An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms Book

Co-written by the author of the award-winning The Tropical Look, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms offers a definitive account of palms that may be grown in the garden and landscape. Because palms are often underutilized as a result of their unfamiliarity---even to tropical gardeners---Robert Lee Riffle and Paul Craft have exhaustively documented every genus in the palm family. Approximately 890 species are described in detail, including cold hardiness, water needs, height, and any special requirements. No gardener or landscaper who reads this book should ever again lose a palm solely because of lack of horticultural information.

Generously illustrated with more than 900 photos, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms is as valuable as an identification guide as it is a practical handbook. The volume even contains photos of several palm species that have never before appeared in a general encyclopedia. Interesting snippets of history, ethnobotany, and biology inform the text and make this a lively catalog of these remarkable plants.

As well as all of the tropical and subtropical palms, the encyclopedia includes many species that can withstand freezing; thus it is applicable for areas where average low temperatures do not drop below 5ºF (-15ºC).

Many features of the book add to its usefulness for the amateur or professional grower. Extensive landscape lists group together palms with special characteristics, such as drought tolerance, salt tolerance, and slow growth, to name a few. A unique appendix with notes on germinating seed of selected palms will prove invaluable to gardeners and nursery professionals who wish to grow palms from seed. In all, An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms offers a wealth of information to horticulturists at every level of experience.