Since 1987, when Texas Parks and Wildlife Department botanists 
published their first in-house summary of Texas' threatened 
plants, more than 225 species have been identified and described 
as endangered, imperiled, or declining. Because most of these 
plants are too rare to be mentioned, much less pictured, in 
standard field guides, only a handful of botanists have known what 
these plants or their habitats look like.

    Complete with photographs, line drawings, and county maps, 
this book describes the officially listed, candidate, and species-of-
concern plants in Texas. Individual accounts include information 
on distribution, habitat, physical description, flowering time, 
federal and state status, similar species, and published references. 
The authors also provide brief introductory chapters on the state's 
vegetation regions; the history of plant conservation in Texas; 
federal, state, and other ranking methods; threats to native plants; 
recovery methods; and reporting guidelines.

    With the growing recognition that native plants support wildlife, 
conserve water, promote biodiversity, and exemplify our natural 
heritage, we must also recognize the need for greater understanding 
of endangered plants, the threats to their existence, and the 
importance of their survival. Rare Plants of Texas is highly 
recommended for professional botanists and advanced researchers, 
conservationists, students, range managers, and others concerned 
with preserving the ecosystems of Texas and the Southwest.

_________________________________________________________

JACKIE M. POOLE is a botanist in the Wildlife Diversity Program of 
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. She has been working with 
the rare plants of Texas since 1982. WILLIAM R. CARR, a botanist 
with The Nature Conservancy of Texas, conducts numerous field 
surveys and inventories for the conservation of threatened habitat. 
DANA M. PRICE is a botanist at the Texas Parks and Wildlife 
Department with experience in prairie ecology and economic botany. 
JASON R. SINGHURST, a botanist and phytogeographer at the 
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, manages GIS and remote 
sensing land cover classification projects and conducts status 
surveys of rare plants in Texas.


Number Thirty-seven: W. L. Moody Jr. Natural History Series



What people are saying about this book

" . . . a major contribution to knowledge about Texas plants. The 
detailed information about specific rare plants, excellent line 
drawings, and extensive photographs make this book 
indispensable to anyone wishing to learn about the numerous rare 
plants in the state."—George M. Diggs Jr., professor of biology, 
Austin College