Wow! What a surprise! If you are looking for sources of seeds or plants of major food crops, fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, grains, and mushrooms, Cornucopia is a cornucopia indeed! Detailed coded information on over 3,000 edible species is included in this massive effort, self-published by author Stephen Facciola. The book is organized into three primary sections: Botanical Listings, Cultivar Listings, and Sources. The first section gives the genus and species name, followed by common name(s), a plant family alphabetical code, a code for the type of plant material or product used, a brief description of how it is used, distribution data, annotated bibliographical citations, and source code. The best-known food crops are selected for the cultivar listings section, with similar details (and more). Last, the "source" section includes the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of more than 1,350 firms and institutions whose catalogs were consulted. This includes commercial sourc es and non-commercial sources such as botanical gardens, arboreta, and research stations. Any plant library without this book is like an office without a telephone!
Article copyright American Botanical Council.