Ferns of Florida
by Gil Nelson
Pineapple Press, 2000
ISBN 1561641979
$19.95 Paperback
$27.95 Hardcover
Gil Nelson has done it again with his newest guide. A non-technical book on the ferns of Florida was long overdue. It is a much appreciated complement to his other two books on the flora of Florida, The Trees of Florida and The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida.
Like his previous books, he treats the 160 plus species of ferns thoroughly with easy to understand descriptions, distributions, and habitats. One of the selling features of all of Nelson’s books is his inclusion of how a species differs from other similar species. Another feature not included in many books is a brief description of interesting plant lore.
Excellent photographs and illustrations greatly aid in the identification of the ferns. His alphabetical arrangement of the families and genera is much appreciated by those of us who don’t know the phylogenetic arrangement of the plant kingdom. A key to the ferns families is included in the introduction of the book. Additional keys to various genera are also included. The appendices include a checklist of Florida fern species and an excellent bibliography.
Three minor suggestions for improvement would be:
- the inclusion of more illustrations, especially of the sori characteristic of each fern species;
- easier readability of the illustration and photograph numbers within the text description;
- and the inclusion of a ruler on each page for easy measurement of key characteristics. This was included in his earlier books, but was inadvertently omitted in the Ferns volume. Let us hope future editions will return the ruler to its rightful place!
All in all, if you are interested in learning the ferns of Florida, Nelson’s Ferns of Florida is an essential addition to your library.
Gil Nelson’s other books:
- The Trees of Florida, Pineapple Press, 1994
- The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida, Pineapple Press, 1996
Lizard Wars!
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See the entire sequence of Lizard Wars!
It is not uncommon to see a male green anole asserting his territorial rights. You’ve probably seen a male displaying his brightest coloration, “puffing up” to look larger, and doing “push ups” Until this year, I had never seen two male anoles progress beyond these warning signs to actual combat.
This spring, my wife and I were walking through some woods when the trees were just beginning to bud out. As I was walking along, I saw a flash of bright green on a tree branch. Two male green anoles were circling the tree, each trying to get the best strategic position to fight. Then their jaws were locked on each other. The one lizard was actually biting down on the other lizard’s head and neck and it surely must have hurt the victim. The wrestling match continued for quite some time. When it appeared to me that actual harm might be occurring, I did try to separate the two, but after a few moments, they resumed their wrestling match. The fight was still ongoing when I left.
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