Intermountain Flora; Vascular Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A., (Intermountain Flora)

"The taxonomic treatments for Intermountain Flora were published between 1972 and 2012 in eight parts, volumes 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, and 6. Included in this, the ninth part of the series, are miscellany that did not fit conveniently in the volumes with taxonomic treatments. For the past three years, we have informally referred to this volume as the 'Supplement,' but because of the mixed nature of the contents, we have decided to call it volume 7, 'the potpourri volume.' It contains acknowledgments of individuals and institutions; keys to all families; an alphabetical list of families with volume numbers and authors; a history of the project; biographies of Bobbi Angell, Rupert C. Barneby, Arthur Cronquist, Arthur H. Holmgren, Noel H. Holmgren, Patricia K. Holmgren, Jeanne R. Janish, Bassett Maguire, James L.^ Reveal, and Arnold (Jerry) Tiehm; photographs of authors, artists, and plant collectors of the Intermountain West; an update to the 1984 treatment of Intermountain Penstemon published in volume 4; a list of general references and online resources; an expanded glossary; a list of nomenclatural innovations, typifications, and chromosome data; an index to people whose photographs appear in Intermountain Flora; and a cumulative index for all seven volumes. The eight earlier volumes include descriptions of 146 vascular plant families (plus three cultivated families [Aquifoliaceae, Thymelaeaceae, and Tropaeolaceae] incidentally mentioned), 898 genera, 3847 species, and 1571 varieties. An additional 426 cultivated species and 551 extralimital taxa are treated in keys and/or discussions. The five largest families are Asteraceae (volume 5), Poaceae (volume 6), Fabaceae (volume 3B), Brassicaceae (volume 2B), and Scrophulariaceae (volume 4).^ The five largest genera are Astragalus (volume 3B), Eriogonom (volume 2A), Penstemon (volume 4), Carex (volume 6), and Erigeron (volume 5). The four authors (Barneby, Cronquist, Noel and Patricia Holmgren) based at the New York Botanical Garden prepared manuscript for 82% of the 3867 pages in the volumes with taxonomic treatments. In addition, Noel did the page composition and layout of illustrations, and Pat edited the manuscripts and compiled the index. In this volume, Noel designed the photo albums and prepared the keys to families, the history, the biographies of authors, artists, and Maguire, the Penstemon update, and the glossary, and Pat compiled the list of families and the indices, gathered photographs of the artists, authors, and collectors, and prepared the biography of Tiehm."--Introduction to volume 7.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.