Grasses of South Australia: An Illustrated Guide to the Native and Naturalized Species [Book Review] PDF
Preview Grasses of South Australia: An Illustrated Guide to the Native and Naturalized Species [Book Review]
BookReviews Grasses ofSouth Australia An illustrated guide to the native and naturalized species by John Jessup, GilbertRM Dashorstand Fiona M James Publisher: WakefieldPress, 2006. 554pages, hardcover; 456figures, 20plates. ISBN1862546940. RRP$49.95 The authors introduce us to Grasses of ‘typical’ grass. An excellent glossary is South Australia by providing a history of provided with many diagrams illustrating the project. Grasses ofSouth Australia some ofthe more unusual terms such as began with a proposal by the Native Grass puberulent, muricate orhispid surfaces and Resources Group to the Botanic Gardens extravaginal and intravaginal shoots. ofAdelaide and State Herbarium for a Whether for those new to grass identifica- revisededitionofthegrasstreatmentin the tion or those with some previous experi- 1986 Flora ofSouth Australia. More than ence ofbotanical terminology, the glossary 36% of the names in Grasses ofSouth is a necessity as some ofthe terms used Australia were not included in the 1986 have a slightly different meaning from flora, showinghowvital wastheneedfora thoseoccuringwith otherplantgroups. revision. This figure includes newlyrecog- An illustratedkeydesigned forthosewith nisedgrassesandcorrectednames. limited knowledge of grass morphology Identifying grasses is notoriously diffi- and terminology precedes the key proper. cult, and it is importanttounderstandgrass The illustrations are excellent and easily morphology and associated terms. The allow identification ofgrasses into groups. authors provide an excellent drawing of Some ofthe more recognisable genera and ‘the typical grass plant’, at the same time species can be identified directly from the explaining that in afamily ofabout 10 000 illustrations. These genera and species are species a lotofvariation occurs, and many eliminated early in the written key. species would bear no resemblance to the Subsequent characters divide the family into groups from A-P. Smaller keys then dividethesegroupsintogenera. Thegroups from A-P are simply for convenience to facilitate identification ofthe genera, but also allow many genera to occur in more Grasses than one group. This is important where there are differences in key characteristics of South Australia ofspecies within a singlegenus. Forexam- ple, Distichlis occurs in group K, which consists ofspecies with a panicle, awned Anillustratedguidetothe spikelets and with three or more bisexual nativeandnaturalisedspecies lemmas, and in group P, which also has species with a panicle but spikelets do not have awns and have two or more bisexual lemmas. Being experienced in the use of many keys for many different plant groups I always have found that division of a key into smaller sections is far more user JohnJessop friendly than a single large key. The small- (iilbenR.M.Dashorst FionaM.James er sections are not as daunting in the first instance, and allow one to determine ifa © mistake has been made earlier than when usingalargerkey. Vol. 124 (3) 2007 177 NaturalistNotes Once specimens have been identified to Grasses ofSouth Australia is a much genus, the index must be consulted to needed work. It is highly recommended determine the page on which the genus is and provides information in a simple and described. Depending on the number of user friendly manner, enabling all with an species within the genus, a further key is interest in grasses to identify specimens supplied to identify the species. A descrip- from this huge family, regardless oftheir tion ofeach species follows, along with an level ofexpertise! account ofits distribution and notes on its ecology. The accompanying drawings are Maria Gibson expertly done and help confirm correct SchoolofLifePalnadntEEnvciorloongmyeRnetsaelaSrccihenUcneist identification. DeakinUniversity,221 BurwoodHighway, Burwood,Victoria3125 Mayfly Sonnet no longergreenaroundthegills he isunsheathed fromadolescence four-oaredandpaddlingtheairwaves in akindofsemaphore, hispresenttense ispart Icarus andpart Romeo blindlyconforming inablizzardofsilentfervour- confettitochokethethroatsofanimals and smooththetreadoftyres- until thecomplicitgesturingoftime andcosmic forces skewhisbalanceandweight his movements; amuddleofspirals andspinsthatexposesnature’scounterfeit asmerelyascent, driftingin earthlycurrents betrayingall in hisnothingness Christopher Palmer BiodiversityConservationSouth ParksandWildlifeService POBox 1120 AliceSpringsNT0871 178 The Victorian Naturalist
The list of books you might like
