Posted: 8/23/2013 | Print Friendly Version

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF FLORA OF MISSOURI
1,400-page Volume Completes Trilogy on Missouri’s Plants

(ST. LOUIS):  Researchers from the Missouri Botanical Garden recently completed a 26-year project documenting the flora of the state of Missouri. The result is the release of “Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri, Volume 3. Dicots, Fabaceae (second part) through Zygophyllaceae.”

For more than two decades, the Garden has worked in collaboration with the Missouri Department of Conservation on this project. Dr. George Yatskievych served as project director and author.

“This is an outstanding achievement, providing an up-to-date and comprehensive account of the diversity of Missouri’s flora,” said Dr. Peter Wyse Jackson, President of the Missouri Botanical Garden. “The Garden has a wonderful reputation for its international science programs, but the completion of this work demonstrates an equally important commitment to the plant species that surround us here in Missouri.”

Steyermark's Flora of Missouri, Volume 3

The book contains treatments of a number of large and economically significant plant families. Each species is described in detail with notes on taxonomy, distribution, plant uses and conservation concerns. This encyclopedia of Missouri plant life is an essential tool for botanists, conservationists, scientists, land managers, planners and gardeners. It will also serve as guide for another Garden project, the Seed Bank. The Garden has made it a goal to safeguard seeds of all native plants in Missouri by 2020.

“The success of the Seed Bank hinges on our ability to correctly identify the plants species we encounter in the field,” said Dr. Ginger Allington, Seed Bank manager. “This book will be an asset to this project because it provides up-to-date and detailed information on the most important plant families in Missouri.”

The book is now available for sale from the Missouri Botanical Garden Press. A 20 percent discount is available on all orders placed before Nov. 1, 2013. Information is available by visiting www.mbgpress.info or by calling 1-877-271-1930.

To celebrate the completion of the project, Dr. Yatskievych will sign copies of the book on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Garden Gate Shop.

Today, 154 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science, conservation, education and horticultural display. With scientists working in 35 countries on six continents around the globe, the Missouri Botanical Garden has one of the three largest plant science programs in the world and a mission “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.” Learn more at www.mobot.org.

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NOTE: Digital images available by request or via Flickr. Download media materials at www.mobot.org/media

The Missouri Botanical Garden’s mission is “to discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.” Today, 154 years after opening, the Missouri Botanical Garden is a National Historic Landmark and a center for science, conservation, education and horticultural display.

The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Blvd. in St. Louis, just south of I-44 at Vandeventer-Kingshighway (exit #287B). Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Closed Christmas Day. Grounds open at 7 a.m. most Wednesdays and Saturdays (exception: special admission rate events). Admission is $8; free children ages 12 and under and Garden members. St. Louis City and County residents are $4 and free most Wednesdays and Saturdays until noon (exception: special admission rate events – third weekend of May, Memorial Day 2012, Labor Day weekend and first weekend of October). Park for free on site and two blocks west at the Shaw-Vandeventer intersection. The Garden is accessible via public transportation by taking the MetroLink commuter rail line and picking up a Metro bus (www.metrostlouis.org). For general information, log on to www.mobot.org or call the 24-hour recording at (314) 577-5100 or 1-800-642-8842. For membership information, visit www.mobot.org/membership call (314) 577-5118 during weekday business hours. For volunteer opportunities, visit www.mobot.org/volunteer or call (314) 577-5187. The Missouri Botanical Garden is a tobacco-free environment.