Neither a good specimen guide nor glamorous coffee table showpiece, this nonetheless fills a gap in my growing library of tropical gardening books. It could be a nice introduction to tropical plants, but anyone who wants to actually garden with tropical specimens would be better served by other books, perhaps best of all, Gardening in the Tropics, ISBN: 0881923095 .
As one reviewer points out, there are several silly mistakes. It is telling that the publisher is known for style & design books. It needed an editor with a little more botanical savvy.
The format is clear and attractive, with huge photos and a little, nicely written text for each. The content is somewhat inconsistent. While many photographs are clear and nicely illustrative of the whole plant, some specimens are photographed in a massive mixed border some distance away. Identification, therefore, can be very frustrating. For every delight (there are, indeed, many gorgeous photos), there is a disappointment.
Nomenclature seemed inconsistent, and local names (Indonesia, Malaysia, etc) could have been supplied by these contributors who spend much of their time in southeast Asia.
There is no practical advice for a gardener (beyond the occasional note about something tolerating dry conditions or some such), but book doesn't pretend to be a guide book.