From Library Journal
With their immense number of high-quality color photographs (Hortica has 8100; Tropica, 7000), these are the best sources for identifying and choosing tropical and indoor (Tropica) as well as garden plants (Hortica). Plant descriptions are very limited, but that's not the focus. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Book News, Inc.
Still a useful volume, though on the brink of being supplanted by newer references, this hefty work (now ten years old) first presents a photo gallery of thousands of color photographs taken by the intrepid author "in nearly every inhabited region on earth." The photos, occasionally of snapshot quality but nonetheless mostly adequate, are divided into 16 categories, including exotic indoor plants, bulbs and tubers, perennials, bamboos and grasses, trees, and more; then subdivided by family. Each photograph is accompanied by the plant's botanical name, common name, and the location where it was photographed. The latter part of the volume consists of a plant encyclopedia in which each plant pictured is described as to character and general use; family of origin; synonym if any; common name where available; dimension and measurements; flowering seasons; estimated zone; and more.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Book Description
Alfred Byrd Graf is probably the most widely traveled plant explorer of the world's tropics and subtropics. Horticulturist, botanist, and professional photographer, he has roamed the earth in the spirit of Von Humboll, Darwin, and David Fairchild earlier in the 19th and 20th centuries, in search of exotic botanicals to add to the enlarging horticulture of the world. Among the honors received by the author are the award of the large Gold Medal of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Certificate of Merit of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the Distinguished Service Award of the Horticultural Society of New York, a Citation Award of the American Horticultural Society, and the Tercentenary Medalliou of the State of New Jersey. IN 1967 he was invested with the Sarah Champman Francis Medal of the Garden Club of America for outstanding literary achievement. In Pittsburgh, in 1972, Alfred Graf was elected to horticulture's hall of fame, the highest distinction given by the society of American Florists, and in 1978he was awarded the doctor of Science degree. His most recent publications are TROPICA, Color-ama of Exotic Plants with 7000 photos incl. Plants indoors. Also Hortica (8100 photos), Color Cyclopedia of Garden Flora in all Climates showing Hardiness Zones. He is the President and founder of Roehrs Company, Book division.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, Hortica brings together a kaleidoscope of 8,100 full-color photographs and detailed descriptions of more than 10,000 ornamental plants for indoors and for every climate worldwide. Each plant entry includes information on mature height, hardiness zones, the native range of the plant, leaf and flower shape and color, bloom times, and any other ornamental features the plant may have - fruit, cones, autumn color, decorative bark. The entries are organized by botanical name but also include any common names by which the plant might be known. Hortica describes: 570 exotic indoor plants, including aroids; begonias, bromeliads, and gesneriads; 180 orchids; 215 palms and palmlike plants; 147 ferns and their allies; 512 cacti and other succulents; 65 carnivorous plants and other curios; 491 bulbous and tuberous plants; 552 climbers and creepers; 114 waterplants and near-aquatics; 1,662 perennials and annuals; 217 herbs and spice plants; 197 grasses and bamboos; 329 coniferous evergreens; 108 trees and shrubs for hedges, topiary, and bonsai; 2,408 flowering trees and shrubs and 341 edible fruits and nuts, in addition to gourmet vegetables. Hortica also includes worldwide climate maps, a chart that graphically illustrates botanical terms used in the book, a pronunciation guide to botanical names, and a common names index. A work of extraordinaty scope, Hortica is a necessary reference for any gardener, botanist, or horticulturist.

SYNOPSIS

Still a useful volume, though on the brink of being supplanted by newer references, this hefty work (now ten years old) first presents a photo gallery of thousands of color photographs taken by the intrepid author "in nearly every inhabited region on earth." The photos, occasionally of snapshot quality but nonetheless mostly adequate, are divided into 16 categories, including exotic indoor plants, bulbs and tubers, perennials, bamboos and grasses, trees, and more; then subdivided by family. Each photograph is accompanied by the plant's botanical name, common name, and the location where it was photographed. The latter part of the volume consists of a plant encyclopedia in which each plant pictured is described as to character and general use; family of origin; synonym if any; common name where available; dimension and measurements; flowering seasons; estimated zone; and more. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal