About the Author

Wendy Applequist earned her Ph.D. in plant systematics from Iowa State University and is an assistant curator in the William L. Brown Center for Plant Genetic Resources at the Missouri Botanical Garden. She conducts research on the botany of medicinal plants and plants native to Madagascar. She has previously published articles in several journals, including Systematic Botany, Taxon, Plant Systematics and Evolution, Evolution and Development, Pharmazie, Flora, and Adansonia. This is her first book.

About the Artist

Barbara Alongi is a scientific illustrator based at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Her illustrations accompany many descriptions of new species of plants as well as monographic treatments. She is an illustrator for the Flora of North America project.

About the American Botanical Council

Founded in 1988, the American Botanical Council is a leading international nonprofit organization addressing research and educational issues regarding herbs, teas, medicinal plants, essential oils, and other beneficial plant-derived materials. ABC's members include academic researchers and educators; libraries; health professionals and medical institutions; government agencies; members of the herb, dietary supplement, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries; journalists; consumers; and others in more than 81 countries.

The organization occupies a historic 2.5-acre site in Austin, Texas, where it maintains medicinal theme gardens and hosts internships for healthcare professionals, seminars, presentations, and workshops. ABC publishes the peer-reviewed quarterly journal HerbalGram, the monthly e-publication HerbalEGram, the weekly e-newsletter Herbal News & Events, HerbClip (summaries of scientific and clinical publications), the quarterly Botanical Adulterants Monitor, reference books, and other educational materials.

ABC is also the managing partner of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program, an international consortium dedicated to education regarding quality control of herbs, botanical extracts, and essential oils. ABC also hosts HerbMedPro, a powerful herbal database, covering scientific and clinical publications on more than 250 herbs. ABC co-produces the "Herbal Insights" segment for Healing Quest, a television series on PBS.

About the Missouri Botanical Garden

The oldest continuously operating botanical garden west of the Mississippi, the Missouri Botanical Garden of St. Louis is an award-winning horticultural and educational institution whose many public attractions run the gamut from an old-fashioned herb garden to a brand-new Children's Garden. Behind the scenes, it is also one of the world's most active centers for botanical systematic and floristic research, with about 150 full-time research staff who conduct field studies in dozens of countries every year. The Garden's mission is "To discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment, in order to preserve and enrich life". The Garden's William L. Brown Center for Plant Genetic Resources focuses its research specifically on the identification, scientific study, and preservation of plants that are of direct use to humans.