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101

BOOKREVIEWS A.L. Takhtajan: FLORA ARMENII. TOM 10. MONOCOTYLEDONES (ISKLYUCHAYA POACEAE) [FLORA OF ARMENIA. VOL. 10. MONOCOTYLEDONES (EXCLUDING POACEAE)]; A.R.G.

Gantner Verlag KG, Ruggell, Liechtenstein, 2001, 613 pp. Price E UR 98.-, USD 98.-, ISBN 3-904144-16-2 (In Russian) Volume 10 of Flora of Arrnenia covers all monocots with an exception of grasses, which will be dealt with in the 1lth volume. Altogether 29 families with 80 genera and 392 species are discussed. The book starts with a list of the taxa treated in this volume, arranged in systematic order. The genera most numerous in species are Allium (44 species) and Carex (65 species). In contrast to many other recent Floras or Checklists from the territory of the former Soviet Union, the authors of this book did not split genera into many narrowly defined units. Genera delimitations generally follow the traditional concepts comparable with the most recent West-European Floras, e.g. Ornithogalum incl. Loncomelos, Muscari incl. Leopoldia, Cyperus incl. Dichostylis (but excl. Pycreus), Carex incl. Vignea, orNajas incl. CauIinia. Widely recognized genera in recent literature are also mostly kept, e.g. Dactylorhiza separately from Orchis, Schoenoplectus and Bolboschoenus separately from Seirpus, or Groenlandia separately from Potamogeton. Probably the only exception is the wider concept of Lemna that also includes the commonly accepted Spirodella. Each genus is introduced with its description that is followed by a determination key. Species and subspecies are characterized with habitat descriptions, flowering and fruiting periods, distribution in Armenia and total range. In several cases, distribution data are also given for neighbouring eastern Anatolia (mostly for Turkish Armenia) as additions to the distribution data cited in Flora of Turkey (e.g. for Eleocharis palustris, Isolepis

setacea, Eriophorum latifolium, Blysmus compressus, Butomus umbellatus, Triglochin palustre, 1".maritimum, Potamogeton natans, P. gramineus, P. crispus, Groenlandia densa, Zannichellia palustris). These new records are specified with voucher specimens preserved in ERE, MW or LE. Information on nomenclatural type of accepted names is also provided. No separate descriptions are given in sections treating individual species or subspecies but adequate diagnoses are included in determination keys, which are therefore sometimes very extensive, particularly in taxonomically difficult genera. Chromosome counts made on Armenian material are cited, together with the reference to the original literature source. Many plants are well illustrated with original drawings, showing total habit or important details. These are particularly important for recently described taxa, e.g. Merendera greuteri GABRIELIAN 1999, Colchicum goharae GABRIELIAN1999, Fritillaria pinardii subsp, hajastanica GABRIELIAN2001, Gladiolus hajastanicus GABRIELIAN 2001, G. menitzkyi GABRIELIAN 2001, Ornithogalum gabrielianae AGAPOVA 1997, O. navaschinii AGAPOVA1997, Allium schchianae OGAN. 1999, A. struzlianum OGAN. 1999, A. vasilevskajae OGAN. 2000, A. egorovae M.V. AGAB. et OGAN. 2000, Galanthus artjuschenkoae GABRIELIAN 1999, Polygonatum ovatum MISCZ. ex TAMANIAN2001. In many cases these drawings are the first illustrations of these taxa at all. A reader can find several attempts to lectotypify the adopted names. However, many of these designations are not valid in the sense of the St. Louis Code, Art. 7.11, that constitutes that on or after 1 January 2001 "designation of a type is achieved only if... the typification statement includes the phrase "here designated" (hie designatus) or an equivalent". For this reason names such as e.g. Lilium armenum (p. 55), Tulipajulia (p. 66), Ophrys oestrifera (p. 221), O. oestrifera subsp, bremifera (p. 221), Muscari pallens (p. 266), Bellevalia paradoxa (p. 279), Allium albidum (p. 300), A. talyschense (p. 315), A. aucheri (p. 321), etc., were not validly typified in this volume of Flora of Armenia. In contrast, e.g. Ornithogalum shelkovnikovii (p. 236) or O. transcaucasicum (p. 246) were lectotypified in accordance with the Code. This means that each case of intended typification has to be considered individually. Several new taxa were described or new combinations were proposed in genera Gladiolus, Fritillaria, Polygonatum, and Carex. Latin diagnoses and designations of types are given for the newly described taxa directly in the text. Two species should bear different correct names as implies from recent monographs: Luzula pallescens SW. should be used instead ofL. pallidula (see KIRSCHNERet al., Juncaceae. Part 1, In: Species Plantarurn: Flora of the World 6, Canberra, 2002) and Sparganium natans L. instead of S. minimum (see COOK & NICHOLLS, A monographic study of the genus Sparganium (Sparganiaceae): part 1. Subgenus Xanthosparganium HOLMBERG,Bot. Helv. 96: 213-267, 1986).

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Bookreviews

This publication shows the better features of the nowadays often discussed globalization: a book about the Armenian flora, written in Russian, printed in the Czech Republic, published in Liechtenstein, and distributed by a German company. The result is a very nice book that otherwise may have had difficulties to appear, at least in the present quality, price, and circulation. For those who can read Russian, this Flora is an excellent tool for identifying Armenian plants and is a source of additional data. Still also for others, the Latin nomenclature and apposite illustrations provide a lot of very useful data.

Zden[kKaplan Hanno Schifer: FLORA OF THE AZORES. A field guide; Margraf Verlag, Weikersheim, 2002, 264 pp., 382 coloured photos. Price EUR 25.- (hardbound), ISBN3-8236-1368-5 The charming Azorean Islands in the Central Atlantic are about 1,300 km from Portugal, their mother country. These islands are of volcanic origin (the highest peak Montanha do Pico reaches 2,351 m) and are formed of nine main islands and a series of small ones. The oceanic climate is characterized by comparatively low mean annual precipitation. In the phytogeographic division the Islands are a part of a region of Macaronesia. Their interesting and rich flora is treated in only a small number of comprehensive works. The oldest one is the Flora Azorica of SEUBERT(1844) written in Latin. Few further concise synopses, mostly in Portuguese, or the inclusion of Azorean plants in the Flora of Portugal, cannot satisfy the broader circles of those interested in plants, especially botanists, students and tourists. The objective of presenting such a Flora has now been realized by the book here reviewed, which is really a coloured photographic atlas containing descriptions in English of more than half of the 1,200 species of vascular plants that form the Azorean flora; 380 species are presented on coloured photographs. Most of the photos are by the author Hanno Sch/ifer and only nine were supplied by Peter Schrnfelder. The introductory chapters inform about the geography and geology of the Islands, including data on the age of the individual islands, on at present active volcanoes, on rocks and soils and briefly also on climate. In fitrther chapters the history of colonization from the year 1432 and subsequent changes of agriculture are mentioned. Comparatively little attention is given to the vegetation, possibly due to by the fact that the original forest vegetation was totally devastated during centuries of uncontrolled harvesting of tree species and invasive penetration of introduced species. A conspectus of 64 endemic plant taxa of Azores is also presented, of which the majority is surviving in very restricted areas and deserves strict protection. Serious danger for the native flora and vegetation of Azores represent invasive species, to which a special chapter is devoted. Various species from all continents whether it be, herbs, shrubs or trees, which were originally introduced as ornamental plants, or to limit soil erosion or to reforest have started to expand spontaneously on the native biotopes of all the islands. The main content of the book is a special 224 page part, with 2-4 coloured photos of plants arranged according to the system on the right page, and with data concerning scientific name, Portuguese name, morphological characteristic, ecology, distribution and a note on similar or related taxa on the opposite (left page). No only are plants quite common to the Azores addressed, but also those which are dispersed or rare, plus a number of endemics, and numerous introduced species or those which escaped from cultures. The book is concluded by a terminological glossary in English, German and Portuguese, references to the most important literature sources and an index of scientific and Portuguese names of plants. The photos are mostly true to nature and well depict the character of the plant. The typographical layout of the book is not quite as successful because the presentation of names of families and species on eoloured background, especially when dark colours such as violet, blue or green are used, makes the text illegible. We can with pleasure include this field guide of wild flowers of the till now little known Azorean Islands to the series of similar field guides of plants of various regions of the Mediterranean and Macaronesia. This publication will certainly be appreciated by all who intend to visit the Islands, undoubtedly, however, it will be useful and interesting even for a number of readers who have for meantime not a possibility to see beautiful plant world.

Bohumil Slavtk

Bookreviews

103

A. Martin~i~, T. Wraber, N. Jogan, V. Ravnik, A. Podobnik, B. Turk & B. Vrei: MALA FLORA SLOVENIJE. KIju~ za dolo~anje praprotnic in semenk (3 ed.); Tehni~kazalo~ba Slovenije, Ljubljana, 1999,

8459p. Price not given, ISBN 86-365-0300-0 This rewritten and completed third edition of the field key to the vascular plants of Slovenia is a very useful and friendly book. The book includes all autochthonous and naturalized taxa (2979) and a number (266) of adventive species of vascular plants found in the Slovenia. The number oftaxa is about 300 higher than in the second edition from 1984. A number of newly distinguished (e.g. in genera Scilla or Epipactis), newly discovered (e.g. Agrostis vinealis, Callitriche cophocarpa) or newly spread (e.g. Typha laxmaniO, and cultivated and naturalized taxa (e.g. Ailanthus glandulosa, Commelina communis) in Slovenia are included in the third edition. The introduction part of the key (The phytogeographical division, Basic terms of plant morphology, The guide to the key use, The system adopted) is short, but sufficient for the field key. The special part of the book is easy to survey, and the keys for determination of genera and species are dichotomous and easy to use. Many important features are elucidated by appropriate illustration. In comparison with the second edition the number of illustrations is higher and some illustrations have been distinctly improved. Species surveys are always at the foot of the keys, which is a little unhandy. Descriptions of species features (habitat, vegetation belt, distribution, time of flowering) are short but apposite. Some parts of the description (e.g. altitude range, distribution) are often more detailed than in the second edition. Life cycle, life form and the region of natural distribution for the allochthonous species have been added to the description. Numerous annotations and a presentation of some hybrids are further improvements. The taxonomic treatment is nearly equable. A number of species is revised or newly treated in comparison with second edition (e.g. Aconitum, Iris, Epipactis, Scilla). Many intraspecific taxa are newly presented. The majority of critical genera are treated in detail. The treatment of the genus Rubus includes forty species compared to the twenty-eight in the second edition, etc. From important critical genera only the genus Taraxacum is presented in unsufficient detail being divided only in "large species". Nomenclature is mainly contemporary. Accepted names are rarely controversial (e.g. Senecio fuchsii, S. nemorensis). It is not suitable to present the name Rhagadiolus edulis GAI3RTN. as the synonym of Rhagadiolus stellatus (L.) GAERTN. These are two different taxa. The systematics of families and genera is different. Ferns, the orders Liliales and Asparagales are split to narrow families. The families Cichoriaceae and Asteraceae are as discrete as in the second edition. The order Fagales is divided into families Fagaceae, Betulaceae, Corylaceae and Carpinaceae. The delimitation of families Scrophulariaceae, Orobanchaceae and Plantaginaceae is traditional. Descriptions of families refer only to species from the flora of Slovenia. The broadly limited genera are e.g. Ranunculus (incl. Batrachium), Polygonum (incl. Persicaria and Bistorta), Fallopia (incl. Reynoutn'a), Sedum (incl. Hylotelephium), Comus (incl. Swida), Cardamine (incl. Dentaria) while the narrowly delimited are e.g. genera allied to Bromus (Anisantha, Bromopsis, Bromus). Epilobium and Chamaenerion are discrete too. There are relatively few misprints. The most important is the loss of the genus Gymnocarpium, which is presented only in the key to the family Aspidiaceae. The third edition of the Mala Flora Slovenije is markedly improved and will become an essential work for all botanists who come to Slovenia. The only problem is a language barrier for botanists from non-slavunie countries. Milan ~tech

104

Bookreviews

A.E. Orchard: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. INTRODUCTION TO THE

SERIES; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 1999, 91 pp. ISBN 0-642-56804-9; ISSN

1441-1393 (series) A.E. Orchard: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES [ln Chinese, translated by Ying Han Brach]; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2000,

79pp. ISBN 0-642-56807-3 D.J. Harris: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 1, IRVINGIACEAE;

Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 1999, 25pp. ISBN 0-642-56800-6 E.M.A. Steyn, G.F. Smith & K.D. Hill: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 2,

STANGERIACEAE; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 1999, 9 pp. ISBN 0-642-56805-7 E.M.A. Steyn & G.F. Smith: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 3,

WELW1TSCHIACEAE; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 1999, 8 pp. ISBN 0-642-56806-5 R.M.K.

Saunders:

SPECIES

PLANTARUM:

FLORA

OF

THE

WORLD.

PART

4,

SCHISANDRACEAE; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2001, 62 pp. ISBN 0-642-56810-3 S.L. Munro, J. Kirsehner & H.P. Linder: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 5, PRIONIACEAE; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. 2001, 7pp. ISBN 0-642-56811-1 J. Kirschner et al.: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 6, JUNCACEAE 1, ROSTKOVIA TO LUZULA; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2002, 237 pp. ISBN

0-642-56822-7 J. Kirschner et al.: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 7, JUNCACEAE 2, JUNCUS SUBG. JUNCUS; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2002, 336 pp. ISBN

0-642-56823-5 J. Kirschner et al.: SPECIES PLANTARUM: FLORA OF THE WORLD. PART 8, JUNCACEAE 3,

JUNCUS SUBG. AGATHRYON; Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra, 2002, 192 pp. 1SBN 0-642-56824-3 The Species Plantarum Project is an initiative by a world-wide consortium of taxonomists to write and publish a Flora of the vascular plants of the world. The project operates under the auspices of the International Organization for Plant Information (IOPI), a Commission of IUBS. As it is written in the Introduction to the series "Species Plantarum aims to provide in concise format, and with standardized data fields, basic taxonomic information on the vascular plants of the world, including accepted names and synonyms with bibliographic data, types of names, keys and descriptions from family to varietal levels, geographical distributions, ecological information and other related matters, and to publish it in both hard copy and electronic form." Detailed review of the project is provided by BRUMMITr et al. (2001). As of today, the Introduction to the series by A.E. Orchard (in English (1999) and in Chinese translation by Ying Han Brach (2000)) as well as accounts of six families were published. The introductory part explains the reasons for the decision to publish a flora on the world level, provides a brief history of the project, guide for contributors, glossary of mostly morphological terms, and details on the geographical system to be used in the Species Plantarum (following level 3 divisions in HOLLIS & BRUMMITT 1992, now replaced by BRUMMITT 2001). The format of the Species Plantarum generally follows that of the Flora of Australia, with minor adjustments bearing in mind the different scale of this flora. Usual standards are adopted for the abbreviation of journal titles (G.H.M. LAWRENCE et al. Botanico-Periodicum-Huntianum (1968) and its Supplementum (1991)), book titles (F.A. STAFLEU& R.S. COWAN,Taxonomic Literature, ed. 2, vols. 1-7 and Supplements (1976-), with capitalization of all major words), and authors of plant names (R.K. BRUMMITT& C.E. POWELL, Authors of plant names (1992)). Each part of Species Plantarum is planned to provide an account of a family, subfamily or a large genus. While the family treatments might be considerably shorter, the intention is to publish parts covering 50 to 100 species. The four out of six family accounts already published are rather short, representing one species for Welwitschiaceae and Prioniaceae, three species for Stangeriaceae and ten species for Irwingiaceae and the purpose of their publication is to show what family treatments "should look like". The family account of Schisandraceae comprises 39 species in two genera and that of Juncaceae, 440 species in seven genera. In fact, the family treatment of Juncaceae, comprising 765 pages and including 537 distribution maps for the first time shows the real potential of the whole project. The volume was prepared in a wide international collaboration of 21 authors under the editorship of Jan KJrschner, with the help of three advisors to the whole family treatment

Bookreviews

105

(two of them also contributed as authors). There are two important points that I would like to stress. The first, authors of this family treatment not only summarized present knowledge on the genus (adding quite a lot of new information while preparing this account), but also pinpointed the gaps in our knowledge about this family. This is important for directing further research. Secondly, the whole world treatment of this family have shown serious gaps in the local and general Red Lists of vascular plants. Out of the 22 species names listed in the 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants, nine were found to be synonyms of widely distributed taxa, two are taxonomically doubtful and only 11 of them are really threatened. On the other hand, an additional 34 species not listed in 1997 were shown as threatened ones (KIRSCHNER& KAPLAN 2002). Many taxonomists are aware of the inaccuracies in the Red Lists of all kinds, but the numbers provided as a result of the study of this particular family are alarming and illustrate the real need of world-scale taxonomic treatments. Clearly, we cannot protect something that we do not know. The account of the family Juncaceae was the first exercise on a large family in this project and thus naturally pinpointed several problems to be solved. For instance, in spite of the detailed guidelines and really precise editorial work of Anthony E. Orchard and his assistant editors, the format of the accounts still suffers from a few "child diseases", e.g. inconsistency in the use oflSO1 or ISO2 standards to transliterate the Cyrilics in journal titles. Another item, maybe important only from the purely European point of view, are references to Czechoslovakia (CZE) or Yugoslavia (YUC) in the distribution data, in spite of the fact that these countries ceased to exist in their original shape a decade ago. Their division is reflected in the second edition of Bmrnmitt's World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (BRUMMITT 2001) only on level 4 and not on level 3 to which distribution data are referred to in Species Plantarum. However, the preparation of various checklists or Red Lists for the purpose of national legislature or for decision makers on all levels, desperately need the information on the presence or absence of the species on country levels. In addition, both these regions are phytogeographically very variable and from this point of view certainly do not represent natural units. To sum up, the publication of the series Species Plantarum - Flora of the World is a major achievement in taxonomy and in the international cooperation of taxonomists of all continents and hopefully the new volumes will follow in a regular schedule (the account of the family Chrysobalanaceae is already in the works). It should be found on the shelves of all important botanical libraries, but also on the book shelves of those who deal with threatened plants or those interested in biogeography and other related subjects. REFERENCES HOLLIS S. & BRUMMITT R.K. (1992): World geographical scheme for recording plant distributions. Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. BRUMMITT R.K. (2001): World geographical scheme for recordingplant distributions. Ed. 2. Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. BRUMMITT R.K., CASTROVIEJO S., CHIKUNIA.C., ORCHARD A.E., SMITH G.F. & WAGNER W.L. (2001): The Species Plantarum Project, an international collaborative initiative for higher plant taxonomy. Taxon 50: 1217-1230. KIRSCHNER J. & KAPLAN Z. (2002): Taxonomic monographs in relation to global Red Lists. Taxon 51: 155-158. Karol Marhold

106

Bookreviews

J.D. Tenhunen, R. Lenz & IL Hantschel (eds.): ECOSYSTEM APPROACHES TO LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT IN CENTRAL EUROPE. Ecological Studies 147; Springer Verlag, Berlin, etc., 2001,

652 pp., 217 Figs., 72 Tables. Price USD 149.-, GBP 103.-, ISBN 3-540-67267-2 Under the present boom of population ecology, results of comprehensive ecosystem studies are less frequently published. The reviewed book is one of the best recently available. It summarizes the results of five projects oriented mostly on ecosystem processes such as water and nutrient balance and energy utilization, aspects favoured some 30 years ago under the International Biological Program. However, the book clearly illustrates the great progress since that time, which is best seen in the inclusion of modem methods, especially of remote sensing and mathematical modelling. The important aspect of the book is that ecological findings are often put into a broader socio-economic context. An emphasis is also put on the management of the respective ecosystems, which is highly appreciated. This makes the book valuable for the future. The editors had a difficult task integrate rather heterogeneous studies spread over Germany: the Borrthrved Lake in the Northern Coastal Plain, an agricultural catchment in Southern Germany, agricultural landscapes in the Northeast, a montane forest catchment in the central part of the country (in the Fichtelgebirge Mountains), and Liineburger Heide, and to edit the book to which 88 authors contributed. The particular projects were apparently designed and conducted independently and the a posteriori attempt to integrate them had naturally great limitations. This is evident through the book. There are a lot of data presented mostly in a very precise and clear way. However, the authors were sometimes too reserved in their interpretations and generalizations. I expected more consistent generalizations in Part VII, Future perspectives, especially in its last chapter on "Ecosystem science contributions and the implementation of an ecologically based landscape management in Central Europe". The concluding chapter plays only a limited role in this; lacking is an analytical comparison of the studied sites. I do not understand why Chapter 31, concerning the analysis of one river catchment in Southern Bavaria, was included into the synthetic part; it clearly presents a case study. It is also a pity that no rigorous extrapolations were made for the whole German territory. I believe that due to modem technology such as remote sensing and GIS, such at least tentative extrapolations would be possible to a certain level. Another of my objections is that temporal (successional) changes in the studied vegetation were not always considered; successional status has certainly influenced the character of the data. This is well stressed only in Part VI concerning Liineburger Heide. Despite some critical remarks it is a highly valuable book, teaching us more about the ecological functioning of ecosystems in the landscape framework, the level that surely requires more contemporary and future attention. The last small objection is that the title of the book promised the geographical scope of Central Europe, however, the book focuses only on Germany. This is also seen in some chapters where other than German references are only rarely considered. Karei Praeh