Abstract
The New Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada is an active project by New York Botanical Garden building upon the long history of floristic investigation for the large region. The chief goal of the New Manual is to enable identification of all vascular plants established and growing spontaneously in the region. New Manual content includes the traditional information on identification, morphology, taxonomy, nomenclature, geographic range, habitat, and phenology for every species included, as well as several innovations, including etymologies for species names, and information on conservation status, invasiveness of non-native species, and morphologic synapomorphies for families. Relative to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual published in 1991, New Manual current content reveals a 21% increase in infrageneric taxa accepted, based on an analysis of 16 family treatments. Preparation of the New Manual comes at a critical time, given the unprecedented amount of floristic change in the northeastern U.S.A. and adjacent Canada.
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Acknowledgments
Two anonymous members of the Board of New York Botanical Garden have provided generous financial support for the New Manual project. Hannah Stevens prepared the map of the New Manual coverage. J. Richard Abbott, Robert B. Faden, Christopher R. Hardy, Wesley M. Knapp, Lucas C. Majure, Robbin C. Moran, James S. Pringle, S. Galen Smith, Joshua D. Sulman, W. Carl Taylor, and Alan T. Whittemore shared their expertise by writing and contributing family treatments to the New Manual. J. Richard Abbott, Alisen E. Downey, Michael Nee, and one anonymous reviewer provided helpful reviews of the manuscript. I also thank the authors of prior manuals and illustrated Floras, especially Henry A. Gleason and Arthur Cronquist, on whose efforts the present work so greatly depends.
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Naczi, R.F.C. New Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Brittonia 68, 238–244 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-016-9416-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12228-016-9416-6