
by Andrew Henderson
As a nurseryman, I found this book's
lack of photographs to be a disappointment. While it is a definitive
text on the palms of the Amazon basin, I find it to be less useful than
Henderson's "Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas" which
I use often. This is really one for the specialists.
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The
Island of the Colorblind and Cycad Island
by Oliver W. Sacks
Not really a plant growing book, but
two very interesting ethnobotanical studies by the esteemed
neurologist, Oliver Sacks, who is also an excellent author. I enjoyed
this one.
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Palms - Rare Palms & Cycads
P.O. Box 3 Pahoa, HI 96778
(808) 936-2580
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