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Grace Greylock Niles was a botanist, teacher, collector, photographer, free spirit, swamp-explorer, writer, and nature enthusiast. This fascinating and beautifully illustrated book opens the readers' eyes and mind to a world of natural beauty that few would dare to explore. A native of Vermont, the author spent decades exploring the flora and fauna of the northeast, but her special interest in orchids inspired her tireless “bog-trotting.”

This type of book, an illustrated flora, is an example of the core collection of worldwide floras the Botany and Horticulture Library has in its 100,000 plus volume collection. Floras are limited-print scientific texts used by botanists throughout the world for plant identification and to answer botanical nomenclature questions. This book describes 600 plants, their characteristics, and medicinal effects. Additionally, it shows 117 plants with black and white illustrations. The author is a scientist and as well as a botanical artist.

This botanical study of meridional Brazilian flora was conducted in 1929. Written in Portuguese, it is lavishly illustrated with black-and-white photographs. Frederico Carlos Hoehne (1882-1959) was a Brazilian botanist associated with the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro and the Institute of Botany in São Paulo. He surveyed the botany of Brazil’s interior and published numerous studies and articles on the local flora.

In this novel, the titular "Gardener” is the book’s author, Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright and “The Commuter” is based on her husband, James Osborne Wright. The dedication reads “This Book belongs to the Commuter.” The story is filled with people who love family and nature, and the black-and-white photos invite the viewer into this genteel world. The Gardener is inspired to make her husband’s home a place of beauty and serenity. Mabel Osgood Wright (American, 1859-1934) was a remarkable and accomplished woman.

This is not a typical book on gardening methods, but rather a meditation on how each of us responds to a garden as a place, and on the importance of gardens to humans’ well-being. Chapter topics include the “social side of gardens” and "gardens of well-known people." Author Hildegarde Hawthorne was the granddaughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne and a prolific writer in her own right. The book is richly illustrated with drawings and black-and-white photographs. The last chapter speculates about America’s future gardens. Will we have stately gardens similar to those in England, Italy, and France?

The Kreuterbuch of Adam Lonicer (1528-1586), first published in 1557, is an early example of a bestseller—the book remained in print in various forms through 1783, which is a testament to its popular appeal. Although the name Kreuterbuch literally translates to “herb book,” and most of it is indeed about plants, a great deal of the book is devoted to describing the natures and uses of animals, metals, and gemstones.

This beautifully illustrated pattern book, part of a five volume study of mid-19th century French architecture by artist and chromolithographer Victor Petit, includes fifty color lithographs of designs for gardens. The colorful, full-page illustrations provide designs for the placement of paths, flowerbeds, waterways, and garden structures for properties ranging from one sixth of an acre to more than seven and a half acres.

James Bateman (1811-1897) was a renowned horticulturist, specifically focused on orchidology. He was a highly regarded researcher and landscaper who promoted the analysis and cultivation of flowers and hosted several scholarly expeditions to Mexico and South America.

This book takes an illustrative scientific approach towards understanding how interwoven conditions such as hydrology, oxygen levels, and plant canopies impact the types of species that can be found in freshwater wetlands. These ‘abiotic’ factors contribute to the overall development and adaptation of microorganisms, invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants in wetlands. Even with the scientific approach, The Biology of Freshwater Wetlands is easy to read for researchers, students, and others interested in ecology.

Dinoflagellates are single celled organisms in the kingdom ‘Protista.’ They are important primary producers (make food through photosynthesis), symbionts (live dependently but peacefully with/on other organisms), consumers (they eat things), and parasites. Some produce harmful toxins which can impact humans. Yet there has been a lack of comprehensive taxonomic studies on these species.

The first edition of Peter Henderson’s Gardening for Profit was published in 1867, two years after the Civil War ended, and sold 100,000 copies. It’s considered the first book written on market gardening in the United States. Market gardening is defined as small scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers, from less than an acre to a few acres. In today's world, you may meet a market gardener at your local farmer's market. 

Beautiful Gardens in America (both the 1915 and 1924 editions) is Louise Shelton’s most important work and a noted work of twentieth century American gardening and cultural history. This 1924 edition includes 11 color and 274 half-tone photos (a large increase from the 1915 edition) of notable American gardens of the time. Both photos and gardens were carefully selected by the author and cover many regions of the country and varying climatic conditions.

From the smallest cells to vast, swirling nebulae; from plumes of volcanic ash and rock to the relationships of primates; William L. Staley carefully details life on Earth as we know it.  He does so with the help of My Pal, a cartoon bacterium.  The result is a bit silly but informative and inviting.  Printed on coated paper and frequently dotted with illustrations, cartoons, and photographs (of special note is the fold-out photo of the skeleton from fish to man at the end).  This first edition copy is signed and dated by the author. 

The Azores, an archipelago of volcanic islands west of Portugal, undoubtedly possesses one of the most unique and ever-changing environments on the planet.  Within these lush and vibrant islands lie flora and fauna never seen before.  In fact, it is not unusual to discover new species on the islands.

Johann Amman (1707-1741) was a Swiss-born doctor and botanist who actively corresponded with both Hans Sloane and Carl Linnaeus. Johann Amman did much to advance the study of botany in Russia—his 1739 Stirpium Rariorum was one of the first botanical works to be published by the Russian Academy of Sciences at Saint Petersburg, at which he was Chair of Botany. In addition, he cultivated a number of the specimens described in the book in the Academy’s Botanical Garden, which he founded.

Grazing. Fire. Water. All issues important out West, all issues pertinent to rangeland ecology and management, and all addressed in this comprehensive book. For scientists who study natural processes, such as the research staff at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (where this book resides), there is much to be learned from this text. Deer, insects, and other herbivores graze, and grazing has impacts on plant physiology and morphology, energy flow through ecosystems, and other ecosystem effects. Fire and water also profoundly shape both managed and natural systems.

This book is a collection of chapters, each written by experts in their ecological discipline. It covers the role of both insects and vertebrate animals (those with a backbone) in desert ecosystems, how nutrients move through the system (‘nutrient cycling’ is a hot topic for those who study ecosystems), and how plants adapt to the soils and rainfall in deserts. An important text for anyone who studies these phenomenon in deserts and elsewhere.