Bejucos y Plantas Trepadoras de Puerto Rico e Islas Virgenes

Author(s): Daniel F. Austin

Source: Economic Botany, 58(1):128-128.
Published By: The New York Botanical Garden
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1663/0013-0001(2004)058[0128:DFABRE]2.0.CO;2
URL: http://www.bioone.org/doi/full/10.1663/0013-0001%282004%29058%5B0128%3ADFABRE
%5D2.0.CO%3B2

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 BOOK REVIEWS
DANIEL F. AUSTIN, BOOK REVIEW EDITOR
War and Tropical Forests. Conservation in Areas
of Armed Conflict. Steven V. Price (ed.). 2003.
The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Bingham-
ton, NY 13904. xx 1 219 pp. (paperback). $24.95.
ISBN 1-56022-099-6.
One of the satisfactions of working in the discipline
of Economic Botany is investigating the variety of
subjects it encompasses. This title adds a new cate-
gory, for this reviewer, to that array. An international
conference on War and Tropical Forests: New Per-
spectives on Conservation in Areas of Armed Conflict,
assembled a diverse group of researchers, conservation
practitioners and policy makers to explore these issues
and draw greater attention to the conflicts currently
affecting tropical forests. The volume—co-published
as Journal of Sustainable Forestry 16[3/4] 2003—con-
tains eight essays from specific danger zones: Colum-
bia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia,
Nicaragua, and Rwanda, which emerged from their
presentations.
The editor’s Preface acknowledges that ‘‘This vol-
ume does not present a single view of the impact that
wars have on forest conservation, nor does it reach a
consensus about the role that forest resources play in
the outbreak or course of armed conflict. Nevertheless
the authors collectively highlight the potential for
armed conflict and military power to affect the future
of tropical forests.’’
Some of the main themes and conclusions that
emerge from this volume are: (1) The impacts of
armed conflict on forest resources and conservation
capacity are diverse and overwhelmingly negative. (2)
Conservation interests working in politically volatile
regions must prepare for conflict and its aftermath. (3)
Threats to natural resource conservation can be severe
during the post-conflict period. (4) Local communities
can play a decisive role in conservation during armed
conflict. (5) International market forces and far-reach-
ing economic agendas often fuel armed conflict. (6)
Corruption and dysfunctional governance can exacer-
bate conflict and its environmental impact. (7) Effec-
tive conservation in areas of armed conflict requires
greater levels of collaboration in research, policy-mak-
ing, and field programs.
Comparative and interdisciplinary in reporting and
approach, War and Tropical Forests explores the is-
sues faced by those engaged in forest conservation in
an environment of war and conflict. Andrew Plump-
tre’s essay Lessons Learned from on-the-ground Con-
servation in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of
the Congo provides insight that is transferable to other
regions. His opening sentence, a grim reminder: ‘‘The
war and genocide that swept through Rwanda and the
Economic Botany 58(1) pp. 118–130. 2004
q 2004 by The New York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A.
eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has severe-
ly disrupted conservation activities there.’’ He under-
took a survey of staff in both countries to assess what
they had endured during the war and to understand
why they had continued working despite great risk to
their lives. Reliable salary and understanding the im-
portance of conserving their country’s forest were
common reasons.
Charles Berber and Kirk Talbott present The Chain-
saw and the Gun: the role of the Military in Defor-
esting Indonesia, showing how conservation systems
can become militarized. Jay Austin and Carl Bruch
address Legal Mechanisms for Addressing Wartime
Damage to Tropical Forests, suggesting how conser-
vation efforts can become an important part of peace
making. War and Tropical Forests is an excellent col-
lection of readings appropriate for academic, policy,
and activist audiences, and an up to date view of what
environmental authority might mean in areas of armed
conflict.
DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS AND
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida. Second
Edition. Richard P. Wunderlin and Bruce F. Han-
sen. 2003. University Press of Florida, 15 NW 15th
Street, Gainesville, FL 32611-2079; URL: www.
upf.com. 787 pp. (hardcover). $US 39.95. ISBN
0-8130-2632-6.
If you think you know the plants in Florida’s flora,
think again! Dick Wunderlin and Bruce Hansen have
given us an updated and dramatically altered flora from
the 1998 version. This publication has, among the
many changes, the welcome alphabetization of fami-
lies, genera, and species.
There are many novelties in this book, but none
more striking than the re-arrangement of many long-
established families. This edition accepts the growing
body of evidence indicating that old, familiar, and
long-cherished families pairs such as Apocynaceae and
Asclepiadaceae and Malvaceae and Sterculiaceae are
untenable. They have combined these into two families
(and actually included others within them), but that is
not all. The sweet-gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), that
has been put in the Hamamelidaceae since the time of
Asa Gray, Nathaniel Lord Britton, and John K. Small
in the middle 1800s, is no longer in that family. It is
now in the Altingiaceae (p. 252), a circumscription
proposed by Friedrich G. Hayne in 1830.
2004] BOOK REVIEWS
I spent an afternoon going through the book to com-
pare the generic and family names with the almost
1000 species that I am working with. A few had name
changes (e.g., Asplenium auritum to A. erosum; Soli-
dago gigantea to S. leavenworthii); some were in seg-
regate genera (e.g., Gnaphalium obtusifolium to Pseu-
dognaphalium obtusifolium), but the biggest changes
are in families. Aceraceae, Chenopodiaceae, Empetra-
ceae, Hippocastanaceae, Nyssaceae, and Tiliaceae
(among others) no longer exist. Instead, their species
have been placed in other well-known groups. Other
large families have been divided into smaller, mono-
phyletic groups (e.g., Liliaceae into Alliaceae, Melian-
thiaceae, Nartheciaceae, and others; Loganiaceae into
Gelsemiaceae, Strychnaceae, and Tetrachondraceae).
Many of these changes have been debated for decades;
others are newer. In total, this tome recognizes 243
families, while the 1998 edition had only 227.
This book also adds species to the flora, with 4145
taxa in 2003 vs. 3834 in 1998. This change is partly
due to the escape of alien plants from cultivation into
the wild. However, the figures also reflect the number
of people looking at plants while the total number of
botanists declines. Organismic biology, and particular-
ly botany, is a dying discipline at a time when the
world most needs those skills.
As with all human endeavors, there will be items in
this one that some will disagree with. For example, I
do not agree that Lagenaria siceraria is an alien spe-
cies. Archaeologists found it at the Windover Site in
Brevard Co., dated at 7290 years old (Doran et al.
1990), and that satisfies the authors’ definition of being
present before 1513 (p. 6). Also, I would argue that
Cucurbita pepo (not included), Nicotiana rusticum
(not included), and Zea mays (p. 231) are also native
on the same grounds (see Asch and Asch 1985; Deck-
er-Walters et al. 1993; Newsom et al. 1993; Fritz
2000b; Winter 2001). The first two still occur wild in
the eastern United States; maize is ephemeral.
Still, those are trivial points. This volume will be
welcomed to all who are interested in our natural life-
support system. To Dick and Bruce, I say, ‘‘Well
done!’’
REFERENCE CITED
Asch, D. L., and N. B. Asch. 1985. Prehistoric plant
cultivation in West-Central Illinois. Pages 149–204
in R. I. Ford, ed., Prehistoric food production in
North America. Anthropological Papers, Museum
of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Ar-
bor, MI.
Decker-Walters, D. S., T. W. Walters, C. W. Cow-
an, and B. D. Smith. 1993. Isozymic characteriza-
tion of wild populations of Cucurbita pepo. Jour-
nal of Ethnobiology 13(1):55–72.
Doran, G., D. Dickel, and L. Newsom. 1990. A
7,290-year-old bottle gourd from the Windover
Site, Florida. American Antiquity 55:354–360.
119
Fritz, G. J. 2000. Levels of native biodiversity in
Eastern North America. Pages 223–247 in P. E.
Minnis and W. J. Elisens, eds., Biodiversity and
Native America. University of Oklahoma Press,
Norman, OK.
Newsom, L. A., S. D. Webb, and J. S. Dunbar. 1993.
History and geographic distribution of Cucurbita
pepo gourds in Florida. Journal of Ethnobiology
13:75–97.
Winter, J. C. 2001. Tobacco use by Native North
Americans: sacred smoke and silent killer. Civili-
zation of the American Indian series vol. 236. Uni-
versity of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
DANIEL F. AUSTIN
ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
TUCSON, AZ 85743
DAUSTIN@DESERTMUSEUM.ORG
Lloyd Herbert Shinners: By Himself. Ruth Gins-
burg. 2002. Sida Botanical Miscellany No. 22, Bo-
tanical Research Institute of Texas, 509 Pecan
Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102-4060. xii 1 183 pp.
1 58 unpaginated b/w figures (paperback). $28.00
1 $3 postage USA, $5 international postage. ISSN
0883-1475; ISBN 1-889878-10-3.
The sense of the title is that, to the extent possible,
the author permits her subject to speak for himself,
with a great many quotes and details taken from the
archives maintained at Botanical Research Institute of
Texas, and extracts from the files of many others, in-
cluding Hugh Iltis and Billie Turner. But I had the
constant thought, as I read this fine biography, that the
double meaning of ‘‘by himself’’ was also intended.
Shinners lived alone, and to a very considerable extent
worked alone.
He was a self-proclaimed genius who in 1942 re-
ceived a letter at UW–Madison addressed simply to
‘‘God Almighty, Biology Building, University of Wis-
consin, Madison, Wisconsin.’’ Apparently, everyone
involved knew whom to deliver it to. (The envelope
was preserved, which says something about Shinners’
notion of himself, and is reproduced as Fig. 15.)
Wisely, the author has adopted a literal chronolog-
ical arrangement, which permits the story to unfold
almost as though the reader were an eye witness. Cov-
er blurbs for popular novels often speak of a book as
a ‘‘page-turner,’’ so much so that the term has become
hackneyed; nonetheless, that is exactly what I found
this book to be.
The author’s parting words (‘‘L’envoi,’’ pages 152–
154) are especially poignant. Here she speaks for her-
self, in her own voice, and summarizes both his per-
sonality and his lasting contributions to Plant Taxon-
omy. And then she adds Appendix I, a heretofore un-
published paper ‘‘Phylogeny in Five Dimensions.’’
120 ECONOMIC BOTANY
Shinners explains that he means the three dimensions
of the morphology of the plants themselves, the fourth
dimension of time, and the fifth dimension of the hu-
man mind working on the previous four dimensions.
There follows an unalloyed screed, an unconstrained
libel (as printed here) about the shortcomings of the
work of others, with Charley Heiser, G. Ledyard Steb-
bins, and Clausen, Keck, and Hiesey getting particular
attention.
As explained on page 107, this was a speech at a
Missouri Botanical Garden symposium, 1956, and the
targets of his slanderous venom may well have been
in the room (the author doesn’t say). ‘‘. . . American
biologists concerned with phylogenetic taxonomy are
fundamentally unscientific.’’ And further along, ‘‘We
do not have scientific thinkers; we have mental me-
chanics, ingeniously juggling fashionable clichés and
small amounts of narrowly selected data. This has be-
come a sort of national game—often fascinating,
sometimes impressive, but not science.’’
This is a biography, quite unlike any other I have
ever read. It is not a scientific paper, and there is no
‘‘Literature Cited.’’ There is no mention of the ‘‘obit-
uary’’ by Donovan Correll: Lloyd Herbert Shinners—
a portrait. Brittonia 23(2):101–104. 23 June 1971, the
subject having passed away on 16 February 1971, at
age 52. There it is stated that Shinners is buried in
Cedarburg [Ozaukee County], Wisconsin. In fact, there
was no interment: his sister spread his ashes over Ce-
darburg Bog, just north of Milwaukee. The entire area
is preserved as a field station for UW–Milwaukee and
as a state scientific area administered by the Wisconsin
DNR. I think Dr. Shinners would have been pleased.
NEIL A. HARRIMAN
BIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–OSHKOSH
OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN 54901
HARRIMAN@UWOSH.EDU
Compendium of Symbolic and Ritual Plants in Eu-
rope. Marcel de Cleene and Marie C. Lejeune.
2002. Man & Culture Publishers, Maaltebrugges-
traat 288, B-9000, Belgium; distributed by Alpha
Publishing, Grattons Court, Grattons Drive, Pound
Hill, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 3AG, GB,
Ghent, Belgium. Vol. 1 (Trees & Shrubs), 885 pp.;
vol. 2 (Herbs), 695 pp. (hardcover). £115.00. ISBN
90-77135-04-9.
For years I have been poring through books looking
for European common names, stories, and beliefs
about plants. Then, this 2-volume set arrived on my
desk. It seems to contain all that I have been looking
for, and more. The authors first published the work
under Compendium van Rituele Planten in Europa
(1999), and now in English (2003). Although it comes
[VOL. 58
at a hefty price, the text is scholarly, thorough, and
well illustrated. Each of the 96 headings (several con-
tain multiple species, i.e., Cereals, Citrus, Lotus, On-
ion, Pistacia Tree) includes a line drawing. There also
are numerous black-and-white photographs. Those
vary from the Christmas cakes from Austria, Belgium,
and Switzerland (Vol. II, Fig. 25), an engraving of the
Narcissus myth (Vol. II, Fig. 42) first published ca.
1642, to the Sacred Myrtle Tree (Vol. I, fig. 86) taken
from a fresco in Pompeii, Italy. These are supple-
mented by 315 color illustrations.
Although sold as a package, the first part of the sec-
ond volume duplicates some the introductory material
in the first. These both have a Preface, Acknowledg-
ments, and Famous herbalists and herbalist writings.
However, the first contains other material under the
headings, Ritual plants in our daily lives; Do old sym-
bols, myths, and rituals still have any point?; Tree
symbolism; and The Gregorian calendar reform. Vol-
ume 2 contains Flowers as symbols; The symbolism of
wreaths and crowns; and The importance of the an-
cient knowledge of herbs to contemporary medicine.
After this introductory material, the species are cov-
ered in alphabetical order by an English common
name; Acacia to Yew (Volume 1), and Amaranth to
Woodruff (Volume 2). Following this text, each con-
tains an ‘‘Academic apparatus,’’ which includes lists
of figure and color plate sources, a general bibliogra-
phy of books, an index, and a page with a photograph
of the authors and a brief vitae of each.
Each heading gives information about the plant, in-
troduced by a quote from literary sources, the Latin
name (sometimes genus, sometimes species), and com-
mon names in English, French, German, and Dutch.
This is followed by a brief discussion of Habitat (in-
cluding geography), a Description, then material on Rit-
uals and Mythology and Worship; Symbolism; Legends
and Sagas and/or Magic and Beliefs; Herbalism and
Medicine: its place in Industry, Agriculture and Crafts;
on its place in the Home, Garden and Kitchen. Finally,
there is a ‘‘Did you know?’’ segment of interesting or
provoking vignettes. Finally, there are references.
Most of the common names are familiar, but I am
willing to bet most will not recognize ‘‘Bear’s-breech’’
as Acanthus. Nor did most of us know that the wife
of Ask (the first Norse man) was Embla. According to
Norse mythology, he was made from the Ash tree
(Fraxinus) and she from the Alder (Alnus).
The English version of the book was launched at a
meeting on 23 October 2003 at the Chelsea Physic
Garden in London. I highly recommend this to all who
would compare the culture they think they know to
those from which many of us sprang.
DANIEL F. AUSTIN
ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
TUCSON, AZ 85743
DAUSTIN@DESERTMUSEUM.ORG
2004] BOOK REVIEWS
Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. Proceedings of
the First PROTA International Workshop 23–
25 September 2002, Nairobi, Kenya. G. H.
Schmelzer and B. A. Omino (eds.). 2003. PROTA
Foundation, Wageningen University, Department
of Plant Sciences, Haarweg 333, P.O. Box 431,
6700 AH, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 361 pp.
(paperback). Gratis. ISBN 90-77114-04-1.
Comprehensive reports about botanical research in
Africa have been fewer since the colonial era ended.
A new collaborative undertaking of the PROTA Foun-
dation, situated at Wageningen, in the Netherlands, is
an international program focused on all 7000 useful
plants of Tropical Africa. Its purpose is to make avail-
able the wealth of dispersed knowledge on these plant
resources for education, extension, research and indus-
try through Internet databases, books, CD-ROMs, and
derived products such as brochures, leaflets, and man-
uals. The starting assumption is that a thorough knowl-
edge of plant resources is essential for arriving at eco-
logically balanced and sustainable land-use systems. A
large international team of experts is contributing the
texts for a systematic coordinated corpus of data on
each species. All species will be described according
to a standard format with details on uses, trade, prop-
erties, botany, ecology, agronomy or silviculture, ge-
netic resources, breeding, prospects and most impor-
tant published literature.
PROTA will publish separate volumes covering de-
tails about plants in each of the following use group
or commodity group categories: Cereals and pulses,
Vegetables, Dyes and tannins, Ornamentals, Forages,
Fruits, Timbers, Carbohydrates, Auxiliary plants, Fuel
plants, Medicinal plants, Spices and condiments, Es-
sential oils and exudates, Vegetable oils, Stimulants,
and Fibres.
This report contains PROTA’s mission and abstracts
of presentations from the first PROTA workshop, Sep-
tember 2002 in Nairobi. Together, they represent the
latest word about research of African plant genetic re-
sources. Since these abstracts were contributed by an
assortment of authors, viewed as a whole, their con-
tents may seem uneven. Nevertheless, examining the
abstracts and mission will provide readers with a
glimpse of some of the topics that are currently under
investigation in Africa.
This author’s latest fieldwork efforts in Africa, be-
tween October and December 2003, lead her to prize
the reports contained in this volume. The Convention
for Biological Diversity has focused new attention on
indigenous biodiversity in low-income countries. It
empowers heads of national Gene Banks to issue stern
concerns about benefit sharing and access to genetic
resources. While most countries have not yet codified
their regulations about access to genetic resources,
anyone interested in studying plants is now subject to
intense scrutiny and may be denied permission out-
121
right. It seems unfortunate that previous collaborations
that were easy are prohibited, and very obscure taxa
that were up to this time ignored by scientists, are
stalled by overly zealous petty bureaucrats. It makes
research reported in this book less achievable.
Other seasoned scientists understand that this view-
point is too narrow and the result is a loss to science
as well as to their nation, but have no power to influ-
ence the new administrators. It seems that it will take
half a decade or more to sort this out. Meanwhile,
research subjects that are already so little investigated,
have low or no economic impact, and have been thor-
oughly neglected continue unstudied. It is shameful to
waste these opportunities while permanent loss in bio-
diversity of wild species, crop landraces and habitats
rush ahead, unabated.
DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS AND
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
Tarweeds & Silverswords, Evolution of the Madi-
inae (Asteraceae). Sherwin Carlquist, Bruce G.
Baldwin, and Gerald D. Carr (eds.). 2003. Missouri
Botanical Garden Press, PO Box 299, St. Louis,
MO 63166-0299. xiv 1 294 pp. (paperback).
$29.95. ISBN 1-930723-20-2.
The Hawaiian silversword-complex of three genera
(Argyroxiphium, Dubautia, and Wilkesia: Asteraceae)
represents one of the most spectacular cases of adap-
tive radiation in island systems. It is probably cited as
a case study second only to Darwin’s finches as an
example of speciation and evolution in textbooks. This
eleven chapter book (8 authored by the editors) is a
multi-author effort presenting all of the most up to date
results of studies on the subtribe Madiinae in the sun-
flower family. Having all these research projects in one
volume is ideal for the scientist wishing to understand
the subtribe. It also will be useful as an example to
students exemplifying different experimental ap-
proaches that may be used to study the evolutionary
patterns of plant lineages.
In the first two chapters of this book, co-editor Bald-
win summarizes the natural history and morphological
character variation that occurs in the continental tar-
weeds and the Hawaiian silverswords. These chapters
describe the morphological and ecological diversity in
the group which range from sea-level to alpine habi-
tats, inhabit arid regions and one of the wettest local-
ities in the world, are annuals and perennials, and
range from herbaceous species to shrubs, large trees,
vines, and monocarpic rosettes. He also discusses the
variation in floral morphology and additional charac-
ters in detail. The following two chapters, by co-editor
Carr, thoroughly elucidate the chromosome evolution
and rearrangements that take place among the species
122 ECONOMIC BOTANY
of the alliance. This led to the discovery that hybrid-
ization played a significant role in the radiation of the
lineage and to artificial hybridization experiments that
have even produced a tri-generic hybrid. These studies
helped explain the origins of the Hawaiian species.
The next three chapters are authored by the third edi-
tor, Sherwin Carlquist. These chapters focus on the
anatomy of the trichomes and glandular structures (the
exudate of these give the California tarweeds their
common name), leaves (which range from reticulate to
longitudinally oriented appearing almost parallel), and
wood (which shows remarkable changes that relate to
the group’s adaptation to the diverse habitats and hab-
its).
The ensuing three chapters are not by the co-editors.
Chapter 8, by Bohm and Yang, surveys the secondary
metabolites that vary among the lineages of the sub-
tribe and discuss systematics of the group based on
flavonoid loss and gains throughout the evolutionary
history of the lineage. The subsequent chapter delves
into an investigation of floral regulatory genes and the
correlation of these genes to the wide phenotypic di-
versity in the group which was discussed by Baldwin
in Chapter 2. Once again the researchers, Purugganan,
Remington, and Robichaux, show the difficulty apply-
ing techniques perfected in model systems and to nat-
ural systems when the group under investigation has
undergone polyploidy and chromosomal rearrange-
ments as is the case in the silversword-complex. Co-
authors Friar and Robichaux summarize the conser-
vation concerns facing some of the rare members of
the Hawaiian group and the problems of implementing
preservation strategies. They use a genetic fingerprint-
ing approach to examine genetic diversity in the re-
maining individuals of the Mauna Kea silversword.
The last chapter by Baldwin ties the preceding ten
chapters together nicely. He examines the character
evolution, ecology, and biogeography of the Madiinae
in a phylogenetic context. Two appendices follow that
clarify the taxonomy of the group and they include a
list of all taxa and synonymy and a nomenclator that
reflects the most recent treatments of the tarweeds and
silverswords.
The tarweeds and silverswords are not economically
important other than the fact that thousands of tourists
drive their convertible, rental cars up the winding
roads to Haleakala National Park to view the charis-
matic Haleakala silversword whose ball of silver
leaves dots the black cinder slopes of the crater. The
only negative comment I can make about this book is
that the reproductive quality of the many illustrations
included could have been higher in order to support
the detailed text. Nevertheless, this book is a very nice
piece of scientific literature that has resulted from the
work and dedication of many fine scientists and their
thirst to better understand the evolutionary patterns in
one of the most spectacular adaptive radiations in the
plant kingdom. I highly recommend it.
[VOL. 58
TIMOTHY J. MOTLEY
THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN
BRONX, NY 10458
TMOTLEY@NYBG.ORG
A Color Atlas of Pests of Ornamental Trees, Shrubs
and Flowers. David V. Alford. 2003. Timber Press
Inc., 133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450, Portland
OR 97204-3527. 488 pp. (hardcover) $59.95. ISBN
0-88192-561-6.
The best audience, for this highly informative and
well illustrated book, are readers living in or visiting
Britain or Europe north of the Alps, the geographic
area covered by this volume. The fact that Timber
Press decided to reprint this book, originally published
in the UK in 1991 and 1995, suggests that its appeal
extends beyond Europe, and I agree. Many of the de-
picted plant feeders are distributed beyond Europe, be-
ing cosmopolitan (especially the glasshouse pests),
Holarctic, Eurasian (to Japan), or European species in-
troduced to temperate North America. In addition,
many closely related species also occur in North
America. Although pests of ornamental plants are the
focus of the text, the scope is wide, encompassing nu-
merous insects and mites of modest economic impor-
tance as well as more serious pests. Cursory counts of
species in the larger groups found more than 200 moth
species, 120 aphids, 80 beetles, 75 sawflies, 56 gall
mites, and 32 gall midges. 1069 high quality color
photos depict adult and immature stages, and/or the
damage caused, especially if it is characteristic, as with
galls, leaf mines, and leaf rolls. The text provides brief
descriptions of each species, usually information about
life cycles and biology, generalized control measures,
and world distribution. The separate plant and insect-
mite indices are valuable for finding and identifying
the pests of concern.
Butterflies, except for the cabbage butterflies, Pieris
brassicae L. and P. rapae L., are absent. In line with
the omission of most butterflies that eat ornamental
plants, such as the beautiful Old World swallowtail,
Papilio machaon L., which feeds on economic mem-
bers of the Apiaceae, the author indicates that the ‘‘at-
tractive’’ red and black colored scarlet tiger moth, Cal-
limorpha dominula (L.), should not be destroyed when
found on cultivated plants. I concur, but would extend
this reprieve to other, less lovely creatures that don’t
do much harm, both to limit pesticide use and add
interest to the garden. The detail of the book is such
that in addition to being useful to identify pests of
ornamental plants, the book is enjoyable as a natural
history survey of insect and mite herbivores of north-
ern Europe. Considerable diversity and evolution of
plant feeding can be seen in these cold country insects
and mites, which belong to about 100 families. For
2004] BOOK REVIEWS
instance, gall making, leaf mining and leaf rolling have
evolved many times in unrelated families in different
orders.
I recommend this attractive and authoritative book
to horticulturalists, IPM practitioners, naturalists,
growers, gardeners, and botanists. It is sometimes said
that entomologists are better botanists than botanists
are entomologists. If true, this book can help close the
gap.
ROBERT W. PEMBERTON
USDA—AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL
BOBPEM@SAA.ARS.USDA.GOV
Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume
25. Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, Part 2. Ed-
itorial Committee. 2003. Oxford University Press,
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016. 814
pp. (hardcover). $120.00. ISBN 0-19-516748-1.
As an undergraduate student, I remember one of the
most challenging courses for young botanists was ag-
rostology. This was because the grasses (Poaceae) and
grass allies (Cyperaceae, Juncaceae) were tedious and
difficult to identify and, to make matters worse, the
nomenclature was shifting beneath our feet as we
painstakingly memorized names. Dreaded though it be,
agrostology managed to attract a significant enrollment
because it was a surprisingly fascinating topic, and of
such practical importance. That was the mid-1990s;
nearly a decade later it is becoming increasingly rare
to find agrostology courses offered at Universities
across North America (even my alma mater has
stopped offering it with the retirement of its instructor).
It now appears that the only way in which many stu-
dents will be exposed to this important course of study
is through topics such as turf management and orna-
mental horticulture.
For those of us who have had the good fortune of
becoming acquainted with the study of grass biology,
ecology, and identification, the latest volume of the
Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA) series
is indeed a welcome addition to the working library.
Volume 25 is the second in a two-part treatment of the
Poaceae, with the first part (Volume 24) still in prep-
aration. This volume treats six subfamilies belonging
to the Poaceae: the Panicoideae, Arundinoideae,
Chloridoideae, Centothecoideae, Aristidoideae, and
Danthonioideae. For the economic botanist, there are
treatments of some very important families and genera.
And given human use of and dependence upon mem-
bers of the grass family, there is much that has been
contributed by, and is of interest to, economic bota-
nists.
Take, for example, the treatment of the genus Zea
(subfamily Andropoganeae) authored by the Society’s
123
very own Hugh Iltis. Mr. Iltis has been a notable figure
in economic botany because of his contributions to our
understanding of maize (Zea mays) evolution and do-
mestication (his latest paper on the subject, for ex-
ample, appeared in Economic Botany Vol. 54, No. 1).
His treatment in Volume 25 is authoritative, and it rep-
resents the latest in taxonomic and systematic under-
standing of this important genus—something we
would expect from the FNA series.
Another treatment that should be of particular inter-
est to the economic botanist is Robert Webster’s treat-
ment of the genus Saccharum, which of course con-
tains one of the most important global sources of sugar,
Saccharum officinarum. I personally was not aware,
for instance, that there are nine species of Saccharum
that can be encountered by botanists working in North
America. Of these, five are native with the remainder
introduced for horticultural and agricultural purposes.
Such personal discoveries illustrate one of the greatest
values of the FNA series; namely, that the comprehen-
sive treatments allow botanists to examine taxonomic
and geographical traits of genera across the North
American continent, rather than being limited by keys
developed for one’s own state or region.
There are simply too many wonderful generic treat-
ments included in Volume 25 of the FNA series to give
each mention here. With 814 pages of text and draw-
ings, this is unavoidable. However, one contributor
certainly deserves recognition: Mary Barkworth. Ms.
Barkworth has been a prominent figure in grass sys-
tematics for many years and her contributions as both
volume editor and treatment author help to make this
work indispensable. One has only to peruse Volume
25 to note the number of treatments contributed by Ms.
Barkworth to recognize that she is clearly one of the
finest agrostologists and botanists of our time.
With past volumes of the FNA series, I have felt
that the most disappointing aspect of each volume was
the relative paucity of illustrations, especially given the
quality of what was included. Thankfully, this is not
perpetuated in Volume 25. Included are full page line-
drawings of taxa that are, in my opinion, some of the
finest ever produced of the grasses. These illustrations,
coupled with the excellent keys, make identification of
unknown taxa much easier than other taxonomic works
that I have used over the years. The only other work
with such a great pairing of illustrations and keys is
Volume 6 of the Intermountain Flora series. However,
this latter work, originally published in 1977, has be-
come largely outdated in recent years as information
has been developed on the grasses and their systematic
placement.
It must be pointed out that Volume 25 deals only in
part with the Poaceae; the first part to this family is
still in preparation. This means, unfortunately, that for
the time being a comprehensive key to family, sub-
family, and genus are lacking (it will be included in
Part 1, i.e., Volume 24). Thus, we are left to eagerly
124 ECONOMIC BOTANY
anticipate the availability of this additional work. If it
is anything like its predecessor, however, it will un-
doubtedly be well-received by botanists working on
the North American continent.
ERIC P. BURKHART
SCHOOL OF FOREST RESOURCES
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
EPB6@PSU.EDU
Enduring Seeds. Native American Agriculture and
Wild Plant Conservation. Paperback Edition.
Gary P. Nabhan. 2002. University of Arizona Press,
355 S. Euclid, Suite 103, Tucson, AZ 85719. xxvii
1 225 pp. (paperback). $19.95. ISBN 0-8165-
2259-6.
Miguel Altieri’s Foreword to the second edition of
Nabhan’s seminal Enduring Seeds, originally pub-
lished in 1989, includes a compelling homage to in-
digenous knowledge. People of the land have contin-
uously cultivated maize, cucurbits, and edible greens
for millennia. One of the salient features of their tra-
ditional farming systems is the high degree of biodi-
versity. These traditional farming systems have
emerged over centuries of cultural and biological evo-
lution, and they represent the accumulated experience
of indigenous farmers interacting with the environment
without access to external inputs, capital, or scientific
knowledge. Using inventive self-reliance, experiential
knowledge, and locally available resources, traditional
farmers have often developed farming systems with
yields that have stood the test of time.
Nabhan’s survey documents inventiveness by Na-
tive American farmers facing problematic environ-
ments. These agroecosystems can be seen as a contin-
uum of integrated farming units and natural or semi-
natural ecosystems in which foraging and farming are
actively pursued. Plant resources are usually directly
dependent upon management by human groups; thus
they have evolved in part under the influence of cul-
tivation practices shaped by particular cultures and the
array of sophisticated knowledge they represent.
Altieri asserts that: ‘‘Today it is widely accepted that
indigenous knowledge is a powerful resource’’ itself.
Nabhan suggests that, in studying such systems, it is
not possible to separate the study of agricultural bio-
diversity from the study of the culture that nurtures it.
As traditional agriculture is disappearing because it
faces major social, political and economic changes,
preservation of traditional agroecosystems must occur
in conjunction with the maintenance of the culture of
the local people. Conservation and management of ag-
ricultural and biodiversity is not possible without the
preservation of cultural diversity. ‘‘Traditional agricul-
ture is the cradle of agrobiodiversity, plays a key role
in ensuring food security, preserves soil and water, and
[VOL. 58
is resilient to natural disasters especially climate
change, over which indigenous and peasant farmers
have no control.’’
DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ST. LOUIS AND
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
The Lowland Maya Area. Three Millennia at the
Human-Wildland Interface. A. Gómez-Pompa,
M. F. Allen, S. L. Fedick, and J. J. Jiménez-Osornio
(eds.). 2003. Food Products Press, an imprint of
The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Bingham-
ton, NY 13904-1580. xxx 1 659 pp. (paperback).
US$ 79.95. ISBN 1-56022-917-3.
Expansive is a word that comes to mind when de-
scribing Gómez-Pompa’s extensive collection of chap-
ters describing Yucatán culture and ecology. Spanning
three millennia and five countries The Lowland Maya
Area is a book whose scope is as broad as the title
suggests, integrating research examining the biotic, an-
thropological, meteorological, and geological forces
that have made the Mayan lowlands what they are,
what they were, and what they will be.
What coheres the 659 pages of this book, aside from
the geographical focus on lowland Mesoamerica, is the
Maya’s human-ecology interactions, and how they pre-
cipitated and survived the large-scale growth, zenith
and decays of this dynamic civilization. The authors
go beyond proposing reasons for the decline of the
Maya, citing copious research on Mayan lifestyle and
conservation practices that have applications for mod-
ern land-use management practices.
The book’s first two sections provide an overview
of the region’s environment and biodiversity, generally
spanning the history of human occupation. The vast
majority of this research was conducted in the El Edén
Ecological Reserve in Northern Quintana Roo. While
the reserve represents ‘‘all major ecosystems of the
area,’’ data comparing the Yucatan with lowland Maya
areas in present-day Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and
El Salvador would have made this work more repre-
sentative of the region as a whole.
Next, the book presents Mayan agriculture, largely
from an historical and archeological perspective, ana-
lyzing Henequen and Cacao production, and discuss-
ing archeological evidence for wetland use and fertil-
izers. The following section, ‘‘Plants and People,’’ is
an eclectic assortment of cognitive ethnobotany, eco-
nomics, and conservation efforts. This section’s focus
on recent and present-day Mayan communities is a
pleasant contrast to the previous section’s historical ac-
counts.
The book closes with a glimpse at the future of low-
land Mesoamerican forests, highlighting restoration,
agroecology, and environmental education programs
2004] BOOK REVIEWS
advocating sustainable use and participatory research.
A final summary of recommendations synthesizes the
collective effort and suggests how the Mayan lowlands
and El Edén might serve as an example of long-term
human-ecology interaction.
The editors have borrowed from a truly interdisci-
plinary cross section of knowledge and compiled it
into a logical and accessible volume. Although a glos-
sary of Spanish and Maya words would have made the
book a bit friendlier, a detailed table of contents and
index create an easily navigable reference. The Low-
land Maya Area would be a useful reference for any
student, researcher, or development worker with an in-
terest in the region.
ANTHONY AMEND
UNIVERSITY OFHAWAII AT MANOA
HONOLULU, HI 96822
AMEND@HAWAII.EDU
Bejucos y Plantas Trepadoras de Puerto Rico e Is-
las Virgenes. Pedro Acevedo-Rodrı́guez. 2003.
Smithsonian Institution, MRC-166, Washington,
DC 20560. To order, contact the author by email:
acevedo.pedro@nmnh.si.edu. ii 1 491 pp. (paper-
back). $30.00, including shipping. ISBN
0-9743280-0-6.
For all those who know Pedro’s other recent book
(Flora of St. John U.S. Virgin Islands. The New York
Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, 1996), the quality of
this new volume will be no surprise. This attractive
and well-researched book lives up to the standards he
set with that other contribution. Moreover, Bobbi An-
gell, who illustrated Pedro’s first book and Scott Mori’s
Guide to the Vascular Plants of Central French Gui-
ana (The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY,
Part 1, 1997, Part 2, 2002), also did the line drawings
for this book. That is another big plus for the quality
of workmanship.
Some will consider the fact that this book is in Span-
ish a drawback. Others of us relish books in that lan-
guage. For those who do not read Spanish, it will be
easy enough to use the keys and descriptions by re-
lying on words cognate with scientific English.
The book is laid out much like a scientific paper. It
begins with a Resumen/Abstract. That is followed by
an Introducción which includes general comments on
morphology of stems in climbers, mechanisms of
climbing and holding, and diversity and distribution,
and methods. Then there are the acknowledgments,
general references, and the systematic treatment. This
is followed by a list of the specimens studied, those
used to make the drawings, a glossary, an index of
scientific names, and another to common names. In
this time of a publisher’s tendency to put photographs
125
and biographies of authors on dust covers, the inclu-
sion of this on p. 491 is a pleasant surprise.
The introduction contains a series of black and white
photographs showing some of the variations on the
anatomical tricks that climbing plants have used to
support their mass. There is a plate of line drawings
of the methods used to climb and attach plants to their
supports.
The systematic segment includes keys to larger di-
visions and then within, keys to each species. Each of
the 386 species treated is illustrated with a line draw-
ing, and we are told that the text covers 65 families
and 187 genera. Some 278 are native, 34 endemic, 64
naturalized, and about 49 cultivated.
There is not an abundance of material directly ad-
dressing economic botany in the book. However, there
are lists of common names for the species in Spanish,
English, and sometimes other languages that should be
of interest. For readers of this journal, the great value
of this study will be the detailed illustrations that ac-
company the identification aids of keys, descriptions,
and ranges. Many species have detailed dissections of
living flowers along with habit sketches. For each spe-
cies, the description is followed by phenology, status
(exotic, cultivated, escaped, native, endemic, etc.), dis-
tribution within Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,
and elsewhere in the world. This is followed by public
forests where the species has been found. Families
have selected references in addition to the general ci-
tations given earlier.
Although there are not many of us who revel in
plants with climbing life-forms, few are enthusiastic
enough to name their children after them. Pedro Ac-
evedo is one of two people I know of with a daughter
named ‘‘Liana.’’ That enthusiasm for plants comes
through on each page of this valuable and pleasingly
produced book. For everyone interested in plants, this
is a steal at the price!
DANIEL F. AUSTIN
ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
TUCSON, AZ 85743
DAUSTIN@DESERTMUSEUM.ORG
Na Msu’u kia ‘i Kwara’ae/Our Forest of Kwara’ae.
Michael Kwa’ioloa and Ben Burt. 2001. The Brit-
ish Museum Press, 46 Bloomsbury Street, London,
WC1B 3QQ Great Britain. 260 pp. (paperback).
£24.00. ISBN 0-7141-2533-4.
Kwara’ae is the largest cultural group in the Solo-
mon Islands with great national influence. Kwara’ae
territory extends as a band across the island of Malaita
with traditional communities primarily focused upon
inland and upland agriculture and arboriculture. The
Kwara’ae language has long served as the most im-
portant indigenous language for discussion of plants
126 ECONOMIC BOTANY
throughout the Solomon Islands with Kwara’ae names
being used as often as Solomon Islands Pijin, English,
or Latin among the nation’s foresters. Despite this long
standing importance, little more than the indigenous
names of the plants have been used in most scientific
publications. Kwa’ioloa and Burt begin to provide the
context of the names of the plants. They accomplish
this in two different ways. The first part of the book
outlines the range of interactions the Kwara’ae value
most with their natural environment. The second part
is a catalogue of plants grown in Kwara’ae lands. The
two parts are introduced in a foreword by Kwa’ioloa
and in an introduction by Burt that together describe
the rationale for the book, methods used for collection
of information, and logic dictating the writing style
and organization.
The book was written in Kwara’ae by Kwa’ioloa
and a group of leading chiefs and workers from Kwa-
ra’ae communities. It was later translated into English
and is published with much of the text of the two lan-
guages side by side. This is a very valuable and all
too rare example of an important approach to reporting
traditional knowledge. The English reader will find the
discussion awkward at times, much as indigenous peo-
ple have often found English discussions of their com-
munities. The shoe is on the other foot. However, the
reader will also learn interesting insights into the ways
that Kwara’ae speakers think about their environment.
The introduction section provides discussions of the
meanings of terms and difficulties in translating Kwa-
ra’ae into English. This section is very insightful and
helpful for English speaking researchers working in
cultures speaking Austronesian languages. Maps, pho-
tographs, and botanical illustrations are all of the best
quality and add substantially to the value of the doc-
ument. A small set of drawings of leaf shapes is very
useful for identification of sterile species. Several text
boxes draw out important categories of plants. The
book has a basic index for Kwara’ae plant names that
are used as heading titles in the second part of the text.
The index includes English and Latin names listed un-
der the Kwara’ae name. There is no separate index for
rapid searches of the entire text under Kwara’ae, En-
glish, or Latin names. This makes it awkward to use
as a reference.
A glaring weakness is found in the authors’ choice
to use general English terms such as ‘‘nut,’’ ‘‘palm,’’
‘‘bamboo,’’ ‘‘tree-fern,’’ and ‘‘potato’’ to reference
particular species of plants. An explanation is provided
but it does not overcome the problems that arise from
usage of a general term from one language to translate
specific terms from another language. Authors need to
overcome the anxiety about the simple fact that there
are thousands of species used by people around the
world for which there is NO ENGLISH word. Rather
than creating English words or selecting inappropriate
English words, it is better to simply adopt the indige-
nous term into the English text. For instance, the Kwa-
ra’ae word for Canarium indicum, ‘‘Ngali,’’ has al-
[VOL. 58
ready been widely used in other English publications,
yet the authors chose to use the less meaningful term
‘‘nut’’ to reference this species that is so important to
the Kwara’ae.
Na Msu’u kia ‘i Kwara’ae/Our Forest of Kwara’ae
is recommended as a reference example for scholars
and indigenous communities interested in producing
bilingual documents on ethnobiology and traditional
economic botany. It is a must read for those working
in the Solomon Islands or other parts of the Western
Pacific region.
WILL MCCLATCHEY
DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII
MANOA, HONOLULU, HI 96822
MCCLATCH@HAWAII.EDU
The Renaissance of the Apocynaceae s.l.: Recent
Advances in Systematics, Phylogeny, and Evo-
lution (the 16th International Botanical Con-
gress, St. Louis, Missouri). Victoria C. Hollowell
(ed.). 2001. Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gar-
den 89(4):517–737. ISSN 0026-6493.
This review of a single issue of the Annals of the
Missouri Botanical Garden focuses on a collection of
articles (pp. 517–668), the proceedings of a symposium
‘‘Evolution and Phylogenetics of the Apocynaceae s.l.’’
at the 16th International Botanical Congress, St. Louis,
Missouri. The collection brings together the most recent
findings based on a variety of different techniques and
approaches to clarify the nature and relationships within
this interesting and complex family.
The opening article is an introduction by Endress
and Stevens that includes a brief historical overview
of taxonomic treatments of the family beginning with
Jussieu (1789) and traces the research of several schol-
ars through the succeeding years leading to the 1999
symposium. They present the classification scheme for
subfamilies and tribes within the Apocynaceae that is
generally followed by the rest of the authors in the
volume, and proceed with brief summaries highlight-
ing significant findings from each contribution.
Potgieter and Albert present ‘‘Phylogenic Relation-
ships within Apocynaceae s.l. Based on trnL Intron
and trnL-F Spacer Sequencies and Propagule Charac-
ters.’’ The authors examine fruit and seed characters
related to dispersal mode, along with new molecular
sequence data to consider some of the relationships
and incongruence between traditional tribal boundaries
compared with their comprehensive phylogeny. They
discuss the evolution of seed comas and enhanced
long-distance dispersal as factors in cladogenesis and
the rise of extant genera; western Gondwana is sug-
gested as the origin of the family.
Venter and Verhoeven (‘‘Diversity and Relation-
ships with the Periplocoideae’’) examine the subfa-
2004] BOOK REVIEWS
milial phylogeny using cladistic analysis of morpho-
logical characters, particularly the flower. They estab-
lish the presence of one larger and two smaller clades,
indicate a number of generic and specific synonyms,
and describe fifteen new species combinations. Ver-
hoeven and Venter, ‘‘Pollen Morphology of the Peri-
plocoideae, Secamonoideae, and Asclepiadoideae,’’
also analyze the taxonomic significance of pollinia
form and exine structure to distinguish taxa among the
individual subfamilies. Pollen structure is used to infer
evolutionary trends within the family.
The paper by Civeyrel and Rowe, ‘‘Phylogenetic
Relationships of Secamonoideae Based on the Plastid
Gene matK, Morphology, and Biomechanics,’’ com-
pares molecular data, reproductive traits, and change
in growth forms (flexural stiffness) to clarify taxonom-
ic relationships within the group and with their closest
relatives. They describe a unique form of pollinium
synorganization and the retention of ancestral charac-
ters that again serve to illuminate the evolution of the
reproductive system of the entire family. In comparing
the anatomical structure of shrubs versus lianas in the
family, they found characteristics consistent with the
literature on ecological and functional wood anatomy
in other families. The molecular evidence combined
with the information on biomechanics suggests that
self-supporting shrubs evolved from lianescent forms
at least five times.
Fishbein (‘‘Evolutionary Innovation and Diversifica-
tion in the Flowers of Asclepiadaceae’’) discusses pat-
terns of diversification in the group through analysis of
floral complexity. In ‘‘A Karyological Survey of Ascle-
piadoideae, Periplocoideae, and Secamonoideae, and
Evolutionary Considerations within the Apocynaceae
s.l.’’ Albers and Meve consider chromosome numbers
and karyotype sizes in view of systematic position and
biogeography, positing an African origin of the family.
Liede’s article ‘‘Subtribe Astephaninae (Apocynaceae—
Asclepiadoideae) Reconsidered: New Evidence Based
on cpDNA Spacers’’ analyzes genetic data to clarify
phylogenetic relationships within the group.
Together the articles comprising these proceedings
provide a fascinating synthesis of the Apocynaceae
that is instructive and illuminating. It will attract read-
ership among systematic biologists and other scientists
interested in the Apocynaceae, as well as scholars con-
cerned with improved systematics methods and basic
issues of evolution and phylogeny.
LEE A. NEWSOM
THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA 16802-3404
LAN12@PSU.EDU
Healing Kidney Diseases in Antiquity. Plants from
Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica with Illustra-
tions from Greek and Arabic Manuscripts (A.D.
127
512–15th Century). Alain Touwaide, Natale Gas-
pare de Santo, Guido Bellinghieri, and Vincenzo
Savica. 2002. Editoriale Bios s.a.s., Via Sicilia 5—
casella postale 528, 87100 Cosenza, Italy. viii 1
198 pp. (hardcover). 51.65 Euros. ISBN 88-7740-
297-0.
This book distills from Dioscorides’ massive text a
summary of the plants he recommended for various
kidney and bladder disorders, from dysuria to kidney
stones, with brief discussions of the medical philoso-
phy that underlay their use. It is lavishly illustrated
with images from seventeen manuscripts depicting
Dioscorides’ plants, providing over 170 examples of
medieval botanical art ranging from exquisite to awful;
a fascinating chapter on premodern botanical illustra-
tion helps the reader to judge less harshly. While many
listed plants are not illustrated, a few are portrayed in
several styles, a particularly educational feature.
Although three of the authors are nephrologists, they
largely ignore the question of how well Dioscorides’
recommended remedies actually worked. A number,
including horsetail, juniper, lovage, parsley, restharrow
(Ononis), stinging nettle and white poplar, are used in
European herbal and medical practice to this day as
aquaretics, for urinary tract inflammation or benign
prostatic hyperplasia, or for treatment or prevention of
kidney stones (Schulz et al. 1998; Weiss and Fintel-
mann 2000). Some discussion of Dioscorides’ advice
regarding these plants would have been interesting.
The botanical identity of Dioscorides’ plants is
sometimes uncertain, and the authors seem to have ac-
cepted previously published opinions uncritically. For
example, ‘‘cinnamon’’ here refers both to cinnamon
and to malabathron, a plant appearing near cinnamon
in the original text, which was described and illustrated
as the leaf of a rootless aquatic Indian herb; the opin-
ion that this was a species of cinnamon is doubted by
recent scholars (Osbaldeston and Wood 2000). The
distinction is largely obscured, since only English
common names and putative Latin names are used;
inclusion of the Greek names would have been helpful.
So would proofing by a native English speaker: no-
menclatural errors include ‘‘cat time’’ for Teucrium
polium, and a symptom better translated as ‘‘thick and
cobweb-like urine’’ (e.g., Osbaldeston and Wood
2000) was here rendered as ‘‘spider-like urine,’’ which
could keep readers awake at night.
Two very different images from the Arabic manu-
script Ayasofia 3703, both captioned ‘‘mullein,’’ were
taken from a two-page spread whose visible text ap-
plies to arkeion (the second of two sorts of burdock)
and petasites (cf. Osbaldeston and Wood 2000), which
Dioscorides treated shortly after phlomos (mullein);
the second figure seems unlikely to represent mullein.
One hopes that the identity of often unrecognizable
images was not confused. Finally, the tables suffer
from omissions: valerian is listed in the index (which
128 ECONOMIC BOTANY
refers only to figures) as a diuretic, but does not appear
in the table of diuretic herbs.
Despite this book’s limitations, it is worth the price
just as a thing of beauty, with superb photographs
crisply reproduced on good paper. If the reader’s in-
terest is in ethnobotany or medicine rather than botan-
ical art, though, the data gleaned here should be con-
firmed using more authoritative references. The text,
though certainly informative, does not meet the stan-
dard set by the illustrations.
LITERATURE CITED
Osbaldeston, T. A., and R. P. A. Wood, eds. 2000.
Dioscorides: De Materia Medica. Ibidis Press, Jo-
hannesburg.
Schulz, V., R. Hänsel, and V. E. Tyler. 1998. Ratio-
nal phytotherapy: A physician’s guide to herbal
medicine. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg.
Weiss, R. F., and V. Fintelmann. 2000. Herbal med-
icine. Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart.
WENDY L. APPLEQUIST
MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN
ST. LOUIS, MO 63166-0299
WENDY.APPLEQUIST@MOBOT.ORG
The Miraculus Fever-Tree. Malaria and the Quest
for a Cure that Changed the World. Fiammetta
Rocco. 2003. HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 10
East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. xix 1 348
pp. (hardcover). $24.95. ISBN 0-06-019951-2.
Although I had seen no publicity on this book, it
came as a 2003 Christmas gift from my nephew and
his wife. After reading it, I decided that readers of
Economic Botany should have it drawn to their atten-
tion.
Most readers of this journal will be familiar with at
least the outline of the search for the ‘‘fever-tree’’ or
quinine, Cinchona (Rubiaceae). This book fills in
much of the detail and adds the medical aspects. Since
I have visited and lived in Asian and American tropical
regions where the disease was rampant, I had an idea
of how bad it was. However, I had no inkling of how
truly devastating and dangerous a malady it really is.
I was reminded of how lucky my mateiro companions
were in the state of Amapá, Brazil when I worked
there. They had decided that it was better to not take
the preventative medicine, and simply wait until they
contracted malaria before seeking help. At the time, I
thought it risky, but I had no idea how quickly the
‘‘resistant strains’’ of Plasmodium falciparium can kill.
They did not either.
The author, a lady of Italian-French descent who
lived much of her early life in Africa, had a personal
interest in this disease. She, her father, and her grand-
father all overcame malaria. That she and her father
[VOL. 58
survived is not surprising given their access to quinine.
Her grandfather, however, was involved in the building
of the Panama Canal when malaria killed thousands.
Ms. Rocco begins the book with a history of the
ravages caused by malaria in Africa and Rome. She
then gives detail of the discovery of the plants in Peru,
their introduction into Europe by the Catholics, and
the subsequent death toll because the Protestants were
reluctant to use a ‘‘Papist’’ remedy. This is followed
by the use, and disuse, of the medicine in the con-
quering and exploration of Africa, and subsequent ven-
tures including World War I and the French involve-
ment in the Panama Canal. She details the attempts by
Charles Ledger, Richard Spruce, Sir Clements Mark-
ham, and others in obtaining seeds and seedlings that
were subsequently transplanted into Asia. Hers is a
damning history of military and political ignorance
during all phases of quinine history. Moreover, she
paints a depressing picture of the medical profession
as physicians stumbled over each other, and suppressed
information in trying to be the discoverer of what
caused the disease. In other words, she reflects exactly
what is going on in the modern world with numerous
scourges.
As a journalist, she does an excellent job of pre-
senting the historical material in a readable and accu-
rate manner. However, her attention to biological detail
is occasionally insufficient. Her knowledge of Ro-
mance languages over-rode facts when she called caña
fistula a ‘‘Peruvian wild cane.’’ It is actually a Senna,
originally probably restricted to the Old World Senna
fistula. She misidentifies a bird (p. 115) as a toucan
that is actually the kiskadee (Pitangus sulphratus).
And, there is a plant called ‘‘triphosia’’ that must be
Tephrosia.
Still, these are minor problems in contrast to the
remainder of the book. I highly recommend this book
to those who work in areas with malaria, and those
interested in Homo sapiens’ distressing botanical and
political history. Moreover, the book is fun to read.
DANIEL F. AUSTIN
ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
TUCSON, AZ 85743
DAUSTIN@DESERTMUSEUM.ORG
Food Systems for Improved Human Nutrition:
Linking Agriculture, Nutrition, and Productivi-
ty. Palit K. Kataki and Suresh Chandra Babu (eds.).
2002. The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street,
New York, NY 13904-1580. xvi 1 394 pp. (pa-
perback). U.S. $49.95. ISBN 1-56022-103-8. [This
book has been co-published simultaneously as
Journal of Crop Production, Volume 6, Numbers
1/2 (#11/12) 2002.]
This book is a bound compilation from Journal of
2004] BOOK REVIEWS
Crop Production that conveniently consolidates a se-
ries of articles bringing together social and biological
scientists into a single reader on ‘‘Food Systems.’’ The
editors have provided the latest strategies for generat-
ing long-term sustainable solutions to global malnutri-
tion problems made possible by integrating nutrition,
agriculture, production economics, and other food-re-
lated fields as a part of the Food Systems Approach.
The book is organized into three sections: 1) defi-
nition, description, and discussion of the theories be-
hind the Food Systems Approach; 2) case studies il-
lustrating econometric models; and 3) strategies rec-
ommended to alleviate chronic malnutrition in devel-
oping and less developed societies. Five articles
represent each of these sections, and an effort at global
applicability has been made by using case studies and
data from South Asia, India, Bangladesh, China, and
East Africa.
The articles suggest strategies for a wide base of
problems. Ruel and Levin give examples of micronu-
trient solutions to deficiencies in Vitamin A, iron, and
iodine in their overview of food-based approaches to
malnutrition. Popkin et al. show the impact of econom-
ic growth on diet change and health with an example
from China. The new problems stemming from high-
yield rice and wheat-cropping in South Asia are dis-
cussed, as is the impact of Quality Protein Maize
growing in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. Ali and
Abedullah show the nutritional and economic benefits
of using vegetables to increase crop diversification in
South and Southeast Asia. Babu and Rhoe develop a
theoretical model for agroforestry solutions to crop di-
versity while Thompson et al. suggest fish farming in
the monsoonal waters in Bangladesh.
Throughout the articles, malnutrition is defined as a
lack of micronutrients in the diet and obesity, not just
a lack of calories. All of the articles address the prob-
lems which result from low-diversity diets, incomplete
nutrition, and decreasing dietary diversity as societies
focus on a few starchy staples instead of a well-round-
ed diet. Strategies discussed to counteract malnutrition
include engineered crops, cow breeding, food fortifi-
cation, and restructuring of foodways via new crop
balances. In addition, the authors address how low
crop diversity weakens the economic and political re-
siliency of these societies, making the book an infor-
mative read for economists and politicians worried
about global food security issues.
From a technical standpoint, the book is well pro-
duced. The chapters are well-referenced and the data
are interpreted in readable, good-quality figures and
tables.
I recommend this book for scientists interested in
not only nutrition, agriculture, and economics, but also
for those in the fields of health, medical, and nutri-
tional anthropology. In particular, the case studies and
strategies for alleviating nutrition-based health prob-
lems are good examples for epidemiology, nursing, so-
129
cial work, and public health students. The book would
serve well as a reader for courses in all of these fields.
In summary, the book is a good resource for those
interested both in the impact of culture change on food
and production systems and the theoretical benefits of
the Food Systems Approach.
KAROL CHANDLER-EZELL
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 63108
KAROL@EPI.WUSTL.EDU
Medical Botany. Plants Affecting Human Health.
Second Edition. Walter H. Lewis and Memory P.
F. Elvin-Lewis. 2003. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Ho-
boken, NJ; URL: www.wiley.com. xx 1 812 pp.
(hardcover). US $95.00. ISBN 0-471-62882-4.
When Walter and Memory finished the manuscript
for the first edition of this book and sent it to potential
publishers in the 1970s, it was soundly rejected. Fi-
nally, they got John Wiley and Sons interested, and it
first appeared in 1977. It soon became one of the most
widely read, cited, and used books in North America,
and its popularity continues to soar. There is a lesson
in that for all potential authors—publishers typically
have no idea what is going on in the world!
After being encouraged by many, the Lewises have
come out with an updated and expanded edition. This
long-awaited book will be welcomed by all who have
used the first edition, and will surely be adopted by
any that did not know the first version. This book has
much of the old format, plus a number of novelties.
One interesting item is a list of Proprietary Registered
and Trademark Names and Owners (p. ix). For those
like me, who find their chronologically challenged sta-
tus requires more props that it formerly did, these are
useful. Others will refer to them for different reasons.
In response to a changing world since the 1970s, the
authors have added a segment after the Introduction
they call Complimentary and Alternative Medicine.
This discussion puts the remaining material nicely into
context in our increasingly corporate-manipulated and
controlled world. The bottom line, as in their first edi-
tion, is what Third-World people have long known.
There is medical relief apart from a physician’s pre-
scription and the local pharmacy. Unhappily, the big
trick in applying herbal products is that most of us do
not have proficiency in diagnosing maladies. First-
World societies have relinquished that skill to others
instead of retaining it as part of our every-day knowl-
edge.
Next are the four parts of the first edition—I Inju-
rious Plants, II Remedial Plants, and III Psychoactive
Plants. Each of these is further divided into multiple
topics, with some changes from the original. For ex-
ample, Part I now has Internal Poisons, Immune Sys-
130 ECONOMIC BOTANY
tem and Cell Modifiers, and Allergies. The first edition
was labeled as Internal Poisons, Allergy, and Cell
Modifiers: Mutagens, Teratogens, and Lectins. The
other sections have similarly instructive headings.
These parts, like the first edition, are followed by Ap-
pendix A. Outline Classification of Plants, Appendix B.
Bibliography of Traditional and Herbal Medicines and
Ethnobotany, a Glossary, and an Index. To give just a
glimpse of how the book has changed, the three parts
were included in 448 pages in the first edition. They
now comprise 732 pages.
However, there are some points that are not perfect.
[VOL. 58
I noticed that this version retained the incorrect names
Cucurbita lagenaria (correctly Lagenaria siceraria)
and Rivea corymbosa (correctly Turbina corymbosa),
among a few others. Still, those are minor points that
do not detract from the overall worth of the book. Like
the first edition, this is a wonderful book and should
be in the library of each person who reads the pages
of Economic Botany.
DANIEL F. AUSTIN
ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM
TUCSON, AZ 85743
DAUSTIN@DESERTMUSEUM.ORG