Plants of the world

“Plants of the World” by Maarten J. M. Christenhusz, Michael F. Fay, and Mark W. Chase is the first book to explore systematically every vascular plant family in the world. The plants are organized in a modern phylogenetic order, in which more than 450 families are described and illustrated.

Following an introduction that sets out the various aspects that are covered in the treatments, the entries follow an encyclopedic format with information about distribution, phylogeny and evolution, numbers of genera and species, uses, largest genome, and etymology. Illustrations are color photographs showing key features of selected representatives. Small global distribution maps are included.

The information isn’t detailed but the entries capture in a summary manner the basic features of every vascular plant family in the world. The end matter includes a glossary, further reading, general references and index.

This ambitious book seems like an important reference work that will set the tone for further works to follow.

Excerpted from the June 2019 Leaflet for Scholars Volume 6, Issue 6