Stanley L. Bentley 
Native Orchids of the Southern Appalachian Mountains 

This authoritative guide showcases the unmatched beauty and diversity of the native orchids of the southern Appalachian mountains. Based on Stanley Bentley’s many years of nature study, it covers the 52 species–including one discovered by Bentley and named after him–found in a region encompassing western Virginia and North Carolina and eastern West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.



The entry for each orchid provides the plant’s scientific and common names, a description of the flower (including color, shape, and size), and information on the time of flowering, range, and typical habitat, all in the context of the southern mountains. A range map accompanies each description, and Bentley’s own superb photographs are an additional aid to identification.



Using straightforward language yet incorporating the most up-to-date scientific information and nomenclature, the book will be welcomed by amateur naturalists or professional botanists looking for species in the field and by those who simply enjoy photographs of beautiful wildflowers.

About the author

Stanley L. Bentley has devoted twenty-five years to studying and photographing orchids across America. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including Wildflower Magazine, American Fern Journal, and The Newsletter of the American Association of Field Botanists, and in several books. A native Virginian, Bentley has worked as a naturalist, a high school teacher, and a nature consultant, and he is currently employed by the school system in Pulaski County, Virginia, where he lives.