The scientific literature on botany of western America is extensive. The
list that follows is for laymen as much as for botanists.
BENSON, LYMAN, and DARROW, ROBERT A. _A Manual of Southwestern Desert
Trees and Shrubs_, Biological Science Bulletin No. 6, University of
Arizona, Tucson, 1944. A thorough work of 411 pages, richly illustrated,
with general information added to scientific description.
CARR, WILLIAM HENRY. _Desert Parade: A Guide to Southwestern Desert
Plants and Wildlife_, Viking, New York, 1947.
CLEMENTS, FREDERIC E. and EDITH S. _Rocky Mountain Flowers_, H. W.
Wilson, New York, 1928. Scientific description, with glossary of terms
and key for identification.
COULTER, JOHN M. _Botany of Western Texas_, United States Department of
Agriculture, Washington, 1891-94. OP. Nothing has appeared during the
past sixty years to take the place of this master opus.
GEISER, SAMUEL WOOD. _Horticulture and Horticulturists in Early
Texas_, Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, 1945.
Historical-scientific, more technical than the author's _Naturalists of
the Frontier_.
JAEGER, EDMUND C. _Desert Wild Flowers_, Stanford University Press,
California, 1940, revised 1947. Scientific but designed for use by any
intelligent inquirer.
LUNDELL, CYRUS L., and collaborators. _Flora of Texas_, Southern
Methodist University Press, Dallas, 1942-. A "monumental" work, highly
technical, being published part by part.
MCKELVEY, SUSAN DELANO. _Yuccas of the Southwestern United States_,
Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1938. Definitive work in two
volumes.
_Range Plant Handbook_, prepared by the Forest Service of the United
States Department of Agriculture. United States Government Printing
Office, Washington, 1937. A veritable encyclopedia, illustrated.
SCHULZ, ELLEN D. _Texas Wild Flowers_, Chicago, 1928. Good as a
botanical guide and also for human uses; includes lore on many plants.
OP. _Cactus Culture_, Orange Judd, New York, 1932. Now in revised
edition.
SILVIUS, W. A. _Texas Grasses_, published by the author, San
Antonio, 1933. A monument, of 782 illustrated pages, to a lifetime's
disinterested following of knowledge "like a star."
STEVENS, WILLIAM CHASE. _Kansas Wild Flowers_, University of Kansas
Press, Lawrence, 1948. This is more than a state book, and the
integration of knowledge, wisdom, and appreciation of flower life with
botanical science makes it appeal to layman as well as to botanist. 463
pages, 774 illustrations. Applicable to the whole plains area.
STOCKWELL, WILLIAM PALMER, and BREAZEALE, LUCRETIA. _Arizona Cacti_,
Biological Science Bulletin No. 1, University of Arizona, Tucson, 1933.
Beautifully illustrated.
THORNBER, JOHN JAMES, and BONKER, FRANCES. _The Fantastic Clan: The
Cactus Family_, New York, 1932. OP.
THORP, BENJAMIN CARROLL. _Texas Range Grasses_, University of
Texas Press, Austin, 1952. A survey of 168 species of grasses, their
adaptability to soils and regions, and their values for grazing.
Beautifully illustrated and printed, but no index.
WHITEHOUSE, EULA. _Texas Wild Flowers in Natural Colors_, 1936;
republished 1948 in Dallas. OP. Toward 200 flowers are pictured in
colors, each in conjunction with descriptive material. The finding lists
are designed to enable novices to identify flowers. A charming book.
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