The first fully illustrated flora for any region of Texas or adjacent states. It is the most comprehensive guide to a large portion of the diverse plant life of Texas, and covers all the native and naturalized vascular plants known to occur in North Central Texas, an area about the size of Kentucky. The book presents information on the plant life of the region to meet the needs of students, teachers, wildflower enthusiasts, gardeners, ranchers, farmers, naturalists, conservationists, environmental consultants, researchers, and the general public. Of particular importance for non-botanists are the line drawing illustrations, which are provided for all species. In addition, there are 174 color photographs. The flora includes 2,223 species, or nearly half-known for the entire state of Texas.

The inviting layout, vegetation maps, and extensive introductory materials on the vegetation, geology, soils, climate, and presettlement and early settlement conditions make the book useful to a wide audience. Also of general interest are a number of appendices on topics such as botanically related internet addresses, conservation organizations, native plants to use as ornamentals, phylogeny, and endemic species. The taxonomic treatments include family and generic synopsis keys and descriptions, derivations of scientific names, characters helpful for the field recognition of plant families, notes on toxic/poisonous and useful plants, and references to supporting literature. There is a literature cited section with nearly 3,000 references.