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Acknowledgments I owe thanks, first, to the University of Arizona faculty in the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Arid Lands Resource Sciences, in particular former members of my dissertation committee headed by Suzanne Fish and including Michael Bonine and Steven McLaughlin, whose encouragement and critique were more valuable than they probably realize. Cecil Brown, professor emeritus, Northern Illinois University, generously read and commented on a draft of chapters dealing with folk classification. His suggestions led to some changes that improved the text. Muhammad Tahlawi at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, provided valuable checks and comments on several linguistic points. Discussions with Geraiyan Al-Hajri clarified some issues of folk classification. Waleed al-Sudayri helped greatly in interpreting the song in the CD sound file. John Pratt facilitated late contacts that plugged data gaps, and Greg Dowling led me to economic statistics. Helpers on the botanical science front were numerous, but I must mention the late Dorothy Hillcoat at the Natural History Museum, London, Ian Hedge at Edinburgh, and Tom Cope at Kew. Angie Hall was generous in allowing use of her drawing, and I thank the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) for use of two photographs and two figures . Two anonymous reviewers provided, with encouraging remarks, corrections and suggestions that enhanced the package. Allyson Carter at the University of Arizona Press was most helpful and encouraging from the beginning, and the sharp eyes and wide knowledge of my copy editor, Annie Barva, often showed how things could be done better. Nancy Arora provided instant responses and constant good humor through the editing and production process. My debt to my Bedouin consultants is of course enormous. The names of the most important of those contributors are listed near the end of the introduction. ...

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