The Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Texas is the first atlas of the Texas flora ever. The Atlas (volume 1: Dicots; volume 2: Ferns, Gymnosperms, Monocots) provides distributional information for about 6000 taxa of vascular plants native and naturalized in the state of Texas. This is the result of 52 years of herbarium and fieldwork, beginning in 1948 at Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas by the senior author. In short, Billie Turner has examined personally, touched, or pored over an estimated several hundred thousand sheets in the preparation of these Atlas volumes. Renewed floristic studies in Texas have experienced new growth during the last 20 years. Botanists throughout the state are collecting and documenting the flora with as many as 15,000 specimens a year. The Atlas is a prime-source document of biological data. While the purpose of this atlas is to document plant distributions, it is a de facto checklist for the vascular plants of the region. This work will be most welcomed by botanists, taxonomists, conservationists, environmental consultants, researchers, as well as teachers, students, wildflower enthusiasts, and naturalists. Billie Lee Turner was the Sidney F. and Doris Blake Centennial Professor in Systematic Botany and the Blake Collection, Section of Integrative Biology, and Director, Plant Resources Center, The University of Texas, Austin. Holly Nichols, Geoffrey Denny, and Oded Doron are former students/assistants of Dr. Turner.