Flora of North America Volume 8 will be the seventh of 19 volumes on dicotyledons to be published in the Flora of North America North of Mexico series. It treats 680 species classified among 125 genera in 19 families The larger families covered in Volume 8 include Crassulaceae (Stonecrop family), Ericaceae (Heath family), Grossulariaceae (Currant family), Myrsinaceae (Myrsine family), Primulaceae (Primrose family), and Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage family). Each genus has representative species illustrated with a line drawing that, in combination with keys and descriptions, will facilitate identifications of these groups of plants. Some of the genera treated in this volume with the most species in the flora include: Ribes (Grossulariaceae) with 53 species; Dudleya and Sedum (Crassulaceae) with 26 and 41 species, respectively; Heuchera, Micranthes, and Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae) with 31, 45, and 25 species, respectively; and Arctostaphylos, Rhododendron, and Vaccinium (Ericaceae) with 62, 25, and 25 species, respectively. Additionally, ten of the 46 genera of Ericaceae are endemic to the flora area. The ongoing publishing project Flora of North America is the first comprehensive taxonomic guide to the extraordinary diversity of plant life covering our continent north of Mexico. This ground breaking scholarly series is a collaborative effort by researchers at more than 30 U.S. and Canadian botanical institutions. The Flora provides revisions of many plant groups and synthesizes the results from studies published in hundreds of research papers over the last three centuries. The series, based on herbarium, laboratory and field studies by hundreds of leading botanists and taxonomic authorities, is this century's premier tool for identifying, understanding, and conserving North America's floristic heritage. Flora of North America, with beautiful illustrations accompanying many species, is concise and easy to use. It is an indispensable resource for botanists, conservationists, ecologists, agronomists, foresters, range and land managers, and horticulturists.
