LON-CAPA Gymnosperm Database: Bookstore

The Gymnosperm Bookstore

In the course of developing the Gymnosperm Database, I have drawn on a wide array of information sources -- newspaper articles, articles from scientific journals, academic and popular books, historical materials, Internet data sources, e-mail from readers, conversation with conifer and cycad lovers (I'm afraid I have yet to meet a Gnetum nut), and personal field experience. Wherever possible, I have included links to the Internet data sources. This page provides access to commercial sources for printed matter. The first such source is the online bookstore, Amazon.com. Anything you purchase from Amazon using the links on this page will return a small royalty to me, which I will use to help defray the costs of maintaining this website. The second such source is any other online link to book sales, which I will use for books that Amazon does not carry. The third source, which will provide journal articles and some other materials from the technical literature, is the CARL UnCover database. UnCover charges frankly exorbitant fees -- usually you will pay more than $1 per page -- but if you do not have access to a large research library (either directly or through interlibrary loan), then you may find that UnCover provides a valuable service. Simply go there via the link below and use the UnCover search engine to find the article you seek.

All publications are listed alphabetically, by author. Books with a link may be purchased by clicking on the link ("Paperback" or"Hardcover" in most cases). For many titles, though, I have not provided a link, and for these you should just type the title into the Amazon search box below.

Advanced Book Exchange
for out-of-print books

Stephen F. Arno and Ramona P. Hammerly (Illustrator). 1978. Northwest Trees.

Excellent illustrations and fine nature writing. This and the next book are well worth owning.

Stephen F. Arno and Jane Gyer (Illustrator). 1986. Discovering Sierra Trees.

Chris Beatty and John Ledges. 1999. The Ecopress Complete Guide to Native Conifers of the Pacific Northwest.

Charles C. Beck and Charles B. Beck (Editor). 1988. Origin and Evolution of Gymnosperms. Columbia Univ Press.

Dale N. Bever. 1981. Northwest Conifers : A Photographic Key.

Exceptionally good for its photographs.

Richard Bird. 1995. Identifying Ornamental Conifers : The New Compact Study Guide and Identifier.

David Alan Charlet and Bridget Keimel (Illustrator). 1996. Atlas of Nevada Conifers: A Phytogeographic Reference.

I do enjoy this book. The substance is simply a detailed list of herbarium records and accompanying species range maps, but the interspersed woodcuts of cones and foliage are both lovely and very accurate, and the book is full of little detailed notes that will be appreciated by those who are lucky enough to go tree-hunting in the desolation of Nevada.

Edward A. Cope and Bente S. King (Illustrator). 1986. Native and Cultivated Conifers of Northeastern North America: A Guide.

Francis H. Elmore and Jeanne R. Janish. 1976. Shrubs and trees of the Southwest uplands. Tucson: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association.

Highly recommended as a field guide for botanical neophytes in the American southwest.

Neal J. Enright and Robert S. Hill (Editors). 1996. Ecology of the Southern Conifers

"Southern" as in the Southern hemisphere. If you are interested in the ecology of the Podocarps, Araucarias and esoteric southern Cupressaceae, then there is simply no alternative to this book; it is unique in the field.

Aljos Farjon. 1990. A Bibliography of Conifers.

I own this one, but let's be frank: you have to REALLY be into the subject to consider buying it. The last price I saw was $120!

Aljos Farjon. 1997. Pines : Drawings and Descriptions of the Genus Pinus. Brill Academic Publishers.

Aljos Farjon. 1991. Pinaceae : Drawings and Descriptions of the Genera : Abies, Cedrus, Pseudolarix, Keteleeria, Nothotsuga, Tsuga, Cathaya, Pseudotsuga, Larix and Picea. Lubrecht & Cramer Ltd.

A great book, but $245.00!

Aljos Farjon and B.T. Styles. 1997. Pinus (Pinaceae). Flora Neotropica Monograph 75. New York, NY: The New York Botanical Garden.

The current state of the art for pines of Mexico and Central America. It is a particularly welcome volume because the taxonomy of these pines has been deeply puzzling to botanists for over a century; this work clears up many old mysteries. Excellent supplementary material on anatomy, pollen morphology, ethnobotany, etc. Outstanding line drawings by Rosemary Wise.

Flora of Australia Volume 48: Ferns, Gymnosperms and Allied Groups. 1998. CSIRO Publishing.

Jerry F. Franklin and C.T. Dyrness. 1988. Natural vegetation of Oregon and Washington. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press.

William B. Gittlen (Illustrator). 1999. Discovered Alive; The Story of the Chinese Redwood. Pierside Publishing.

Gwen J. Harden (ed.). 1990. Flora of New South Wales. Kensington, NSW, Australia: New South Wales University Press.

Hal Hartzell Jr. 1991. The yew tree: a thousand whispers. Eugene, Oregon: Hulogosi L.L.C.

James C. Hickman (ed.). 1993. The Jepson Manual. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Edmund C. Jaeger. 1969. Desert wild flowers. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

David L. Jones. 1993. Cycads of the World. Smithsonian Institution Press.

Gerd Krussman, et al. 1985. Manual of Cultivated Conifers.

One of the most authoritative sources for the horticultural enthusiast, Krussman is generally very accurate, with good descriptions and some of the best line drawings to be found in print at this time. The taxonomy, however, is rather dated, and there is very little ecological information presented.

Ronald M. Lanner. 1981. The Pinon Pine : A Natural and Cultural History. Univ of Nevada Press.

Ronald M. Lanner. 1996. Made for Each Other : A Symbiosis of Birds and Pines. Oxford University Press.

Ronald M. Lanner. 1999. Conifers of California. Cachuma Press.

Paperback. Dr. Lanner's newest book provides technically accurate yet very readable descriptions of each of California's 50-odd conifer species. Notable features include beautiful full-page watercolor illustrations of cone and leaf detail, and superb color photos, many by well-known artists. Identification aids include keys, and the book is compact enough to carry around as you explore California's huge and accessible conifer flora.

Elbert L. Little, Jr., Sonja Bullaty (Photographer) and Angelo Lomeo (Photographer). 1980. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees : Eastern Region. Knopf.

Elbert L. Little, Jr. and Angelo Lomeo (Photographer). 1980. National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees : Western Region. Knopf.

Paul S. Martin, David Yetman and Mark Fishbein (Editors). 1998. Gentry's Rio Mayo Plants : The Tropical Deciduous Forest & Environs of Northwest Mexico (Southwest Center Series). University of Arizona Press (revised edition, originally published 1942 by Howard Scott Gentry).

Rogers McVaugh. 1992. Flora Nova-Galiciana : Gymnosperms and Pteridophytes. Univ of Michigan Herbarium.

Edwin A. Menninger. 1995. Fantastic Trees. Timber Press.

Moore, David M. 1983. Flora of Tierra del Fuego. U.S.A.: Missouri Botanical Garden.

Nancy R. Morin (Editor). 1993. Flora of North America North of Mexico : Pteridophytes and Gymnosperms. Oxford Univ Press.

John Muir. 1981. Sierra Big Trees. Vistabooks.

John Muir. 1997. The Mountains of California (originally published 1894).

Muir's chapter on forest trees of the Sierra Nevada is a classic of the botanical literature, accurate enough to be useful today (apart from numerous changes in taxonomic nomenclature) and yet wonderfully poetic and evocative. I would call this one of the ten best natural history studies ever written, a fitting companion to books (regretfully, almost devoid of gymnosperms) such as"Voyage of the Beagle" and"Sand County Almanac."

Alexandra L. Murphy, Robert Petty (Illustrator) and Kathleen Ort (Editor). 1994. Graced by Pines: The Ponderosa Pine in the American West. Mountain Press.

Hubertus Nimsch. 1995. A Reference Guide to the Gymnosperms of the World. Balogh Scientific Books.

Knut J. Norstog and Trevor J. Nicholls. 1997. The biology of the cycads. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

An outstanding and current reference source. Chapters treat: General features, genera and relationships; Anatomy of the stems, leaves and roots; Reproduction and embryo development; Physiology and growth; Population biology and pollination dynamics; The fossil cycadophytes; Old world genera and species; and New world genera and species. The 134 color illustrations provide an added treat.

Roberta Parish, Ray Coupé and Dennis Lloyd. 1996. Plants of southern interior British Columbia. Vancouver, BC: Lone Pine. 463p.

Donald Culross Peattie, Donald Wyman, and Paul Landacre (Illustrator). 1991. A Natural History of Western Trees. Houghton Mifflin Co. [originally published 1950].

Donald Culross Peattie, Donald Wyman, and Paul Landacre (Illustrator). 1991. A Natural History of Trees of Eastern and Central North America. Houghton Mifflin Co.

Jesse P. Perry and J. W. Duffield. 1991. The Pines of Mexico and Central America. Timber Press.

E.C. Pielou. 1988. The World of Northern Evergreens.

Jim Pojar and Andy MacKinnon (eds.). 1994. Plants of the Pacific Northwest coast. Vancouver, BC: Lone Pine.

The outstanding field guide for the area.

Richardson, D.M. (ed.). 1998. Ecology and Biogeography of Pinus. Cambridge University Press.

An outstanding volume, representing the work of 40 recognized experts, with 22 chapters addressing subjects as diverse as systematics, late Quaternary population dynamics, regional surveys, the role of fire, the evolution of life histories, genetic variation, seed dispersal, ecophysiology, mycorrhiza and soils, diseases and insect interactions, cultivation, and pines as invaders in the southern hemisphere.

Richard Evans Schultes and Robert F. Raffauf. 1990. The healing forest: medicinal and toxic plants of the northwest Amazonia. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press.

William K. Smith and Thomas M. Hinckley (Editors). 1994. Ecophysiology of Coniferous Forests.

I admit it, I've long had a weakness for physiological ecology, and I particularly recommend this book because I have studied (at least briefly) under both authors. If you are interested in the nuts and bolts of how these trees actually work, this and the book below provide the best introduction available.

William K. Smith and Thomas M. Hinckley (Editors). 1995. Resource Physiology of Conifers: Acquisition, Allocation, and Utilization.

Dennis Wm. Stevenson. 1990. The Biology, Structure, and Systematics of the Cycadales : Proceedings of the Symposium Cycad 87, Beaulieu-Sur-Mer, France, April 17-22, 1987). New York Botanical Garden.

D. M. Van Gelderen et al. 1996. Conifers : The Illustrated Encyclopedia.

Hardcover (Two volume set).

Van Gelderen is a horticulturalist, and this pair of volumes makes a very strong attempt to illustrate, with glossy color photographs, every taxon and cultivar of conifer. This is its prime value; the text is of much less consequence.

William A. Weber. 1987. Colorado Flora: Western Slope. Niwot, Colorado: University Press.

L. A. Viereck and E. L. Little, Jr. 1972. Alaska trees and shrubs. U.S.D.A. Agricultural Handbook 410. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Humphrey James Welch. 1991. The Conifer Manual (Forestry Sciences, Vol 34).

Robert Van Pelt. 1996. Champion Trees of Washington State. University of Washington Press.

Dwight Willard. 1998. A Guide to the Sequoia Groves of California. Yosemite Natural Hostory Assn.

This page is from the Gymnosperm Database
URL: http://www.geocities.com/~earlecj/bookstore/index.htm
Edited by Christopher J. Earle
E-mail:earlecj@earthlink.net
Last modified on 31-Oct-1999