Flora of Virginia

There is still time to receive a complimentary copy of the Flora of Virginia. If you make a gift of $1,000 or more to the Flora of Virginia Project by May 1, 2012, you will receive a copy of the first edition in recognition of your gift, with your name listed at your giving level. The manual will be published in the fall of 2012, exactly 250 years after our only other flora, 1762's Flora Virginica.

You can also pre-order. To do so, click here to visit the website of the Flora's publisher, the Botanical Research Institute of Texas Press, or send your payment ($79.95 + $6.50 shipping) to BRIT Press, 1700 University Drive, Fort Worth, Texas 76107-3400. You will receive your Flora upon publication.

The authors of the Flora are Alan S. Weakley, Ph.D., curator of the UNC Herbarium and an adjunct professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, J. Christopher Ludwig, chief biologist with the Division of Natural Heritage of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, and John F. Townsend, staff botanist with Natural Heritage. At this stage, the authors' attention is turned to editing, writing a few remaining keys, and preparing for a March due date at the publisher.

In its 1,500 pages, the Flora will present descriptions of some 3,200 taxa native to or naturalized in Virginia, with 1,400 pen-and-ink illustrations commissioned for the work. It also will feature keys, a chapter on the nature of the Virginia flora, and another on the history of botanical exploration in the state.

For more information on the Flora Project, please click here to visit the Flora of Virginia website.