1999] HENDERSON: ARECEAE
Skov, F. & H. Balslev. 1989. A revision of Hyospathe
(Arecaceae). Nordic J. Bot. 9: 189-202.
Tomlinson, P. 1961. Anatomy of Monocotyledons. II.
Palmae. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
9 1962. The leaf base in palms. Its morphology
and mechanical biology. J. Arnold Arbor. 43: 23-46.
BOOK REVIEWS
Fl6rula de las Reservas Biol6gicas de
lquitos, P e r t i . B y R o d o l f o V~lsquez
Martfnez. Edited by Augustfn Rudas
Lleras a n d C h a r l o t t e M. Taylor. M o n o -
graphs i n S y s t e m a t i c B o t a n y f r o m the
M i s s o u r i B o t a n i c a l G a r d e n , Vol. 63. T h e
M i s s o u r i B o t a n i c a l G a r d e n Press, St.
Louis 63166-0299. ISBN 0-915279-48-7.
1046 pp. Price $89.95 (cloth).
This important publication is the natural con-
tinuation of the work started in South America by
A1 Gentry, to whom this book is dedicated. It is
the first comprehensive treatment of any part of
the Amazonian lowlands. While Gentry's Field
Guide to Woody Plants of Northwest South
America helps us to identify families and genera
using many helpful field characters, this book
takes us even further, offering us keys to families,
genera, and to 2900 species (including ferns)!
There is no doubt that Rodolfo Vfisquez Mar-
t/nez is one of the excellent scholars that came
out from "Gentry's field school" (he used to
say, "Don't let university influence your edu-
cation!"). He supplied the vast majority of the
family treatments of this work. Several other
botanists have contributed treatments of family
and genera, treating groups for which we see
their names connected for the first time: C. M.
Taylor (Asteraceae, Clusiaceae, Myrsinaceae
and Rubiaceae), M. R. D. Eddy (several Rubi-
aceae genera), A. Rudas Lleras (Fabaceae, Me-
lastomataceae), H. Van der Werff (generic key
of Pteridophyta) and R. Ortfz-Gentry (Menis-
permaceae). I would have appreciated a list of
the contributors in the introduction (however,
some of them are cited in the acknowledg-
ments), instead of finding them under the family
titles, throughout the text. Many botanists have
collaborated in revising the family treatments,
for which a list of their names is too long to be
reported here.
113
Uhl, N. & J. Dransfield. 1987. Genera Palmarum. L.
H. Bailey Hortorium and Allen Press, Lawrence,
Kansas.
Wessels Boer, J. 1965. The indigenous palms of Su-
riname. E. J. Brill, Leiden.
The book begins with a brief account on the
location, vegetation and floristic composition of
the reserves near Iquitos (Peruvian Amazon),
namely Allahuayo-Mishana, Explornapo Camp
and Explorama Lodge. The bulk of the book is
dedicated to the systematic treatments the ferns
and flowering plants.
I am very pleased that the families have been
arranged in alphabetical order within the three
major plant groups (Pteridophyta, Gymnosper-
mae and Angiospermae), with the family names
on the heading of each page. This practical ar-
rangement enable the reader to go directly to the
family without having to figure out the phylo-
genetic location according to the systems fol-
lowed by the authors. Keys are dichotomous and
indented, and therefore user-friendly. Bracketed
keys are more space efficient, but much more
difficult to use. [Many of my colleagues start
literally "fuming" at the simple sight of brack-
eted keys!] The keys are mostly based on flow-
ering characters, that sometimes are difficult to
observe (e.g., the generic key to the Euphorbi-
aceae), unless a good dissecting microscope is
at hand. I wish to congratulate Charlotte Taylor
for the generic key to the Rubiaceae; she suc-
ceeded to compile a generic key to a large fam-
ily using vegetative features (and without using
micro-characters).
The 117 illustrations are at the end of the
book, and many of them look familiar, being
made by Rodolfo himself. Many of us know that
he was the illustrator of Gentry's manual to the
woody plants of northwestern South America.
The work is concluded by a glossary, references,
and indexes to common and scientific names.
Considering its size (28.5 • 22 • 7 cm) and
weight, you will need a strong arm to take this
book in the field. Nonetheless, this work should
be on the sheff of any botanist that work in neo-
tropical forests!--PIERO DELPRETE,The New York
Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126, U.S.A.