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Kentucky's rich soil and wonderfully diverse landscapes have for
centuries made the state a welcoming habitat for a dazzling variety
of wildflowers. From the delicate Kentucky glade cress to the fiery
royal catchfly, flowers, grasses, and sedges nestle on rocky
hillsides, bask in open woodlands and prairies, and even manage to
thrive in busy rights of way and roadsides. As demand for natural
resources and land for development and housing in the Commonwealth
grows, land use and habitats are quickly changing. Unfortunately,
this translates into disappearing or degraded habitats for a host
of remarkable wildflowers. Currently 255 plant species in Kentucky
are considered endangered or threatened, and there are more than 50
potential additions to the list. Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky
provides an introduction to Kentucky's signature rare plants with
220 gorgeous full-color photographs by Thomas G. Barnes, a
naturalist and award-winning photographer. These rare wildflowers
and their descriptions are organized by habitat, and the book draws
attention to the enduring beauty of Kentucky's old-growth forests,
prairies, wetlands, and other habitats. In addition to serving as a
stunning photographic record of Kentucky's rare plants, the book
examines ecological communities and the ways in which they are
threatened. The authors also explain how various plants have become
endangered over the decades and suggest concrete steps for
conservation and preservation at both the government and private
level. The book also includes references, a list of scientific and
common species names, and a list of each plant's endangered status
that is especially useful to gardeners, botanists, and
horticultural professionals. Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky is both a
celebration and a call to action to save the plants that are a
vital part of Kentucky's natural heritage.
Kentucky's abundance of plant and animal life, from the bottomland
swamps in the west to the rich Appalachian forests in the east, is
extraordinary as well as beautiful. Glades, prairies, forests,
wetlands, rivers, and caves form a biologically diverse patchwork
that is unique to the state. Kentucky's Natural Heritage: An
Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity provides an essential reference
to the remarkable natural history of the commonwealth and is a
rallying call for the conservation of this priceless legacy.
Kentucky's ecosystems teem with diverse native species, some of
which are found nowhere else in the world. Kentucky's Natural
Heritage brings these sometimes elusive creatures into close view,
from black-throated green warblers to lizard skin liverworts. The
aquatic systems of the state are home to rainbow darters, ghost
crayfish, salamander mussels, and an impressive array of other
species that constitute some of the greatest levels of freshwater
diversity on the planet. Kentucky's Natural Heritage presents a
persuasive argument for conservation of the state's biodiversity.
Organized by a team from the Kentucky State Nature Preserves
Commission, the book is an outgrowth of the agency's focus on
biodiversity protection. Richly detailed and lavishly illustrated
with more than 250 color photos, maps, and charts, Kentucky's
Natural Heritage is the definitive compendium of the commonwealth's
amazing diversity. It celebrates the natural beauty of some of the
most important ecosystems in the nation and presents a compelling
case for the necessity of conservation.
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