orchids

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids, ed. Alec Pridgeon
A coffee-table book with hundreds of beautiful color photographs of orchids. It includes sections on orchid habitats, cultivation, distribution, and pollination. The individual entries include not only taxonomy, habitat, description, and cultivation tips, but also information on what each genus's name means -- a nice touch.

The book focuses on species of orchid -- forms that occur in the wild -- and pays little attention to human-made hybrids. This suits me just fine, but it would make the book less useful for an orchid enthusia...