AuthorClement, E.J., Smith, D.P.J. & Thirlwell, I.R.
Year2005
TitleIllustrations of Alien Plants of the British Isles
ISBN0 901158 32 1
TypeBook/Report
How CompleteA selection of alien species.
Source466pp, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI)
Illustrationsline drawings throughout
Review (by Malcolm Storey)

A collection of line drawings of alien plants prepared over forty-five (!) years by a number of different artists, many of whom didn’t live to see their work published.

Each species occupies a single full page. For small plants, the whole plant, including roots is drawn, whereas for larger spp a flowering shoot represents the growth form and leaves are shown separately. The drawings also include flowers, maybe a flower cross-section or corolla opened out, a fruit and/or a seed and a scale line. A reference to the page numbers in both full editions of Stace’s Flora appears at the foot of the page.

Inevitably, the coverage is patchy so Cotoneaster is not represented, on the other hand, there is a good range of Bamboos.

The oldest drawings date from a planned third volume of R.W.Butcher’s "A New Illustrated British Flora" (the drawings are presented in a similar format to that Flora) but this project was never completed. Over the years additional drawings have been added and the whole collection of 444 drawings is now published.

All the drawings are previously unpublished. None of the drawings in other publications (eg BSBI News, BSBI Handbook Series and Ryves, Clement and Foster’s "Alien Grasses of the British Isles") have been re-used here.

Examinein the field in the field ( with x8 or x10 hand lens is also useful)

Notes & PurposeStatusTaxonEnglishClassification
For identificationCurrentTRACHEOPHYTAvascular plantsPlantae
For identificationCurrentPTERIDOPHYTAferns and alliesPlantae
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