Reviews of Palms Throughout the World

For a long time this was THE book on palms... and it still has it merits so I recommend it. However, it is very weak in many areas- primarily in what it doesn't have.

It has a great general discussion of palm biology in the begining and nearly 1/3 of the book is set aside for that- excellent information and no criticism there. Then the rest of the book is a discussion of the species. THere are not only hundreds and hundreds of species left out, but many entire genera simply omitted for some bizarre reason. Dr. Jones obviously has a few favorite genera, as there is a huge section on Licualas as well as Pinangas.. but NOTHING on Ceroxyon and almost nothing on Dypsis (which was reclassified after the book came out, so that's not his fault). There are small photos throughout the book, but most species do not have a photo (probably my main complaint). Also the cultivational information is way too general or simply wrong to be of any real use to anyone.

Some of the photos included are obviously incorrectly identified, but this is typical of all palm books.

It's a good book full of information and I have to recommend it for beginners and to add to your extensive palm library, but NOT as THE book on palms, if you were to get just one. At least not any more now that there is a much better book out there (Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms).