Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, in five parts, offers the first complete guide, with keys, to the ferns, fern-related, and seed-bearing plants of Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho north of the Snake River plains, the mountainous western part of Montana, and southern British Columbia. Each volume gives complete regional synonymy, type collections, geographic ranges, "genuine" common names, and chromosome numbers for each species, as well as economic importance and horticultural features.

Part 2 covers the Salicaceae through the Crassulaceae. Each species is illustrated by one to several detailed drawings at considerable magnification of such structures as the flower, fruit, and seed, as well as a habit sketch, mostly at one-half natural size. Two keys to the families of Dicotyledonae covered by Parts 2 to 5 are included. In the first, the families are initially separated into orders, largely on the basis of floral morphology, then keyed apart. The second key, which is completely artificial, utilizes such peculiarities of the various taxa as habitat, habit, duration, and foliage, as well as floral morphology. As in Parts 3 and 4, notes on the ornamental value of the trees, shrubs, and many herbs, were written in collaboration with Brian O. Mulligan, director of the University of Washington Arboretum, and Carl S. English, well-known botanist and horticulturalist.

Illustrated by Jeanne R. Janish.