Edward W. Chester is professor emeritus of biology at Austin Peay State University, where he taught botany and curated the herbarium for more than forty-five years.

B. Eugene Wofford is director of the University of Tennessee Herbarium and coauthor (with Professor Chester) of Guide to the Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of Tennessee.

Joey Shaw is associate professor of biological and environmental sciences at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Dwayne Estes is associate professor of biology and curator of the herbarium at Austin Peay State University.

David H. Webb is a retired biologist from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

In addition, more than 20 experts from throughout the country contributed family or genera treatments, including Andrea Shea Bishop (rare species botanist, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation), Claude Bailey (associate professor, Jackson State Community College), Hal R. DeSelm (professor emeritus, University of Tennessee), Dennis Horn (amateur botanist and wildflower photographer, retired engineer), Chris Fleming (senior project scientist, BDY Environmental), Aaron Floden (graduate student, University of Tennessee), William H. Martin (professor emeritus, Eastern Kentucky University and former commissioner of Kentucky's Department of Natural Resources), Mary Patten Priestley (curator of the herbarium, The University of the South), and Edward Schilling (professor, University of Tennessee).