Welcome to the online version of The Vascular Plants of Iowa: An Annotated Checklist and Natural History, by Lawrence J. Eilers and Dean M. Roosa, featuring an extended essay on the natural history of the vascular plants of Iowa, a discussion of their origins, a description of the state's natural regions, and a painstakingly annotated checklist of Iowa vascular plants. The data, which apply to over 150 years, took more than 15 years to collect.
All known vascular plants that grow and persist in Iowa without cultivation are included in the checklist. These are native plants, primarily, but a large number of introduced species have become established throughout the state. Also included are Iowa's major crop plants and some of its common garden plants. The lengthy checklist provides an accurate and up-to-date listing of species names and common names, synonyms, distribution, habitat, abundance, and origin; county names are given for very rare species, and the most complete information has been provided for all rare plants and troublesome species.
The wealth of information in this well-organized, practical volume—which describes more than two thousand species from Adiantum pedatum, the northern maidenhair fern of moist woods and rocky slopes, to Zannichellia palustris, the horned pondweed of shallow marshes and coldwater streams—makes it possible to identify Iowa plants correctly.
Lawrence Eilers (1927-2000), professor of biology at the University of Northern Iowa, long focused his professional and personal interests on the vascular flora of Iowa. Former state ecologist Dean Roosa now works as a private environmental consultant and teacher. His research interests are endangered Iowa plants and the status of the state's wetland flora.
This online edition of The Vascular Plants of Iowa is a collaborative project created by the University of Iowa Press and The University of Iowa Libraries. The print version of the book is available for purchase on the UI Press site.
If you have questions or comments about the site, please contact lib-digital@uiowa.edu. To see more digital content from The University of Iowa Libraries, visit Iowa Digital Library and Iowa Research Online.