The more than thousand full-color specimen photographs in "The Encyclopedia of Butterflies" were taken at the Allyn Museum of Entomology/Florida Museum of Natural History, which houses one of the world's largest butterfly collections. This encyclopedia includes all of the world's butterflies, arranged in four family groups: the swallowtails (Papilionidae); the whites and sulfurs (Pieridae); the brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae); and the hairstreaks, coppers, and blues (Lycaenidae).

According to the author, this is the first butterfly encyclopedia to exclude the skippers (Hesperiidae), as they are now thought to show more similarities to moths than to butterflies. Also, butterflies previously classified as separate families, i.e. Satyridae, Danaidae, Nymphalidae, and Libytheidae are combined here as one family, Nymphalidae, "since they have one overriding characteristic: four functional legs. Their first pair of legs are [sic] redundant: they do not function for locomotion." As soon as I read the author's allegation that Nymphalidae had only four functional legs, I rushed out into the backyard. As luck would have it, the first two butterflies I spotted--- a Monarch and a smaller Painted Lady---were both perched on the butterfly bush using only four legs! The Cabbage butterflies over on the zinnias had six legs apiece. Dr. Feltwell, who is an internationally recognized expert on butterflies and who serves as a consultant on the management of butterfly farms in the United States and Great Britain was right! Isn't it odd how after a lifetime of watching butterflies, I never noticed the difference between families until a book like this pointed it out to me? Three things will probably prevent "The Encyclopedia of Butterflies" from being used as a field guide: it is quite a large book; it covers too much territory (the whole earth); and its familial classification scheme doesn't really support a quick field identification.

However, it is a marvelous 'rainy day' book. The photographs are gorgeous, and the clearly-written text covers all of the major butterfly families in detail, including taxonomy, structure, life cycle, migration pattern, habitat, and protected status. Read "The Encyclopedia of Butterflies" at leisure, when darkness or weather prevents you from venturing outside with your field book.

Excellent photographs and information on growing clematis. The information on propagation seemed rather sparse, however. My pet peeve with this book: from the beginning of the book the abbreviation "A.G.M." is used after the name of many varieties, but we don't learn what A.G.M. means until page 123 of the book! The author should put this valuable info at the VERY BEGINNING of the book.

I own 20 Clematis books and this one is the one use to learn the true color of a clematis before combining it with any companion. So many wonderful photographs and discriptions.

Both geraniums and pelargoniums belong to the family "Geraniaceae," of which there are 750 species (and thousands of cultivars) scattered over most of the world. Geraniums are the hardy plants that grow in the wild. Pelargoniums, however, are the plants most of us think of when we think "geranium" -- the colorful flowering houseplants on our windowsills and the lovely scented varieties growing in our kitchens.

The book begins with the characteristics of geraniums. Often called "Cranesbills," geraniums are hardy perennials (zones 4-8) found in mountainous areas, meadows, marshes and near woodlands. Their flowers have five petals, are symmetrical and are relatively small; their foliage varies by shape and color. Size ranges from the taller Meadow and Dusky Cranesbills to the shorter Sanguineums and Wood Geraniums. They make superb ground cover plants with many types able to grow in full sun as well partial shade; they propagate by seed and can become invasive.

Most pelargoniums, on the other hand, are from South Africa and have been cultivated since the 17th century, initially as garden flowers and later as house or conservatory plants. All pelargoniums have a recognizable scent, they have tiny hairs on their stems, their flowers are asymmetrical, they can be propagated by cuttings and most are not cold-hardy and will not survive winters above zone 9.

While there is an abundance of information about geraniums in this book, the main emphasis is on the pelargoniums. There are a seven basic forms: Ivies (sprawling habit with ivy-shaped leaves); Scented types (which can either be upright or trailing); Zonals (named for the bands or "zones" of color on their leaves); Highfields (compact plants with lush flower clusters); Stellars, Startels and Cacti (with star-shaped petals); Regals (beautiful, showy plants with large flowers); and Butes (Single and Double Dwarfs, Miniatures, Micro-Miniatures, Angels and Deacons). Angels are miniatures with Regal-type flowers; Deacons are miniatures crossed with Ivies.

Also included are very short chapters on cultivation, propagation, dealing with pests (although nothing about the mealy bugs that plagued my plants last summer) and treating diseases. A list of 175 species and cultivars is provided with Latin and common names along with a very complete index and a list of world-wide suppliers (with web.addresses!)

This is definitely the book to buy if you want to know more about the various types of geraniums and pelargoniums but it is not a how-to book on cultivation nor is it an indepth guide to all geraniums and pelargoniums. It is beautifully illustrated, however, and I learned a great deal about these wonderful plants from reading this book. My favorite pelargoniums are the scented varieties and I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more information about them and only a short list of 19 different types (there are well over 200 varieties). I had never heard of the enchanting Rosebuds, Stellars and Deacons before reading this book, however, which more than made up for this.

Quite an informative book. Wish I would have bought it from Amazon.Com! Lots of information on many of the vast amounts of Cacti. The growing tips were excellent. A must have if you are a "cacti" collector like myself.