This comprehensive guide to the plants of the Himalayas is mainly based on extensive field research carried out in 1983 and 1985 by a University of Tokyo botanical research project team. Its topics include the nature and diversification of the alpine flora of the Himalayas, descriptive and revisional studies of the Himalayan plants, enumeration of ferns and fern-allies in Nepal, and a discussion of the anatomical diversification of the Himalayan trees and shrubs. This is the second of a five-volume guide to the flora of a high-altitude region of the world.