Laos and Vietnam's forests are one of the countries' richest natural resources, supporting a huge diversity of plant and animal life, and providing forest products to support local livelihoods. In recent years forest cover in the tropics has decreased drastically and Laos and Vietnam are among the few South East Asian countries where still a substantial part of the land is covered by often unexplored, practically unknown original vegetation. Except 'Flora du Laos, du Cambodge et du Vietnam' and its predecessors there is no publication which enables the identification of plants with an easy to use key.
Trees of Laos and Vietnam covers 100 economically or ecologically important tress species enabling the user to identify the included taxa with user-friendly keys. It includes scientific names, botanical descriptions of families, genera and species. Specific information on distribution, habitat, ecology, and uses has been compiled to assist botanists and their students in identification of some of the major components of the forests. All specimens examined have been listed.
Trees of Laos and Vietnam is published as a paper in Blumea, Journal of Plant Taxonomy and Plant Geography (Volume 49, 2004).