Description: From lava fields and expansive dunes to the shores of the Gulf of California, the Gran Desierto is one of the hottest and driest places in the Western Hemisphere. Yet this region, in the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico, embraces a remarkable number of habitats with a fascinating and surprisingly rich flora.

Flora of the Gran Desierto is the culmination of more than twenty-five years of research in this magnificent desert and riverine delta by botanist Richard Felger. This comprehensive floristic study of more than 565 species of vascular plants features original diagnostic descriptions and innovative identification keys to the families, genera, and species. Particular attention has been devoted to taxa that are poorly known, and even weeds and their histories are treated in detail. Hundreds of illustrations aid in the identification of plants. Common names of plants are given in English, Spanish, and O'odham.

While emphasizing scientific accuracy, the book has been written in an accessible style. Felger's observations and knowledge of plant ecology, geographic distribution, evolution, ethnobotany, plant variation and special adaptations, and history of the region will provide botanists, natural historians, ecologists, conservationists and anyone celebrating the desert with readable, interesting, and important information.

Flora of the Gran Desierto represents a most creative, definitive, and enthusiastic treatment of Sonoran Desert plant life and is highly relevant to ecological restoration in deserts and wetlands in arid places worldwide.

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