The Kew Tropical Plant Families Identification Handbook is an authoritative guide to the commonly encountered and ecologically important plants of the tropics. Written by experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this handbook is based on Kew’s popular Tropical Plant Identification course, which uses classical morphology, as well as more simple “spot” characteristics, to teach plant identification.

This fully updated second edition adds seventeen new family and subfamily descriptions and includes updated research throughout. Each of the one hundred families is described in detail and richly illustrated with photographs that show important identification characteristics. The book’s emphasis on images and the foundations of identification means that both specialists and nonspecialists alike will be able to use this guide.

The Kew Tropical Plant Families Identification Handbook is a portable, easy-to-use resource, perfect for tropical botanists as well as students and conservation professionals.

Timothy Utteridge works in the Herbarium at Kew as a generalist botanist and has travelled extensively throughout southeast Asia. He is the coauthor of Field Guide to the Plants of East Sabah and coeditor of A Guide to the Alpine and Sub-Alpine Flora of Mount Jaya. Gemma Bramley also works in the Herbarium at Kew and has a special interest in science communication. Together, they are coorganizers of Kew’s annual Tropical Plant Identification course.