Illinois Natural History Survey - University of Illinois

Literature

Publications Relating to Illinois Plants

Illinois Floras

The following books deal with the entire Illinois flora:

  1. Jones, G. N. Flora of Illinois. Three editions (1945, 1950, 1963), all published by The University of Notre Dame Press. Obviously, these are now out of date with regard to plant names (nomenclature) as well as additions to the flora that have been made since that time. For modern floras, see below.

  2. Mohlenbrock, R. H. Vascular Flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. There have been four edtions: 1975, 1986, 2002, 2014. These field guides contain keys but no illustrations or descriptions of the plants. For more complete descriptions, see the Illustrated Flora series below.

  3. Mohlenbrock, R. H. The Illustrated Flora of Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. There have been 15 groups covered (some with two editions). Part II of Asteraceae is due out soon. The following are the titles of the books by group:

    • Ferns, two editions (1967, 1999)
    • Flowering Plants: Flowering Rush to Rushes, two editions (1970, 2006)
    • Lilies to Orchids (1970)
    • Grasses: Bromus to Paspalum, two editions (1973, 2002)
    • Grasses: Panicum to Danthonia, two editions (1973, 2001)
    • Sedges: Cyperus to Scleria, two editions (1976, 2001)
    • Sedges: Carex, two editions (1999, 2011)
    • Flowering Plants: Hollies to Loasas (1978)
    • Flowering Plants: Willows to Mustards (1980)
    • Flowering Plants: Magnolias to Pitcher Plants (1981)
    • Flowering Plants: Basswoods to Spurges (1982)
    • Flowering Plants: Smartweeds to Hazelnuts, two editions (1986, 2009); 2nd. edition with Paul M. Thomson Jr. as coauthor.
    • Flowering Plants: Nightshades to Mistletoes (1989)
    • Flowering Plants: Goosefoots to Pinks (2001)
    • Flowering Plants: Asteraceae Part I (2015)

These books are regional in their scope:

  1. Mohlenbrock, R. H. and J. W. Voigt. 1959 & 1974. A Flora of Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 420 pp.

  2. Swink, F. (1969, 1974, 1st and 2nd editions) and Swink, F. & Wilhelm, G. (3rd and 4th editions, 1979, 1994). Plants of the Chicago Region. Editions 1-3 published by the Morton Arboretum, Lisle, Illinois. Edition 4 published by Indiana Academy of Science, Indianapolis.

  3. Voigt, J.W. & Mohlenbrock, R.H. 1964. Plant Communities of Southern Illinois. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 220 pp.


Primary Literature on Illinois Plants

Much of the information about the Illinois flora can be found in the primary literature which includes journal articles, reports, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations. This information, particularly older works, is often difficult to access via routine internet searching. For this reason, Dan Nickrent has constructed a reference library using the software EndNote. The library contains all 1277 citations listed in Paul Risser's 1984 publication "Bibliography of Illinois Vegetation". For literature after 1984, all applicable articles in the Transactions of the Illinois Academy of Science were added as well as other journals such as Erigenia and Castanea.

There are undoubtedly many other papers that can be included, thus this EndNote library with nearly 1900 references should be considered just a starting point. If you have other references you would like to contribute, please send them as an EndNote library to Dan Nickrent in an email attachment. The citations will be checked and then merged into the main library. The library will be updated regularly and the new file archived here.

To get the Endnote library, click HERE. It's a zipped folder containing the library itself and the associated data folder.


Floras from Surrounding States and Region

Many plant species found in Illinois are wide-ranging and also occur in neighboring states. For this reason, it is often useful to consult floras from the surrounding states and region. Listed below are some of these published floras.

  • Chester, E. W., B. E. Wofford, D. Estes and C. Bailey. 2009. A Fifth Checklist of Tennessee Vascular Plants. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth. 102 pp.
  • Deam, C. C. 1940. Flora of Indiana. Dept. Conserv., Div. Forestry, Indianapolis, IN.
  • Fassett, N. C. 1978. Spring Flora of Wisconsin. 4th. Edition. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 415 pp.
  • Fernald, M. L. 1970. Gray's Manual of Botany, Eighth Edition. D. Van Nostrand Co., New York. 1632 pp.
  • Gleason, H. A. and Cronquist, A. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, Second Edition. New York Botanical Garden, N.Y. 910 pp.
  • Jones, R. L. 2005. Plant Life of Kentucky: An Illustrated Guide to the Vascular Flora. The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington. 833 pp.
  • Lakela, O. 1965. A Flora of North Eastern Minnesota. The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. 541 pp.
  • Steyermark, J. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Iowa State Univ. Press, Ames, Iowa. 1728 pp.
  • Voss, E. G. 1972 Michigan flora: a guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state: pt. 1. Gymnosperms and monocots. Bloomfield Hills: Cranbrook Inst. Sci. and Univ. Michigan Herb. xviii, 488 pp.
  • Voss E. G. 1996 Michigan flora: a guide to the identification and occurrence of the native and naturalized seed-plants of the state. Part 3: dicots (Pyrolaceae-Compositae). Cranbrook Institute of Science; Bulletin 61. Bloomfield Hills, Mich: Cranbrook Institute of Science and University of Michigan Herbarium 622 pp.
  • Yatskievych, G. 1999. Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri. Vol. 1. The Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, MO. 991 pp.
  • Yatskievych, G. 2006. Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri. Vol. 2 (Acanthaceae to Fabaceae). The Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, MO. 1181 pp.
  • Yatskievych, G. 2013. Steyermark’s Flora of Missouri. Vol. 3 (Fabaceae to Zygophyllaceae). The Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis, MO. 1382 pp.

Updated 14 Nov 2015