Plant Science Bulletin 60(2) 2014 some species are not sufficient for identification. Finally, D’Amato’s brief treatment of carnivorous plant evolution makes no mention of adaptation or selection, and never addresses any hypotheses about why carnivory has evolved. Furthermore, the phylogenetic diversity of carnivorous plants (and therefore the idea that carnivory has arisen multiple times in plant evolutionary history) is not discussed. At several points the author hints at relationships between carnivorous plant genera, but relatedness at the family or order level is not explicitly discussed. While knowing that American pitcher plants are in the Ericales while tropical pitcher plants are in the Caryophyllales is not essential for proper cultivation, it does make gardening more interesting. However, these faults should not be given too much weight. This book is not meant to be an introduction to the scientific literature, nor an exhaustive identification resource, nor a book about evolution. In the introduction to The Savage Garden, Peter D’Amato emphasizes that his book is “a practical guide to growing carnivorous plants.” The flaws discussed above do not detract from that objective in the slightest, although their omission may be a missed opportunity to use horticulture as a medium for broader education about botany. For a carnivorous plant bibliography or discussion of evolution, Carnivorous Plants and Their Habitats (McPherson, 2010) is a good place to begin, but for a book about cultivation The Savage Garden is essential. As a wonderful horticultural resource and an introduction to the morphological diversity of carnivorous plants, this book belongs on the shelf of gardeners, greenhouse managers, and anyone broadly interested in botany. Now that I’ve read it, I can provide more than guesses the next time a friend asks me how to keep a Venus flytrap alive. –Ian D. Medeiros, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA
LITERATURE CITED D’AMATO, P. 1998. The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants. Ten Speed Press, Emeryville, California, USA. MCPHERSON, S. 2010. Carnivorous Plants and Their Habitats, Vols. 1 & 2. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom. MEYERS-RICE, B. 1998. Book Review. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 27(3): 72–73.
SYSTEMATICS
Colorado Rocky Mountain Wildflowers. App for Apple and Android Al Schneider and Whitney Tilt 2012. US$9.99 High Country Apps: http://www. highcountryapps.com/
Botanical enthusiasts have varying levels of experience. Some are casual weekend hikers looking to identify the flowers they are photographing, while others are professional botanists who spend their careers identifying specimens. The “Colorado Rocky Mountain Wildflowers” app created by Al Schneider and Whitney Tilt is an excellent resource, particularly for those on the more casual end of this spectrum. I was excited to review this after many visits to Schneider’s website (http:// www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/) and was pleased to find that the app has the same excellent photos, thorough descriptions, and interesting commentary. There are numerous images for most of the plant species, including photos of habitat, growth form, flowers, and fruits. Distribution maps and habitat information help the user evaluate where the plant can be found. Experts and amateurs alike will appreciate these features. Unlike the website, the app is extremely portable as it loads onto an iPhone, iPad, Android, or Kindle Fire device and can be taken far from internet availability. This alone is worth the cost for me. While this app has features that anyone will appreciate, it is directed more toward casual users. Botanical experts will find that the app lacks the dichotomous keys necessary to key difficult species and, since it only directly covers 520 species, experts may be frustrated that the app may not include a species of interest. The app relies on a multi-
108