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Reference book recommendation?



>Could you guys help me select a plant book? (I've got a chance to
>request
>one for Valentines from the wife)  Here's what I'm looking
>for:
>
>For each plant:
>A good color picture 
>Recommended water conditions(pH, hardness, etc.)
>Origin of the plant
>Conditions it grows in the wild (period of submersed/emersed, etc.)
>Ease of growth
>Speed of growth
>lighting requirements

There's really only one, and it's not in English. :-/  That is Christel
Kasselmann's book, Aquarienpflanzen.  It is _supposed_ to be coming out in
English, but we've been waiting for quite a while now.  It's very unlikely
to be here in time for Valentines day.  I still think the German edition is
the most useful single book I have, even though my German is sketchy at best.

In English, if you must have photos, my vote would be for volume 2 of the
Baensch Atlas series.  The other 2 volumes have some plants too, but volume
2 has the lions share, most are correctly identified and there is some
pretty good general cultural info as well.  If you can do without the
photos, and "settle" for excellent, full color drawings, the Tropica
catalog is, IMO, the best English ID source.  It is accurate, and has a
pretty good write-up on each plant.  It is strictly about the plants
themselves, though, it doesn't include general information about setting up
a planted tank. They don't cover _every_ plant you can find in the hobby,
but no other single book (including Kasselmann) will do that either.  At
around $15, the Tropica catalog is a great value as well. 

Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Association