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FLORA
OF THE CHICAGO REGION (FCA)
A
TAXONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL SYNTHESIS
| The first edition of the book Plants of the Chicago Region
was published in 1969 by Floyd Swink. With the help of Chicago's
floristic patrons and naturalists, Floyd, in 1974, was able to produce
a 2nd edition that sustained the innovations of the first and added
much new information on local species. Five years later, after much new information had |
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been accumulated, Gerould Wilhelm collaborated more
intimately with Floyd to produce yet a third edition.
Still at the
Morton Arboretum, Swink and Wilhelm nevertheless worked together to
accommodate a throng of local botanists with yet another edition. In
1994, Bill N. McKnight, of the Indiana Academy of Sciences sponsored
the production of the now widely acclaimed 4th edition.
Read the Plants of the
Chicago Region prospectus and memoir by Gerould
Wilhelm.
Today, Conservation Research Institute in conjunction with the Indiana
Academy of Sciences offers a sponsorship opportunity for you to help
fund the preparation of this new valuable resource. Authors Gerould
Wilhelm and Laura Rericha are blending floristic, faunistic, and
geological observations in this original reference. The synthesis of
other organisms, plant and animal that are interlinked with our species
is heretofore unknown among floristic works of this scale.
Flora of the Chicago
Region Sponsorship Form
Contributors Honor Roll
Benefactor
Patron Plus
Barbara
Gore, in memory of Jean and Spence Gore, her parents
Patron
Bob and Mary Wilhelm
Betula papyrifera
Jimmy F. New Foundation
William and Sibylla Brown
Agalinis gattingeri
Heidi Natura
Wulfenia bullii
Greater DuPage Chapter, Wild Ones Echinacea
pallida
Victoria Trauscht
Pycnanthemum virginianum
Marion and Gene Cartwright
Cornus alternifolia
Jack
and Terry Shouba
Corylus americana
June and Steve Keibler
Platanthera leucophaea
Friends of Snuffy's
Prairie
Aster sericeus, Baptisia leucophaea,
Gentiana andrewsii, Gentiana
puberulenta, Lilium
michiganense
Northern Kane County Wild Ones
Quercus
macrocarpa
Linda W. Curtis
Megalodonta
beckii
Joyce Proper
Hepatica americana
Plantsmen
Scott and Lindsay Namestnik
Andrew J. Blackburn
Dr. and Mrs. William M. Zales
Chuck and Pat Armstrong
Mary Ann Crayton
Bruce Davidson
John Mariani
Patricia Hill
Roger Hotham
Alan and Barbara Wilson
Lois Morrison
Day Waterman
Paul Sorensen
Bill McKnight and Family
Kirk Garanflo
Flower Chaser
Fred Chase
Fayette Aurelia Nichols
Monica Buckley
FCA PARTNERS
 |
Indiana Academy of
Science
Click here to
learn more. |
Why
You
Should Support the FCA:
- Help engage natural
historians and like-minded citizens in an understanding of and an
empathy with the living things around us---the stories they have to
tell us
- Help accelerate the
completion date (at the current rate of work, we estimate that the
manuscript might not be finished until 2018--this is unacceptable to
all involved, especially those awaiting its availability) The slow pace
is in large-part due to the fact that the senior author's job currently
only allows him to work on the book during evenings, days-off, and on
weekends
The FCA
will include most of the information from the 4th Edition of the Plants
of the Chicago Region, PLUS the following:
- Etymology of generic and
specific names
- Morphological
descriptions of each family, genus, and species
- Re-evaluations of many
problematic genera, including Amelanchier, Chenopodium, Crataegus,
Echinochloa, Panicum, Rubus, and Salix. In most cases, a return to the
original works of these genera is critical and necessary to understand
them
- Addition of a whole new
section of associates that account for all the insects, birds, and
mammals that have intimate relationships with our vascular plants:
nectaring of pollen extrafloral nectaries, gall formation, herbivory,
seed or fruit utilization, myrmecochory, et cetera
- Where vascular plants, or
their communities have characteristic associations with bryophytes and
lichens, these cryptogams are mentioned
- The lists of associated
vascular plant are being revised to create additional space
- Nomenclatural alignments,
while still conservative, are much more "current" than any of the PCR
editions
- Fine-tuning of the
coefficients of conservatism
- The abstruse but
important aspects of local surface geology are integrated into plant
community understandings, and the natural communities section is
expanded
- Updated dot
distribution maps
- Illustrations (900)
of the key floral features for each genus (occasionally fruits and/or
leaves)
Significant
New Features of the Book:
- Illustration for each
genus
- Derivation of names
- Animal (vertebrate and
invertebrate) associates
- Expanded natural
communities sections including photos
- Discussion on geologic
features as it pertains to the vegetation
- Revised treatments of all
problematic genera (e.g., Crataegus, Panicum, Rubus, etc.)
- Cryptogamic associates,
etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
Native
Root Diagram
Size: 18” x
24”.
Available in poster or electronic format.
Click here
to download the order form. |
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