Based on the same authors' definitive and highly acclaimed Flowers of the Himalayas, the concise edition retains all of the colour illustrations and black-and-white drawings of its parent volume. The descriptions of the species have been abbreviated and are mostly limited to those illustrated, in order to produce a more portable and less expensive book. The geographical area covered remains the same, however - from the Nepal-Sikim border in the south-east to the north-eastern India-Pakistan border, with the Tibet border to the north. The sub-tropical flora found at lower altitudes towards the south has been omitted, with the exception of a few major species.