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512 BLUMEA Vol. 38,No. 2, 1994 Review P.F. YEO: Secondary pollen presentation: form,functionandevolution. PlantSys- tematicsandEvolution/Supplementum 6.Springer-Verlag, Wien/NewYork, 1993. viii + 268 pp., 55 figs., 16 tabs.Clothbound.Price DM 220(DM 198forsubscrib- ers to Pl. Syst. Evol.). ISBN 3-211-82448-0. Secondary pollenpresentation is ataxonomically widespread phenomenon thatis unknown to many botanists. As definedby the author, it embracesthose cases in whichpollen is transferred withintheflower,and presented to pollinators onor by floralstructures otherthanthethecae.Theintraflowertransferofteninvolves intrigu- ing adaptations ofpetals, androeciumand distalparts ofthegynoecium. Thepresentbookis largely a caseof secondary presentation itself,being actually areviewof theliteratureon thesubject, supplemented withunpublished dataand drawings. Themainpart (208 pp.) extensively describesfamilywisealltaxa known to havesecondary pollen presentation, withmanycomments inserted.Papaveraceae, Leguminosae, Proteaceae,Campanulaceae, Goodeniaceaeand Rubiaceae provide relatively manyexamples, whereassecondary presentation is general inCompositae. A discussionandseparatelistofreferencesconcludeeachfamily. Although thede- scriptions are very detailedandmanycases nicely illustrated, usuallywithdrawings from the source publications, it is sometimes hard to imagine the structuresand mechanisms. Itwouldfacilitateunderstanding ifmoresymbols hadbeenusedinthe drawings. Somany factorsinteractinsecondary pollen presentation, somuch diversity ex- ists, and somuchofflowerbiology is stillunknown(a special section is devotedto futureresearch), thatdiscussing thephenomenon is a precarious enterprise. Never- theless, theauthorsucceededin composing aninteresting overviewofthefunctional, taxonomic,andevolutionaryaspects ina general discussion. Unfortunately, nothing is saidabouttheroleofthepollen itself. Inthelastdecadesattentionhas beenpaid to therelationbetweenpollinators andpollen ornamentation.After reading thebook, wesuspect thatintaxa withsecondary pollen presentation, thepollen graincoherence andadherenceto variousflowerparts maybeanequally importantfactor intheevo- lutionoftheornamentionofthe pollenwall. Thebookis a very usefulreferencework on thesubject, andisrecommendedto allfascinatedby flowerstructure andpollination. Onewouldwish alsoprimary pol- lenpresentation tobe treatedinsuchanoverview. R.W.J.M. van der Ham and W.A. van Heel
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