By Jude Langsdorf ’27
Recently, Austin College’s very own Professor Emeritus of Biology Dr. George M. Diggs, Jr. added another major work to his long career in Texas botany with the publication of Illustrated Flora of East Texas, Volume 2. The book was released in June 2026 with coauthors Barney L. Lipscomb and Robert J. George. Illustrated Flora of East Texas, Volume 2 features native and naturalized species from the Acanthaceae to the Fabaceae families that can be found throughout the Pineywoods, Post Oak Savannah, and Blackland Prairie regions in East Texas. This volume covers 1,403 different species. All species are accompanied by detailed illustrations, and nearly all include county maps showing their distribution. Information on each species includes ecology, authorship, taxonomic discussion, and notes on usefulness and toxicity, as well as indications of rarity and invasiveness.
This work follows the release of Illustrated Flora of East Texas, Volume 1 by Diggs, Jr., Barney L. Lipscomb, Monique D. Reed, and Robert J. O’Kennon in 2006. Volume 1 explored ferns, gymnosperms, and monocotyledons across the same ecoregions of East Texas. A third volume, covering the Fagaceae through Zygophyllaceae families, is also in the works. Illustrated Flora of East Texas, Volume 2 can be purchased through BRIT Press.
Dr. Diggs joined the AC faculty in 1981 and has continued to offer occasional courses as recently as the spring of 2026. He also served as Co-Director of the Program in Public Health and has worked extensively with Austin College’s Center for Environmental Studies. Outside of the Illustrated Flora of East Texas series, Diggs has coauthored several other botanical works, including Shinners & Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas in 1999 and The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas in 2014. He was also named Texas “Professor of the Year” in 1999 by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education.
