Reviews

6 Pages·2000·0.66 MB·English

by  Veldkamp, J F

Reviews 495
Reviews
E.EDGAR & H.E. CONNOR: Flora ofNew Zealand.VolumeV.Grasses. Manaaka
WhenuaPress, Lincoln, New Zealand, 2000. lxxxii + 650 pp. illus. ISBN 0-478-
09331-4.Price: USD55.00.
Thislong-awaited volumeis thelastofthenewFloraofNew Zealandand treats
121 generain21 tribeswith460species, ofwhich226are introducedand46‘transient’,
i.e.introducedbutnot persisting, against 188nativeonesofwhichnot less than 157
areendemics.MostofthelatterbelongtothePoeae(49 +41 others),Agrostideae (45
+58) and Danthonieae(43 + 15)showing the present temperatenature ofthe grass
flora. Thisstructureofthegrassflorais briefly discussed,butitsorigin isconsidered
‘unsuitedtoaflora’.Itisapity thatnoreferenceis giventoaplace wherethisisdone,
instead.
OfgeneralinteresttotheNewZealandFloraistheextensiveliteraturelist(‘annals’)
completing the onesgiven inprevious volumeswithindicesonfamiliesandadditional
scientificsubjects. Curiously,they runupto 1996,whileelsewhere(p. xxix)references
as late as 1999are indexed. M.I. Dawson contributeda survey ofthechromosome
numbersofindigenous species. ItmaybenotedthatforLachnagrostisfiliformis2n=
28and56havebeenreported, althoughEdgar &Connorsay nochromosomenumbers
areknown forthegenus(p. xxiv).
The subfamiliesand tribes are arranged more or less to Clayton & Renvoize's
system, but within them the generaand again the species are placed alphabetically
facilitating fairlyeasy retrieval.Ihavenotbeenabletofindtheplaceofpublication of
theCortaderiinae.Thecorrectnameforthe ChlorideaeTrin.is Cynodonteae Dumort.,
olderby amonthor so. Thetaxa are extensively describedandwhereapplicable pro-
vided with variousnotes on variability, reproductive biology (as couldbeexpected
withConnoras co-author),timeofintroduction, etc.
For native species a full synonymy is given, for introducedones only as far as
names have beenused inlocal literature. Fortheformerthetypes are given and the
lectotypifier whereapplicable. Itis incorrect, however,that Chase& Niles' Indexto
grass species (1962) implicitly referred to (p. xxxiv, 'Miles') would contain valid
lectotypifications (or combinations). Itcertainly is a goldmine ofinformation,but its
basis is a file system intendedfor internaluse at the Smithsonian, which was later
photocopied, distributed,butmustbeconsideredas ineffectively published underthe
ICBN.
Going over thetreatment was apleasure, and I am sure thatagrostology is well
served by it, anditmay beexemplary toothers.Iwouldwishformoreplates, though.
Some minornotes: Diplachne now generally is included in Leptochloa. Paspalum
tenaxTrin.(p.571)fromTrinius' descriptions (1826; 1834)andmicrofiche (IDCBT-
16/1,t. 538.1) appearstobe P. orbiculare, suggesting thatit was a very early intro-
duction,or perhaps nativeafterall.
J.F.Veldkamp
RUPERT LENZENWEGER: DesmidiaceenFlora von Osterreich. Teil 3. Bibliotheca
Phycologica 104.J.CramerinderGebriiderBorntraegerVerlagsbuchhandlung, Berlin-
Stuttgart, 1999.v +218pp., illus.ISBN3-443-60031-X.Price: DEM96.
496 BLUMEA Vol. 44, No. 2, 1999
ThisthirdandlastpartoftheDesmidFloraofAustriais as well-illustratedandas
user-friendly as the first two volumes. Now the genera Cosmarium (193 taxa) and
Closmocladium(1 species) aretreated,togetherwithanadditiontoStaurastrum, where
theverybeautifulalga S. arctiscon isrecorded,describedandfigured. Theformatof
thethirdpart again slightly differsfromtheotherparts; inthe presentone thespecies
arealphabetically orderedwithinsevenspecies groups,notjustinalphabetical sequence
withinthegenus,as in othergenera.Theset-upusedinthechapters on thedifferent
taxais asinvolume2andthistime,incontrast tothetwo first Icannotcomplain
aboutcitationofreferences.The referencesrecordedin connectionwiththefigures
arealsocomplete this time,althoughomissionsfromthetwo earliervolumeshavenot
fullybeencorrected.In the 'Einleitung' stilltwo authorsare mentionedforwhichthe
referencescannot befoundinthe list('Bibliographie').
Itisausefulsmallseriesofbooks,fullofillustrativedrawingsanditisrecommend-
edfor librariesofphycologists, limnologists andall authoritiesonwater qualityand
waterquality control.
W.F.Prud’homme+van+Reine
K.A. MENEY & J.S. PATE (eds.): AustralianRushes. Biology, Identificationand
ConservationofRestoniaceaeand alliedFamilies.University ofWesternAustralia
Press, 1999. x +486pp., (colour) illus. ISBN 1-876-26801-8.Price: USD95.
Restoniaceaeis a family of grass- or sedge-like plants thatis almostcompletely
confinedtotheSouthern Hemisphere withcentres inAustraliaandSouthAfrica.This
book treats theAustralian representatives ofthis and some small related families
(Anarthriaceae, Ecdriacoleaceae). Thebook consistsofthreeparts: Part 1 dealswith
biology andtaxonomy.Itdescribesmorphologicalandanatomicalfeatures, classifica-
tion,ecology, etc. Part2 dealswithidentificationanddescriptions. Keystothegenera
and species are given, thoseto the species are illustratedby copies (ofparts) ofthe
drawings ofthe species. Eachspecies gets two pages: one withthe description and
micrographs oftransverse sectionsofroot,rhizomeandculm,theotherwith drawings
of the plant, including detailsofrhizomeandflowers.A curiousfactis that several
species are given provisional names indicatedby quotation marksandthe indication
'unpubl.' (as in: Desmocladus ‘elongatus’ B.G. Briggs & L.A.S. Johnson, unpubl.),
nomenclaturally anundesiredprocedure. Part3 dealswiththeconservationofAustra-
lian Restoniaceae.
AustralianRushes is a thorough study of the Australianrepresentatives of this
group.The book is wellproduced and beautifully illustratedby drawings ofEllen
Hickman. Theauthorsandthe artistare congratulated withthis impressivebook.
FritsAdema
ROBERT J.MORLEY: Origin andEvolutionofTropical RainForests. JohnWiley &
Sons, Ltd,Chichester, 2000.362 pp., illus.ISBN0-471-98326-8.Price: GBP95.
Thistremendously importantbookonthe historyofAngiosperm vegetation ofthe
world,andespecially thetropical rainforest, isbasedonmicro-andmacrofossilevi-
dence,thelatestresultsofplatetectonics, climaticevidencefromicecores,andother
sources. The author workedas palynologist foroilcompanies and, apparently, had
access to palynological datain thearchives ofthosecompanies. This book gives an
unsurpassed state ofthe art andshouldbeusedand readby all studentsoftropical
Reviews 497
rainforest, vegetationhistory,and historyofAngiosperms. Ifoundfewmistakes.One
ofthemis Macaranga diepenhorstii, theleavesofwhichare given as anexample of
peltate, palmately veinedleaveswhichare commoninlianas.Thisspecies, however,
is ashrub. Further, with modernprinting techniques, the manyvegetation andplant
photographs couldhavebeen printed incolour forthe same price. Thebookis very
expensive!
Aftertheintroduction,Chapter 1, anoverviewofpresent-day tropical rainforestis
giveninChapter 2withallthedifferentvegetationtypes intherainforests areas, with
emphasis onthetypes wheresedimentationandthusfossilisationoccurs. Thechapter
gives inanutshellthecontentsof themoreimportantbooks ontherainforestworld-
wide. Chapter 3 gives an overview ofthe geological timeframework and palaeo-
ecological andpalaeoclimate definitions.Itgives athorough discussionoftheclimates
ofthepastandhowtheycanbe determined.Muchemphasis isgiventochanging sea-
levels. Periodsofmaximumsea-leveltendedtobethewettestwith most widespread
rainforests.Difference in sedimentationduring differentphases of sea-level change
givesagood indicationforpalaeoclimates. Chapter4discussesthegeological evidence
forrainforests, especially thecharactersofplant macrofossils.Severalcharactersof
leavesandwoodarerelatedto climate.Forpollen andspores therelationtomodern
familiesis moreimportant as climatological evidence.Lithological evidence isalso
used,so coalpoints toawet climate.Chapter 5 is called'Early Angiosperm History
andthefirst megathermal Rain Forest'.Theorigin ofAngiosperms is discussed.The
palynological evidencestrongly supports atropical origin, possibly inresponse to a
warm subhumidclimate.Western Gondwanalandis thelikely centre ofradiational-
though anotherpossible origin isanisolated'shard'(terrane)ofGondwanalandwhich
nowoccupies parts ofSEAsia.Bothevents are placed inLateTriassic.
ThehistoryofAngiosperms is extensively discussed, not only thoseofthetropical
rainforest. A true everwet climate developed, during angiosperm evolution, forthe
firsttimeduringCampanian andMaastrichtian.Atthesame timegroupsdeveloped
thatbecameultimatelyimportant rain forestcomponents.Theimpactofa giantmete-
orite66 MA agois discussed. Palynomorph diversitiesexhibiteda dramatic decline
of up to 40%all over the world.This left manyopen places for rapid evolutionof
plants, especially becausealltheherbivoredinosaurshadbecomeextinctthrough the
sameevent.ThefirstclosedcanopymultistoriedNorthAmericanrainforestappeared.
Chapters 6 through 11 discuss Southand MiddleAmerica, Africa, India, Southeast
AsiaandtheEasternPacific, Australasia,andtheNorthernHemisphere Megathermal
RainForest. Thechapters describe theevents in thementionedregions whichwere
formost ofthetimeduringtheTertiary separated fromotherlandmasses. Inallde-
scribedareasrain forestoccurrence fluctuationswere linkedtotheworldclimate, so
they fluctuatedsimultaneously. The terminalEocenecooling event, however, hada
less deleteriouseffect on the diversity ofSouthAmerican vegetation than in other
tropical regions. Hence thegreater numberof(primitive) palms in SouthAmerica.
TheIndianplate wasclothedwithfloristically diversedensetropical rainforestwhen
itstraddledtheequatorduring theEocene.There isnoevidenceforalandconnection
betweenAustraliaand Sunda duringthattime. Rain forests are one oftheoriginal
vegetation types ofAustralia and New Zealand. In New Zealand the megatherm
elementsdiedout inthePlioceneandearly Pleistoceneas aresultofglobal cooling,
498 BLUMEA Vol. 44, No. 2, 1999
whilethey became restricted totheextreme North-EastinAustralia. In Chapter 12
Interplate Dispersal PathsandLandBridges are discussed,whileChapter 13 gives a
synthesis ofthewholebook.Thelastchapter is devotedto thefutureofrainforests
whichlooks bleak.
Hans+P. Nooteboom
H.J. NOLTIE: Flora of Bhutan, including a record ofplants from Sikkim and
Darjeeling. Volume3,Part 2:ThegrassesofBhutan.Royal BotanicGardenEdin-
burgh/Royal GovernmentofBhutan, 2000.vii+376pp., illus.ISBN 1-872291-63-5.
Priceunknown.
Afloristictreatmentofthe126generaand389species makethegrassesthesecond
largestfamily forBhutan(aftertheOrchidaceae). TheBambuseaehavebeendoneby
C.M.A. Stapleton, someAveneae andBromus together with A.C. Broome.Abrief
accountisgiven onthegrass communitiesandhabitats.Roughly 7 typesofgrassland
relatedto altitudeandinfluencesofman andhis cattleare distinguished but amore
detailedecological accountis still needed.
It wouldhavebeen usefulforanoutsiderifthe geographic position of 'Terai' had
been betterdefined.On p. 460 itis regarded as a vegetation type along the Indian
border,butunderthespecies itisregarded as anareaequivalent toSikkimandBhutan.
Usefulandnoxiousspecies arediscussed,andnotesare given onuses,religion, collect-
ing history, phytogeography. Aremarkabledisjunction is that ofNeyraudia curvipes
known onlyfromBhutanandMtKinabaluinSabah(Borneo). Ihavenot seenBhutan
material, butDr.Noltiehasassuredmethatitis thesamespecies astheMalesianone.
Iknow of noothersimilardistribution.
Theonly works availabletoidentify theIndiangrasses arethemonumentaltreatment
by Borforthesubcontinent[Grasses ofBurma, etc. (I960)] andShukla'sFloraofthe
grassesofNE India(1996).The latterandthepresentwork arevery usefuladditions
toBor's wheredescriptions andfigures are generally absent. Noltienotes thatforthe
identificationof grasses one usually needs abinocular microscope provided with a
build-inscale,but fortunately in mostofhiskeys he was able touse characters that
canbe seenby thenakedeyeorhandlens; amillimetregridonthecoverwouldhave
come in handy! For dissection he suggests useofa microscopic slideor tile and a
dropofwater; betteris aPetridish with abottomof water with a dropofdetergent
addedto driveofftheairinthetissue.Onaslidethewaterdriesout quickly,especially
underastrong lamp. He mighthave suggested that thedissectedspikelet ought tobe
retainedinasatchel forfuturereference.
For identificationone hasto go through thekey to the tribeswherefairly 'easy'
charactershavebeenselected, mademoreeasy inuse by theinclusionofthe variable
ones morethan once withthe pertinent taxa added in brackets. Onehas toaddthe
pageswherethey areby hand.Many species aredepicted by theirinflorescenceanda
spikelet. The plates are pleasingly composed, but thesubjects are so scatteredover
thepagethatonecannot immediately matchthecorresponding parts.
Iwas very pleased to see thatthereductionofHierochloëtoAnthoxanthumwas
accepted here. All in allthis is a very useful contributionto SEAsianagrostology.
Iwouldliketo makesomenomenclaturalcomments: 1. BecauseBuse'streatmentof
theJunghuhn grassesappeared beforepartofSteudel'sSynopsis Coelachnesimplicius-
cula(Steud.) Benth.mustbe calledCoelachneinfirmaBuse,Helictotrichonvirescens
Reviews 499
(Steud.)Henr.is H.junghuhnii, andHemarthriaprotensaNeesexSteud.isHemarthria
vaginata Buse;2. Axonopus affinis Chase has been shown to be identical with the
olderA.fissifolius(Raddi)Kuhlm.; 3. Chlorisdolichostachya Lag. iscommonly known
as Enteropogon dolichostachyus (Lag.) Keng exLazarides,which nameis not even
mentioned;4.Eragrostis tenella(L.) Roem. & Schult.is E. amabilis(L.) Nees.The
choiceamongtheequally oldepithets was madeby Munroin 1862;5. Microstegium
ciliatum(Trin.) A.Camusis M.fasciculatum (L.) Henr.; 6.Panicumwalense Mezis
PanicumhumileNees ex Steud.as thesupposed oldercombinationPanicumhumile
Thunb.exTrin.(1826) was notvalidly published; 7.Phragmiteskarka isP. vallatoria,
the plate by Rumphius on whichthis was based is unmistakable; 8. It is Eleusine
coracana, not corocana, and Coixlacryma-jobi, not ‘lachryrmi’.
J.F. VELDKAMP
E.SOEPADMO&L.G. SAW(eds.): TreeFloraofSabahandSarawak.VolumeThree.
SabahForestry Department, Malaysia, Forest Research InstituteMalaysia, Sarawak
Forestry Department, Malaysia, 2000.ISBN983-2181-06-2(vol.3).Price:USD 140.
Thethird volumeoftheTree FloraofSabahandSarawak is finally published, as
noadditionalinternationalfunding was availablebetween1996and 1999.Itcontains
fourplant familiesonly, Fagaceae, Caesalpiniaceae (here treatedas Leguminosae-
Caesalpinioideae), Moraceae and Myristicaceae and is dedicatedto the late K.M.
Kochummen,betterknowntohisfriendsasKoch. Intotal431 treespecies arecovered,
andmostofthem (c. 250)havebeentreatedinaFloraMalesianaaccount. Personally
IhadastronginterestintheMoraceaeas Ficus is, duetoits high diversity, oneofthe
difficultgenerainBorneo.Kochummen's account is very usefulas itcovers 143spe-
cies, including theepiphytes, climbers, stranglers, or creepers.Thisfloristicrevision
is long awaitedby theforesterandbiologist as well,as Ficus is oneoftheimportant
sources of fruitsforeithermammalsorbirdsandvery wellcollectedanddocumented
in herbaria.Withthe presentkey at hand,whichis not always easy to use (one still
oftenneedscorrectly identifiedherbariumspecimens forreference), onewill beable
toidentify mostoftheBorneanmaterial.This stillis atime-consuming process asthe
key heavily depends inthefirstleadonseveralcategories ofgrowth forms.Whentry-
ing toidentifyourown collectionsfromEastKalimantanitseems thattheinformation
on growth formonthelabelsisincontrasttotherespective description ofthespecies.
Thereforeonehasto try morethan onepossibility as withregard to habit. Itis apity
thatthenumberofdrawings whichwouldmaketheidentificationalittlebiteasieris
relatively low(6 only), ofwhichone, Ficus deltoidea, cannotbemistaken.Less than
10% ofthespecies consideredtobetreeletsor trees is illustratedandthe(local) user
wouldcertainly appreciate amuchhigher numberofdrawings.
Theotherthreefamiliesaretreatedby theMalesianexpertsofthegroupswhoalso
already contributedtoFloraMalesiana.TheidentificationofCaesalpinioideae (Ding
Hou,NHN/L) shouldposenoproblem to theeveninexperienced user, as allgenera
arerelatively smallandthereforethekeys straightforward. Unfortunately someofthe
drawings (Crudia ornata,Sindora wallichii) are in sharp stylisticcontrast to therest
ofthe drawings. This should certainly beavoided infuture volumes. TheFagaceae
havebeen treated by one oftheeditors (Soepadmo, with assistance ofS. Juliaand
RuseaGo).Identificationofsterileplants withthehelp ofvegetative andfieldcharac-
500 BLUMEA Vol. 44, No. 2, 1999
ters,oftennecessary forecologicalaims and duringforestinventories, seemsalmost
impossibleinthelargegeneraLithocarpus (61 sp.)andCastanopsis (21 sp.). Theac-
countshows thatcollectingandinventorywork inBorneois stillneededas 11 species
havebeendescribedasnewaftertheFloraMalesianatreatmenthasbeenpublished in
1972.This is more than 10% ofthe formerly known numberofspecies. Oneof the
most diversefamiliesare theMyristicaceae represented by 5 generainBorneo. This
accounthasbeenwritten byDeWilde(NHN/L)andisbasedonhislargercontribution
to FloraMalesiana, whichhappened to bepublished when I receivedthis copy for
review. Theidentification,especially ofthelargestgenusKnema(44sp.), ishampered
considerably as oneneeds tohaveflowerbuds,flowers, andfruits atthe sametime
(example: lead5:Flowers wholly orlargely glabrescent... 6;6:Fruits glabrescent...
7; 7: Flowerbuds more or less mitriform).Unfortunately, thechance to collect all
these stages within one specimen is very low. WithinHorsfieldia (39 species) De
Wildeatleastprovides twokeys,oneformalefloweringspecimens andoneforfemale
floweringandfruiting specimens) whichmaybeeasiertouse. Comparingthenumber
ofspecies inBorneowiththose species only occurring inSabahandSarawak, itcan
be concludedthat the latter grouprepresents almost 90%ofthetotal number.This
makes theTree Flora ofSabahand Sarawak a very usefultool forall who need to
knowaboutthefloristiccomposition oftheislandofBorneo.Additionalinformation
onvernacularnames, distribution,ecology,andusesis given. Itisapity thatso farno
funding couldbefoundtocombineeffortsinBrunei,Kalimantan,Sabah,andSarawak
towriteaFloraofBorneoas thiswouldhaveasynergetic effectonthefasterprogress
ofthe TreeFlora.
This volume, asaretheothertwo,is avery fineexampleofamuchneededregional
floraandeverybody interestedinthebotanicaldiversityofBorneois strongly advised
tobuy acopy.Thebookis very wellprinted, hardboundandcosts USD 140formore
than500printedpages.Inmy opinionthismoneyis verywellspent,although university
libraries or studentsin theregion mayhave adifferentview.
Paul+J.A. Keßler
H.A.M.VANDERVOSSEN& M.WESSEL(eds.): PlantResourcesofSouth-EastAsia
16.Stimulants.Backhuys Publishers,Leiden, TheNetherlands,2000.201 pp.,illus.
ISBN 90-5782-053-6.Price: NLG 130(hardcover). [A paperback editionwill be
available in 2000 (NLG 50). For developing countries a paperback edition (ISBN
979-8316-35-5.Price: c. USD 7) will beavailable inMay 2000from thePROSEA
NetworkOffice atBogor, Indonesia.]
This new volumeofPROSEA deals with theinteresting groupofstimulantpro-
ducingplants.Theintroduction,whichtreatsthegeneral aspects ofstimulantsandthe
plants thatproduce these substances,is followedby threechapters on theindividual
species. The firstofthesetreatsthemajorstimulantssuchas coffee,tea, tobacco,and
especially forAsiathe various plants usedin bettlechewing. The secondone treats
the minorstimulantswhich are oftenlocally used as substitutes forspecies ofthe
major group.Thethirdchapter merely lists species usedas stimulantsthat are treated
inothercommodity groups.Allchapters includealistofreferences.Aliteraturelist
withmore general referencesformsoneoftheclosing chapters.
Thebookis produced inthehighquality way ofthe otherPROSEA volumes.
FRITSADEMA