Since its first publication in 1991, New Flora of the British Isles has become established as the standard work on the identification of the wild vascular plants of the British Isles. The Flora remains unique in many features, including its full coverage of all British wild plants, its user-friendly organisation, and its specially compiled keys and descriptions. This new edition includes the addition of more than 160 species, so that 4,800 taxa are now covered in varying degrees of detail. It also incorporates the new molecular system of classification based on DNA sequences. Furthermore, it includes 1600 species illustrations, rewritten distributions and an overhaul of the designation of degrees of rarity, with the introduction of a third, less rare, category. These revisions should ensure that this third edition remains the essential reference source for all taxonomists, ecologists, conservationists, plant hunters and biogeographers, whether they be researchers, teachers, students or amateurs.
| ||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £22.28
Trade in New Flora of the British Isles Plastic Cover for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £22.28, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Card, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more
|
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
'… Stace's Flora is a mine of information, a model of clarity and organization, and one that no serious Irish or British botanist should be without.' The Irish Naturalist Journal
'The New Flora is a remarkable work … I for one have nothing but admiration for the accuracy of the text.' British Wildlife
'Clive Stace's Flora is a tour de force, a mine of information and absolutely indispensable for anyone who has more than a passing interest in British plants.' Trends in Ecology and Evolution
'Among the very best of Floras.' Rudolf Schmid, University of California
'Clive Stace has become a household name amongst British field botanists since his first edition … I would recommend this new edition to any serious botanist.' Scottish Wildlife
'… an authoritative and user-friendly Flora that will be our standard for taxonomy, nomenclature, and identification for some time to come.' Watsonia
'Stace 3 will be the flora of choice for all serious botanists in Britain and Ireland for the foreseeable future. It is THE book to use.' M. F. Fay, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
'The New Flora of the British Isles is a standard not only among British botanists but also on the shelves of other European botanists, and I can only congratulate this outstanding presentation of the British flora'. Lars Fröberg, Systematic Biology
'This reference is essential to anyone interested in this flora; no other text is as comprehensive.' S. L. Timme, Choice Magazine
'The New Flora is a remarkable work … I for one have nothing but admiration for the accuracy of the text.' British Wildlife
'Clive Stace's Flora is a tour de force, a mine of information and absolutely indispensable for anyone who has more than a passing interest in British plants.' Trends in Ecology and Evolution
'Among the very best of Floras.' Rudolf Schmid, University of California
'Clive Stace has become a household name amongst British field botanists since his first edition … I would recommend this new edition to any serious botanist.' Scottish Wildlife
'… an authoritative and user-friendly Flora that will be our standard for taxonomy, nomenclature, and identification for some time to come.' Watsonia
'Stace 3 will be the flora of choice for all serious botanists in Britain and Ireland for the foreseeable future. It is THE book to use.' M. F. Fay, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society
'The New Flora of the British Isles is a standard not only among British botanists but also on the shelves of other European botanists, and I can only congratulate this outstanding presentation of the British flora'. Lars Fröberg, Systematic Biology
'This reference is essential to anyone interested in this flora; no other text is as comprehensive.' S. L. Timme, Choice Magazine
Book Description
Established as the standard work on the identification of the wild vascular plants of the British Isles, now in its third edition, New Flora of the British Isles includes the addition of more than 160 species, rewritten distributions and degrees of rarity and a new DNA sequence system of classification.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the standard text for any botanist whether amateur or professional. I reach for it every day and every day I learn something new. I would recommend that you also buy Stace's Field Flora of the British Isles which is a condensed form (subspecies?) of this book so is much smaller and easier to carry in the field. But don't buy just the Field Flora as the text and hence the information contained therein is also condensed. A word of warning: The New Flora is a technical book written by an acomplished professional taxonomist/botanist for professionals but don't let this deter any new comers to botany it is still good to have along with the more basic guides such as the Collins Guide to the Wildflowers of Britain and Ireland by Fitter et al. As you begin to identify plants using the basic guides you can also refer to Stace and you will eventually get used to the technical language of Stace. I use Stace as my primary text for identifying plants but still refer to the basic texts for pictures just to be absolutley certain. All in all buy it along with the Field Flora but have at least one of the basic texts also.
63 of 67 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Stace's Flora lists virtually all the species likely to be found growing wild (including established introductions) within the British Isles but it is rather too large and heavy to be used in the field-his Field Flora is much more suitable for that purpose. It is very technical and, although the keys work, a fair amount of experience is required before they are of much use. I find his omission of any indication of flowering times particularly annoying. I realise these vary depending upon where the plant is growing, but most flora's give at least a rough indication and it certainly aids identification. There are a number of very useful illustration showing the differences between the more critical genera (e.g.Alchemilla) and these are very useful. An essential book for the serious (amateur or professional) botanist but I still find the earlier Flora's (by CTW and CTM) easier to use even though the nomenclature is a bit outdated, they also give a lot of additional useful information (e.g.pollinating agents) which Stace generally omits.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By kbh
Format:Paperback
My copy of Stace's first edition is looking very dog-eared and worn from too many field trips, so the appearance of version 3 prompted a well-overdue upgrade. Still as useful as ever - descriptions focus on the essentials, and the expanded range of species covers most eventualities. As other reviewers have commented, you have to know how to use a technical botanical key, but these are relatively easy to use (apart from a maybe inevitable reliance on overlapping measurements - are the lemmas 4.2 - 6mm, or 4.4 - 8mm long???). The nomenclature and taxonomic changes in this edition also justify the upgrade. My main note of caution is the robustness of the soft plastic cover, which will eventually part company with the pages within if you carry it round in the field for too long. I assume a hardback edition would've been prohibitively expensive, so handle with care or keep it on your desk. The other thing to understand is this is an identification guide, no more and no less - descriptions are inevitably short in order to pack in the species, so you will need to read more widely to learn more about a particular plant.
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent reference - but not for the 'beginner'. You have to know your botanical vocabulary to make use of this book (it does have a good glossary though). The black & white, sometimes not too clear, illustrations are there purely as an aid to the written descriptions.
I chose this over Stace's 'Field Flora' as it is not that much larger or heavier. I have used it successfully in the field and despite some initial reservations as to construction my copy has survived outdoor use well.
The less experienced (or those who enjoy good illustrations) should look at 'The Wild Flower Key' (Revised Edition) [ASIN:0723251754] br Francis Rose & Clare O'Reilly.
I chose this over Stace's 'Field Flora' as it is not that much larger or heavier. I have used it successfully in the field and despite some initial reservations as to construction my copy has survived outdoor use well.
The less experienced (or those who enjoy good illustrations) should look at 'The Wild Flower Key' (Revised Edition) [ASIN:0723251754] br Francis Rose & Clare O'Reilly.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Sean
Format:Paperback
The new definitive work, almost faultless. Although it is essentially a book of words and not a colour picture guide, it is liberally illustrated in B&W with all the characters and details that you need for identification. Use it together with whatever colour guide you like. Compared with much else on the shelves, Stace treats you like a grown up and uses technical terms when necessary, but they are all in the short glossary so no problem. Yes, it requires a little effort and involvement, but rewards you with a real understanding as to why your plant is what it is. If you are not familiar with the 'key' system, don't be daunted -- it has worked for hundreds of years and despite many attempts has never been bettered. The book covers only 'vascular' plants, that is ferns, flowering plants (including grasses etc.), and trees. But not mosses, lichens, fungi etc.. The new edition has been expanded further to include almost all non-native plants that might be found in the 'wild'. If you are serious about plant identification, then this book must be on your shelves.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Trilby
Format:Paperback
Another edition of what is the current standard scientific identification guide, Stace's "New Flora", replaces the second. In this third edition more use has been made of desk-top publishing software, and Cambridge University Press has been more involved in the final stages of production.
The British Flora comprises a burgeoning membership: 160 new species have been added since the previous version; and more up-to-date information has been incorporated, using Botanical survey data published in the "New Atlas of the British Flora". This volume, like its predecessor, "Flora of the British Isles" by Clapham, Tutin and Warburg (and Moore in the last edition) is for the most part a series of keys - paired, contrasting descriptions of diagnostic detail which lead through a succession of further descriptions to a species name with summary description and general notes - and is an example of the normal scientific process of identification. The verbal detail is supported by 1600 illustrations (line drawings or half-tone plates) clarifying distinguishing features. The whole text has been revised and now covers 4800 taxa, i.e. species, hybrids and definable taxonomic levels below the specific. The reason why the number is so large is an acknowledgement of the likelihood of encountering cultivated escapes which have domiciled themselves in the countryside of the British Isles. A new feature is the influence of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's classification scheme, to which users of older publications are having to become accustomed; the impact of molecular studies on the genetics of plants affects nomenclature not just at specific or lower level, but many familial and other ranks have been widely reconstituted.... Read more ›
The British Flora comprises a burgeoning membership: 160 new species have been added since the previous version; and more up-to-date information has been incorporated, using Botanical survey data published in the "New Atlas of the British Flora". This volume, like its predecessor, "Flora of the British Isles" by Clapham, Tutin and Warburg (and Moore in the last edition) is for the most part a series of keys - paired, contrasting descriptions of diagnostic detail which lead through a succession of further descriptions to a species name with summary description and general notes - and is an example of the normal scientific process of identification. The verbal detail is supported by 1600 illustrations (line drawings or half-tone plates) clarifying distinguishing features. The whole text has been revised and now covers 4800 taxa, i.e. species, hybrids and definable taxonomic levels below the specific. The reason why the number is so large is an acknowledgement of the likelihood of encountering cultivated escapes which have domiciled themselves in the countryside of the British Isles. A new feature is the influence of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group's classification scheme, to which users of older publications are having to become accustomed; the impact of molecular studies on the genetics of plants affects nomenclature not just at specific or lower level, but many familial and other ranks have been widely reconstituted.... Read more ›
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The essential book for botanists
I bought Stace's New Flora after enrolling on a plant identification course and it has proved invaluable. Highly recommended for all students of botany.
Published 2 months ago by Lensman400
4.0 out of 5 stars
New Flora of the British Isles
This is definately an academic book only for the serious student botanist.
It is bang up to date and contains all the latest information you could need. Read more
It is bang up to date and contains all the latest information you could need. Read more
Published 3 months ago by coffee pot
4.0 out of 5 stars
For those already expert
Very useful if you know all the technical terms and want to get deep into the detail of something you already know quite a lot about.
Published 10 months ago by James N
1.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Book - This is the old edition not the newer 2010 edition
Stace's book is the standard flora of the British Isles, with fantastic range of the most detailed and accurate information. This listing is the OLD SECOND edition. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Prof J. Heslop-harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great piece of work
An amazing amount of work has gone into this standard reference work for plant identification. Despite it's bulk, it is well worth taking in the field - far preferable to a cut... Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2010 by Redshark
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential botanical text
Stace is a text that the keen botanist cannot be without. The second edition was starting to become dated, particularly with the advances in plant taxonomy, so this third edition... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2010 by RichPop
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stace New Flora
I knew what to expect from this book before I bought it, as I've used it before. If you're serious about species identification, then this book is essential. Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by S. Shorter
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
