Flowering Plants of the Neotropics

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Flowering Plants of the NeotropicsAuthor(s) Daniel F AustinSource Economic Botany 59(4)398-398 2005Published By The New York Botanical GardenDOI httpdxdoiorg1016630013-0001(2005)059[0398DFABRE]20CO2URL httpwwwbiooneorgdoifull1016630013-0001282005290595B03983ADFABRE5D20CO3B2

BioOne (wwwbiooneorg) is a nonprofit online aggregation of core research in the biological ecological andenvironmental sciences BioOne provides a sustainable online platform for over 170 journals and books publishedby nonprofit societies associations museums institutions and presses

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Economic Botany 59(4) pp 395ndash412 2005q 2005 by The New York Botanical Garden Press Bronx NY 10458-5126 USA

BOOK REVIEWS

DANIEL F AUSTIN BOOK REVIEW EDITOR

Trading the Genome Investigating the Commodi-fication of Bio-Information Parry Bronwyn2004 Columbia University Press 61 West 62ndStreet New York NY 10023 xxiv 1 319 pp(hardcover) US $3950 ISBN 0-231-12174-1

An engrossing progress report by an economic andcultural geographer tackles the number one issue re-lated to utilization of plant genetic resources todayThe era of free and unencumbered access to new cropvarieties appears to be passing (Koo et al 2004) Thisdevelopment in intellectual property (IP) raises con-cerns about its implications for food production andhuman health New global regulations are reshapingour cultural and natural environments This work in-volves an investigation of the role that global institu-tions (World Trade Organization United NationsWorld Bank) play in constructing new commodities(genetic resources cultural products and types of spe-cialized labor) and in modifying the market economiesto which they give rise Debates about the function ofthe nation state and how its sovereignty is underminedby the emergence of these new global institutions areexamined Cross-cultural analysis of alternative formsof environmental regulation illustrates the culturallyembedded nature of knowledge production Indigenousfolk social movements and NGOrsquos now play key rolesin contemporary geo-political conflicts

The history of the development of global regulatoryinstitutions and regimes in the post-WWII period theirintended purposes and operational structures are fol-lowed by theoretical debates about the lsquotransboundaryrsquonature of environmental issues and of the need for aglobal approach to their control Case studies on ge-netic resources and IP rights commodification of cul-tural property food safety governance and global reg-ulation of specialized labor markets illustrate the im-pact that their regulations are having in shaping localenvironments Henry Shands head of the USDArsquos Ge-netic Resources division suggested that DNA extrac-tion techniques are advancing so rapidly that it is noweven possible to use dried herbarium specimens assources of replicable DNA This development has cre-ated consternation amongst the holders of scientificand academic collections

Parry investigates why these impacts are so geo-graphically uneven and considers what powers nationstates and non-state NGOs and indigenous groups haveto mediate these effects through alternative localizedsystems of regulation Koo et al (20041297) pointout that concerns over IP seem to be diverting policyattention from more fundamental negative trends no-tably the slowdown of investment in agricultural RampDworldwide especially research targeted to poor peo-

plersquos food crops This weakens domestic capacities toconduct agricultural RampD in many poor countries es-pecially throughout sub-Saharan Africa Parryrsquos outsid-er status provides her an opportunity to speak out with-out reprisal It is undeniable that this subject is riddledwith contradictions and qualms All plants have ge-netic potential There is a need to rank species accord-ing to the likelihood of exploitation based on objectivecriteria Gene bank collections of genetic resourcesmust genuinely be accessible to all Sites must be se-lected carefully Access must not be denied for geo-political reasons

Are farmerrsquos rights and benefits lost in bureaucraticconsiderations Read Wolfgangrsquos (1995) report onchallenges to patents on native technology from con-stituents of the neem tree Who benefits under benefitsharing The central government or the descendantsof those farmers whose efforts at crop selection andbreeding over hundreds of generations led to well-adapted landraces Suppose farmers whose successfuldiscoveries are out of favor with the central govern-ment their current status is problematic or those areresidents scattered in refugee camps or incarcerated asprisoners of conscience

Annoyingly footnotes force readers to refer repeat-edly to notes at the end of the volume There are nu-merous typographical errors spelling hyphenation su-perscripts incorrect placement of information in ta-bles etc

Parry tackled a difficult subject with adroitness Shedoes not preach but reports the facts and leaves read-ers to draw their own conclusions Her compilationmay irritate some it will certainly provoke discussionThis book is essential reading for all researchers in-volved with plant genetic resourcesmdashincluding fieldbotanists botanical gardens gene banks breederschemists pharmacologists and everyone interested inusing plant germplasmmdashbecause it critically assessesone of the fundamental issues of our times

LITERATURE CITED

Koo B C Nottenberg and P G Pardey 2004Plants and intellectual property an international ap-praisal Science 3061295ndash1297

Wolfgang L 1995 Patents on native technology chal-lenged Science 2691506

DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY AND

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN ST LOUIS

DBEDIGIANYAHOOCOM

396 [VOL 59ECONOMIC BOTANY

The Genus Aloe Medicinal and Aromatic PlantsmdashIndustrial Profiles Vol 38 Reynolds Tom ed2003 Taylor amp Francis 11 New Fetter Lane Lon-don EC4P 4EE UK xviii 1 386 pp (hardcover)US$ 10796 ISBN 0-415-30672-8

Did you know that the Egyptian Queens Nefertiteand Cleopatra used aloes as a beauty aid Alexanderthe Great persuaded by his mentor Aristotle capturedthe island of Socotra (they believed that aloe was re-stricted to the Island) and instructed some of his sol-diers to preserve and cultivate the aloes The aloe drugwas included in the Egyptian Book of remedies (about1500 BC) as well as one in Hebrew as a laxative anddermatologic preparation In the first century Diosco-rioides wrote on the use of aloes for treating woundschapping hair loss genital ulcers haemorrhoids boilsmouth irritation and inflammation

As an aloe enthusiast I enjoyed reading the bookThis is a book with all the information that one needsto know about aloes it is well written by experts inall the relevant fields

The book is divided into four parts starting with theintroduction about the plants themselves The aloes aremainly African with the highest diversity and ende-mism in Eastern and Southern Africa and Madagascaralthough they also grow into Arabia and the islands inthe Indian Ocean The second part deals with the con-stituents of aloes (pages 37ndash205) The chemistry of thealoes focuses on the leaf exudates (gel) that containphenolic compounds The major compounds are chro-mone anthraquinone or anthrone derivatives thestructures of which are illustrated There are also poly-saccharides lectins and others There is an in depthexplanation of the specific compounds found in thevarious species Part three deals with the therapeuticpowers of aloes

The number of Aloe species is given as 400 (tax-onomy section) and 600 (therapeutic section) Most ofthese have been used as botanical medicines in a num-ber of countries for thousands of years The used ofAloe vera (syn A barbadensis) in wound healing inthermal and frostbite injuries as a source of promisingcompounds for the prevention of environmentally-in-duced cancer have been well documented In additionthe wealth of information on the immunological effectsof plants from the genus Aloe and the bioactivity of Aarborescens a South African species naturalized in thewest and south coasts of Japan is presented

The last part of the book deals with the biology ofthe aloes including the chromosomes the leaf anato-my and pests

In my opinion this one of the best books compiledon the genus Aloe It covers the taxonomy chemistrytherapeutic activities and the biology It can be usedby the generalist the enthusiast and the scientist asall the articles are followed by important references Ienjoyed reading the book and I highly recommend it

SEBSEBE DEMISSEW

SCIENCE FACULTY ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

ADDIS ABABA ETHIOPIA

SEBSEBEDBIOAAUEDUETSpDEMISSEWYAHOOCOM

People and Plants in Ancient Western North Amer-ica Minnis Paul E ed 2004 Smithsonian Insti-tution Press Washington DC xiv 1 474 pp US$3495 (paperback) US$ 5500 (hardcover) ISBN1-58834-108-9

Although North America (excluding Mexico) isgenerally not considered a major center of crop do-mestication there is an abundant archaeobotanical re-cord This record is probably unsurpassed in other do-mestication centers Southwest Asia excepted andconstitutes a real trove of information about food pro-curement and the environment of the ancient people ofthis continent This particular volume constitutes anexcellent overview of the archaeobotanical knowledgein Western North America mainly the Southwest Af-ter two introductory chapters by P Minnis on Peopleand Plant in Prehistoric Western North America andon an Overview of the History Archaeology and theEnvironment of the Southwest L W Huckell and MS Toll review the information on Wild [food] PlantUse in the North American Southwest based primarilyon macro-remains but also coprolite pollen and bonechemistry information Next S K Fish discussesCorn Crops and Cultivation in the Southwest Al-though the focus is primarily on corn given its im-portance both as a major staple and as a cultural iconother crops are discussed as well including beanssquash cotton and agave Chapter 5 by K R Adamsprovides an overview of anthropogenic effects on theenvironment principally through fire cultivation andirrigation and deforestation In the last three chaptersL S Cummings J E Hammett and E J Lawlor andD Lepofsky present overviews of plant use in theGreat Basin California and the Northwest respective-ly

Structurally this volume is similar to that of thecompanion volume (Minnis 2003 reviewed by Burk-hart 2005) allowing for an easier comparison of thepalaeoethnobotany of these two different regions ofNorth America These chapters are noteworthy be-cause they bring together an extensive amount of in-formation published in a wide range of sources and aresupported by a thorough reference list at the end ofeach chapter Thus this volume (and its companion)provide an excellent synthesis of the available knowl-edge in the field for scholars and students alike I agreewith R I Ford in his introduction that this volumeprovides a milestone for further analyses based onbiochemistry and ancient DNA of the genetics of theevolutionary history of plants whether or domesticat-

2005] 397BOOK REVIEWS

ed or not I disagree with Ford that it will be severaldecades before such a new synthesis will be necessaryAlready Jaenicke-Despres et al (2003) have provideda tantalizing glimpse of the information that can beobtained from the analysis of ancient DNA in maizesamples of Mexico and the Southwest

Literature CitedBurkhart E P 2005 Book review People and plants

in ancient Eastern North America Econ Bot 5991ndash92

Jaenicke-Despres V E S Buckler B D SmithM T P Gilbert A Cooper J Doebley and SPaabo 2003 Early allelic selection in maize asrevealed by ancient DNA Science 3021206ndash1208

Minnis P E ed 2003 People and Plants in AncientEastern North America 423 pp Smithsonian Insti-tution Press Washington DC

PAUL GEPTS

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS

DAVIS CA 95616PLGEPTSUCDAVISEDU

Flowering Plants of the Neotropics Smith NathanP Scott A Mori Andrew Henderson Dennis WmStevenson and Scott V Heald eds 2004 NewYork Botanical Garden and Princeton UniversityPress 41 William Street Princeton NJ 08540-5237 xxii 1 594 pp (hardcover) US$ 7500ISBN 0-691-11694-6

This well-illustrated book has the usual PrefaceContributors Acknowledgments and IntroductionThere is an Editorsrsquo Note just before the family listings(alphabetical) first Dicotyledons then Monocotyle-dons Families total 284 reflecting modern views Atthe end is a Glossary Literature Cited three appen-dices with classification schemes by Cronquist on Di-cots Dahlgren et al on Monocots plus families rec-ognized here included but not by either of thoseschemes Then there are appendices of families byJudd et al a key to families and an Index of ScientificNames

The format for each family is constant First thereis a bulleted introduction to the primary distinguishingtraits followed by Numbers of genera and speciesDistribution and habitats Family classification Fea-tures of the family Natural History Economic Usesand References The majority of families have at leastone outstanding drawing mostly by Bobbi AngellPriscilla Fawcett and William S Moye There are 64color plates mostly with photographs by Carol Gracie

Editors had an outside reviewer check for readabil-ity and eliminated many technical terms that weredeemed lsquolsquotoo hardrsquorsquo for the lsquolsquoaveragersquorsquo reader This

may seem to be lsquolsquotalking downrsquorsquo to specialists but theeffect is handled so well that some may not even no-tice

This book compiles more information in one placethan ALL of the single volumes with similar titles andtopics Even in the evolving understanding of genericand family limits this will remain the preferred ref-erence for decades

DANIEL F AUSTIN

ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

TUCSON AZ 85743DAUSTINDESERTMUSEUMORG

Ivan M Johnstonrsquos Studies in the BoraginaceaeMiller James S Mary Sue Taylor and Erin Rem-pala Monographs in Systematic Botany from theMissouri Botanical Garden volume 101 MissouriBotanical Garden Press PO Box 299 St LouisMissouri 63166 133 pp (paperback) $2995 atmbgpressorg ISBN 1-930723-44-X ISSN 0161-1542

This is a bibliographic study not taxonomic It grewout of the need to provide access to Johnstonrsquos lsquolsquoStud-ies in the Boraginaceaersquorsquo a series of 31 papers thatappeared in Contributions from the Gray HerbariumJournal of the Arnold Arboretum and Wrightia

Appendix 1 (pp 95ndash99) is a numbered list of John-stonrsquos 107 publications Appendix 2 (pp 100ndash120) isan alphabetical list by genus (family inserted paren-thetically) and then species of the type specimens ofall of Johnstonrsquos names This is not a numbered listbut there are about 1500 names The authors point outthat they did not attempt to equate any of these nameswith modern usage While most of the names are inthe Boraginaceae there are also novelties in dozens ofother flowering plant families Appendix 3 is a list ofthe types of Johnstonian names alphabetical by col-lector

The core of the book (pp 24ndash94) is an index to thebotanical names treated in the lsquolsquoStudies in the Bora-ginaceaersquorsquo This will be of greatest use to a worker inthe family but it also will be helpful to the generalistTo give an example of how this works lsquolsquoAllocaryascalpta Piper I79 IX79rsquorsquo We know the reference isin numbers I and IX of the lsquolsquoStudiesrsquorsquo but not the pagenumbers Now we need to know what volume of whatjournal is referred to The authors intended to have thisinformation on Cover 2 and Cover 3mdashthey tell us soon page 14 But it didnrsquot get there It is in fact printedon [unnumbered] page 133 all by its lonesome buteasily photocopied trimmed and glued onto Covers 2and 3

I sympathize with the editors Itrsquos nearly impossibleto see to it that every instruction to the printer is com-

plied withmdashunless you devote full time to just this oneitem and tell all your other authors to go hang

Ivan Murray Johnston has always been a kind ofmystery man to me Much of the mystery is lsquolsquosolvedrsquorsquoby the inclusion here of ca 15 pages of biography (butno picture) together with a catalog of the Johnstoncorrespondence preserved at the Arnold ArboretumMissouri Botanical Garden University of TexasndashAus-tin and so forth The tools for the biographer are alllaid out Moreover therersquos an intriguing tale concern-ing the eventual fate of Johnstonrsquos library and personalherbarium touched on but not resolved

NEIL A HARRIMAN

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSINndashOSHKOSH

OSHKOSH WISCONSIN 54901HARRIMANUWOSHEDU

Genetically Modified Crops Their DevelopmentUses and Risks Liang G H and Daniel Z Skin-ner eds 2004 Food Products Press an Imprint ofthe Haworth Press Inc Alice Street BinghamtonNY 13904-1580 xviii 1 394 pp (paperback) US$4995 ISBN 1-56022-281-6

This book updates research on several geneticallymodified crops including grains pulses forages veg-etables and grasses and their potential uses as biore-actors in drought tolerance and as commercial pro-teins Emphasizing cell and tissue methods this pub-lication offers insight on which crops are being trans-formed and by what genes There is a detailed reviewof recombinant technologies and genetic and trans-genic locus analysis in about every chapter makingthis book useful for advanced undergraduates graduatestudents and life science researchers There is an ed-ucational element that could be beneficial to individ-uals that are not involved in transgenic research egthe discussion of the role of genetically modified cropsin feeding a growing and water-deficient world Manyof the methods are decipherable including some of thetransformation mechanisms that were more adequatelydescribed elsewhere Graduate students will perhaps beable to better frame their own experiments with thisbookrsquos descriptions of agricultural biotechnologymethods and protocols

There are fourteen chapters three discussing toolsand genetic engineering systems Plants that warrantseparate chapters are corn wheat alfalfa sorghumrice cotton soybean and turf grass Vegetable cropsare found in one chapter along with two instructivelists a progress list of 18 crops and their novel pro-teins and another of agronomically useful traits bycrop species The transgenic applications of plant hor-mones is a separate chapter containing basic descrip-tions of each hormone and their potential transgenicuses The workhorse of many genetically engineered

plants Agrobacterium tumefaciens is summarizedwith a narrative of all the old and new lsquolsquoRoundupReadyrsquorsquo plants There is a good review of the turf grassindustry and its ecological and economic impact in theUnited States With 245 grass cultivars developed inthe United States since 1946 and expenditures totaling45 billion it is little wonder that transgenic researchhas entered this industry Perhaps the most interestingchapter deals with the chicken egg white protein av-idin and its insertion in corn for use as a biopesticideand in medical research

With genetically modified crops making up two-thirds of American processed foods the book shouldhave been strengthened by spending more time on thethird part of the title of the book Risk as defined hereis a set of mathematical models and probabilities ofoutcomes Unfortunately no risk assessment is includ-ed and the discussion of the topic is restricted Despitethis limitation I got the feeling that the 35 contributorsto this book all are plant scientists were trying to liftthe veil of secrecy on their research and allay the fearsof an increasingly discerning public This book is rel-evant to those who wish to understand the contentioustopic of genetically modified crops and how they areproduced

JOHN KLOCK

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

PSC 76 BOX 3215APO AP 96319

BIOLOGYHOTMAILCOM

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2 VegetablesGrubben G J H amp O A Denton eds 2004PROTA Foundation Wageningen NetherlandsBackhuys Publishers Leiden NetherlandsCTAWageningen Netherlands 668 pp (paperback)euro40 (Industrialized countries) euro20 (Developingcountries) ISBN 90-5782-147-8 ISBN 90-5782-148-6 (paperback and CD-ROM) euro50 (Industrial-ized countries) euro25 (Developing countries)wwwprotaorg

This is the first of sixteen volumes to be publishedby PROTA a sibling program of the landmark PRO-SEA (Plant Resources of South-East Asia) seriesPROTA is a Dutch initiative through Wageningen Uni-versity working in conjunction with institutions world-wide to study economic plants in Sub-Saharan AfricaScholars of ethnobotany and tropical plants will findthis an indispensable resource for its combination oftaxonomic breadth comprehensive morphological de-scription and ethnobotanical detail

In-depth discussions are provided for 350 wild andcultivated vegetable plants An additional 530 taxawith secondary uses as vegetables are also mentionedBoth indigenous African and introduced plants are

considered thus making PROTA relevant to tropicalbotanists world-wide Entries are ordered alphabetical-ly by genus and indexed by binomial and vernacularnames at the end of the volume Each entry addressesorigin and geographic distribution uses botanical de-scription ecology genetic resources and breeding andprospects for future use For more well-studied taxaadditional information is included about varietals pro-duction and international trade nutritional and chem-ical breakdown propagation planting managementharvesting yield post-harvest practices and pests anddiseases Excellent but small illustrations are availablefor most domesticates although these lack a referencescale and often exclude seeds or other disseminulesvaluable to archaeobotanists For those without readyaccess to an appropriate flora the botanical descrip-tions and illustrations will prove highly valuable

In a multi-authored work of such breadth necessarycompromises have to be made on the content and for-mat Geographic distinctions are made only by coun-try leaving the reader to deduce within-country pat-terns of plant distribution and cultural practices Ref-erences are not cited in the text and each entry pro-vides only a short list that is presented in full in thevolumersquos bibliography This format is inconvenient forreaders searching for the sources of data given andwill frustrate the volumersquos prime audience researchersThis could easily be remedied by citing the key sourc-es in the text and would eliminate the need to list ref-erences at the end of each entry Overall howeverthese annoyances are not detrimental to the utility orenjoyment of the volume

The publication comes in book and CD-ROM for-mats It is also available at no charge on the PROTAwebsite which will surely be favored by students andthe digitally-progressive Institutions and researchershowever will certainly want to leave room on theirshelves for this impressive and invaluable serieswhich is expected to describe some 7000 taxa

SARAH WALSHAW

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST LOUIS

ST LOUIS MOSARAHWALSHAW11YAHOOCA

Etnografıa y Alimentacion entre los Toba-Nachila-moleek y Wichı-Lhukursquotas del Chaco Central(Argentina) Arenas Pastor 2003 Published bythe author Buenos Aires Argentina 562 pp (pa-perback) US$ 3000 plus postage US$ 2000within Argentina ISBN 987-43-6483-1

The author of this fascinating book recently sent mea personal copy Although about half of the text dealswith animals eaten by these two indigenous groupsthe remainder discusses plants used now and histori-cally There are detailed accounts of these peoplersquos eth-

nography cultural changes annual cycles utensilsfood fears and prohibitions as well as their views ofconservation

Arenas worked with the Toba and Wichı from 1983to 2001 Both groups retain lsquolsquohunter-gathererrsquorsquo liveli-hoods although they practice what Arenas calls lsquolsquoru-dimentary agriculturersquorsquo They cultivate alien specieslike watermelon (Citrullus) melons (Cucumis) andsorghum (Sorghum) along with native Americans likesquash (Cucurbita) gourd (Lagenaria) sweet potato(Ipomoea) tobacco (Nicotiana) and maize (Zea)

Although the topic is specifically food there aremultiple references to beliefs as related to plants andanimals Particularly there are references to shamansand supernatural events Those topics are clearly partof their religious world-view

The number of those ideas and beliefs that theyshare with North American indigenous people is re-markable Both Toba and Wichı believe for examplethat owls are the lsquolsquofamiliarsrsquorsquo or helpers of malevolentshamans That belief was spread from at least the Ir-oquoian people of the northeastern United States to theMuskogeans in the southeast and the Pueblo inhabi-tants of the southwest Surely these kinds of ideas arepart of a belief system brought to the New World whenhumans arrived here

With my interest in the Convolvulaceae Arenaspointed me to his account of Merremia dissecta Hehas documented uses of this species that have beenrecorded nowhere else in its range That is anotherindication that he has included data in this wonderfulbook on numerous organisms that will be surprising tomany who previously were comfortable if not over-confident in their understanding of plants and people

This book deserves to be more widely read by evenpeople who have dedicated their research efforts toother parts of the world All readers of this journal willcertainly find much of interest and pertinence and willdefinitely learn new and exciting ideas and views

DANIEL F AUSTIN

A Guide to Effective Management of GermplasmCollections IPGRI Handbooks for GenebanksNo 6 Engels J M M and L Visser eds 2003International Plant Genetic Resources Institute(IPGRI) Via de Tre Denari 472a 00057 Macca-rese Rome Italy viii 1 174 pp (paperback) US$3000 ISBN 92-9043-582-8

Ex situ germplasm collections have increased enor-mously in number and size over the last 3ndash4 decadesthrough global efforts to conserve plant genetic re-sources These collections are maintained under widely

different conditions depending on individual nationalpolicies institutional environments available exper-tise facilities and budgets and on the extent of na-tional and international cooperation This book rec-ommends solid maintenance guidelines in Chapter 1Central to this work the next chapter addresses genebank management procedures In view of current de-liberations over Intellectual Property rights the sectionconditions for germplasm exchange is required read-ing Until the establishment of the Convention for Bi-ological Diversity (CBD) free exchange of genetic re-sources was the norm Even when improved varietiesfrom formal plant breeding or biotechnology programswere subject to variety rights protection samples wereavailable for further breeding and research

The CBD favors bilateral exchange and requiresgovernments to formally regulate access to biodiver-sity This has led to a decrease in global germplasmflow The concept of Farmersrsquo Rights evolved in themid-1980rsquos in recognition of the contribution of indig-enous peoples and farmers to the maintenance and de-velopment of genetic diversity Disagreements on thisconcept result in increased reluctance to provide accessto genetic diversity in the absence of clear guidelinesin particular regarding the sharing of benefits anotherdifficult and not yet well clarifiedimplemented objec-tive of the CBD Material Transfer Agreements havebeen adopted by some This matter is taken up againin Appendix 6 the final segment of this book withsuggested alternative model texts for Interim MaterialTransfer Agreements for Plant Genetic Resources(PGR)

Rationalization (euphemism for size reduction) forgene bank management is the subsequent complexsubject Underutilization has been given as a reasonfor discarding unwanted accessions but the causes forthis must be tracked Is it because of lack of awarenessof the potential value of the collection

Collaboration in germplasm management is consid-ered in closing Fourteen pages of references supportthis document Appendix 2 Genebank standards andquality assurance and Appendices 3ndash5 give three casestudies on collection management

This manual is welcome a formal articulation of theissues and mandatory reading for gene bank manag-ers for all in the plant genetic resources communityand for anyone contemplating use of plant material inbreeding genetic or molecular studies hereafter Spiralbound so that pages open fully this bookrsquos intendeduse is as a manual Unfortunately no index is provid-ed

DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN

MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN

ST LOUIS

DBEDIGIANYAHOOCOM

Medicinal Plants in Folk Traditions An Ethnobot-any of Britain amp Ireland Allen David E andGabrielle Hatfield 2004 Timber Press Inc TheHaseltime Building 133 SW Second Ave Suite450 Portland OR 97204 431 pp (hardcover) US$2995 pound2250 ISBN 0-88192-638-8

This is a comprehensive work Allen and Hatfieldhave done for medical ethnobotany in Britain and Ire-land what Dan Moerman has done for Native Ameri-can ethnobotany in North America Those familiarwith Hatfieldrsquos earlier work on the history of folk med-icine in Britain will find that the same careful attentionto detail and rich contextualization carries over to thisbook The authors drew from ca 300 published andunpublished sources to present over 400 medicinalplants utilized on the islands I suspect this comesclose to being an actual census rather than a sampleand given the temperate location of Britain and Ire-land it is a remarkable figure Interestingly about halfof the plants included are also found in North Americamaking it of potential interest to scholars there

The beauty of herbals lies in the small details thatbring the ethnobotany to life This book is filled withcolorful comments and minutiae Thus the book is farbeyond another compilation of common medicinalplants but rather a definitive document of long stand-ing medicinal traditions I found new details for evenwell known medicinal plants such as Digitalis purpu-rea Did you know that in Scotland the older legalrecords contain numerous cases of childrenrsquos deathsfrom ingesting foxglove and that in Orkney it wasavoided because it was poisonous to geese I didnrsquot

The text is well indexed with listing for folk usesscientific names and common names of plants Thereis even an appendix on plants used in veterinary med-icine The botanical references appear to be accurateand up to date Like most books from Timber Press itis well designed and easy to read with quality photoplates there are illustrations for some My only minorcomplaint is that all of the plants are not illustratedhowever this would have led to a larger and moreexpensive book As it stands now it is reasonablypriced

The authors state that lsquolsquothe main purposersquorsquo of thebook lsquolsquois to demonstrate that a large enough body ofevidence has survived to show that the folk medicaltradition was impressively wide in its botanical reachand equally impressive in the range of ailments it treat-edrsquorsquo They have brilliantly succeeded

JOHN RICHARD STEPP

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

GAINESVILLE FL 32615-7305STEPPANTHROUFLEDU

Acacia senegal and the Gum Arabic Trade Mono-graph and Annotated Bibliography Fagg C W

and G E Allison 2004 Tropical Forestry Papers42 Oxford Forestry Institute Department of PlantSciences University of Oxford South Parks RoadOxford OX1 3RB United Kingdom xiv 1 261 pp(paperback) Price not given ISBN 0-85074-157-2

Among the major cash crops of arid tropical AfricaAcacia senegal is one of the most valuable species thesource of unadulterated gum arabic used for lozengesgummy sweets adhesives inks watercolors and med-icines This book opens with an authoritative succinctdiscussion of taxonomy origin and distribution andthen a review of genetic variation reproductive biol-ogy ecology and environment growth habit and gum-mosis wood properties predators diseases and harm-ful physical agents products and uses There are at-tractive line drawings distinguishing four varietiesNext the text addresses A senegal and agriculture itsestablishment management and yield

The second section presents a historical survey ofits ancient trade and uses Gum arabic in ancient Egyptand the classical world provides a welcome introduc-tion followed by its history after the collapse of Egyptand in the Middle Ages A map of trans-Saharan car-avan routes from the first millennium onwards is re-produced here Sixteenth- nineteenth- and twentieth-century developments complete that section

Section three examines modern trade world supplyand demand internal marketing transportation gradesand pharmacopoeia specifications It closes with 21color plates that offer an ethnobotanical record ecol-ogy and morphological details These plates are pre-ceded by two maps of the natural distribution of Asenegal in Africa There are three appendices commonnames a list of herbarium specimens and a review ofseed collections distributed for trials and molecularstudies Part two (pp 115ndash253) is devoted to a com-prehensive annotated bibliography ending with an au-thor index

It surprises this reader that very few specimens werementioned from Sudan despite the fact that Sudan pro-vides 90 of the worldrsquos supply of gum arabic andnotwithstanding its importance to the economy of thatcountry

DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN

ST LOUIS

DBEDIGIANYAHOOCOM

Conserving Migratory Pollinators and Nectar Cor-ridors in Western North America 2004 GaryPaul Nabhan ed Richard C Brusca and LouellaHolter (Technical Eds) The University of ArizonaPress and The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Tucson xiv 1 190 pp (hardcover) $4000 ISBN0-8165-2254-5

This selection of nine case studies examines howfour species of migratory pollinatorsmdash(Lesser Long-Nosed Bats (Leptonycteris curasoa) Rufous Hum-mingbirds (Selaphorus rufus) White-Winged Doves(Zenaida asiatica) and Monarch Butterflies (Danaeusplexippus)mdashutilize plants During the 1980s manywere concerned that loss of wintering habitats for mi-gratory species was causing a decline in animal num-bers Subsequent research indicates that some speciesare not affected at all and that declines are probablydue to multiple factors This volume explores the com-plex interactions between pollinators the plants intheir migration corridor habitat patchiness within thecorridor and the research and conservation efforts thatare helping to preserve these interactions This bookwould be an excellent resource for a conservation bi-ology class ecology class or a seminar on mutualisms

Each case study focuses on a single pollinator andits particular needs during migration While some men-tion is made of the pollinatorrsquos impact on seed set andseed dispersal the focus throughout is clearly on thepollinators Several cases mention how little is knownabout the efficacy of these pollinators either as polli-nators or in seed dispersal Chapter 7 focuses solelyon the interactions of Saguaros (Carnegiea gigantea)and White-Winged Doves In this case the summaryof benefits to both species is presented in detail and isrich with references Chapter 8 develops the idea thatwhile a particular species may not be endangeredsome aspect of its life cycle may be (endangered bi-ological phenomenon) Using monarch butterflies as anexample the authors explore how little is really knownabout their migration pathways and propose an alter-native to the persistent but poorly supported theorythat there are two separate and distinct migrating pop-ulations

I was particularly impressed by the chapters dealingwith education and conservation efforts Since thesemigrants move between Mexico and the United Statesconservation efforts must be conducted in two coun-tries and multiple languages and cultures Chapter 3discusses the successful efforts of the Program for theConservation of Migratory Bats of Mexico and theUnited States (PCMM Programa para la Conservacionde los Murcielagos Migratorios de Mexico y EstadosUnidos) This program uses research environmentaleducation and conservation action to learn more aboutbat behavior and to educate the public about the im-portance of bats in the ecosystem Chapter 9 discussesthe Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoa-can Mexico and the challenges facing Monarch pres-ervation The authorsrsquo approach includes indigenouspeoples in the decision-making process and notes thatcareful attention must be paid to the economic needswhen residents of a threatened area are impoverished

BEVERLY J BROWN

NAZARETH COLLEGE OF ROCHESTER

ROCHESTER NY 14618BBROWN6NAZEDU

Species at Risk Using Economic Incentives to Shel-ter Endangered Species on Private Lands Sho-gren Jason F ed 2005 University of Texas PressPO Box 7819 Austin TX 78713-7819 xii 1 271pp (paperback) US$ 2195 ISBN 0-292-70597-2

Protecting endangered species is a goal that almosteveryone supports in principle In practice privatelandowners often oppose the regulations of the Endan-gered Species Act arguing that it unfairly limits theirrights to profits To encourage private landowners tocooperate in species conservation nonprofit land trustshave created incentive programs including conserva-tion easements leases habitat conservation planningetc

This book offers a discussion of the economics andpracticalities of incentive instruments that have beenused for endangered and threatened species conserva-tion Authors are lawyers economists political scien-tists historians and zoologists who assess the chal-lenges and opportunities for using economic incentivesas compensation for protecting species at risk on pri-vate property Their goal is to explore how economicincentive schemes can be cost-effective and sociallyacceptable

Part I Incentive options for species protection onprivate lands questions the assumption that habitatconservation planning has been lsquolsquowin-winrsquorsquo Parkhurstand Shogren review a set of eight incentive mecha-nisms for conserving habitat Each has good and badpoints as measured by economic biological and po-litical criteria The incentive that performs best underany given situation depends on the regulatorrsquos objec-tives the budget available land how land qualitiesvary landowner disposition towards conservation andinformation available to the regulator

Part II Challenges to using economic incentives forspecies protection takes a distinctive turn ProfessorsKnobloch and Cawley examine endangered speciesprotection and ways of life beyond our current narrowperspective of economics and ecology They argue thatextending the endangered species act to private prop-erty creates a conflict between preserving species andpreserving a communityrsquos way of life The way of lifeconsists of all the values of the people of the com-munity Financial incentives are but one value Theeffects of financial incentives should acknowledge howcompensation affects all other individual values andobligations that define community When protectingspecies is in conflict with a communityrsquos way of lifefinancial incentives may be insufficient Protecting

species must be aligned with peoplersquos way of lifeThey include a robust definition of lsquobiotarsquo

Law professor Donahue evaluates the role of eco-nomic incentives for conservation She argues that fi-nancial incentives should be tied to a stewardship eth-ic thus altering the attitudes of landowners towardconservation making species protection an asset andpermanently changing land use expectations perhapsredefining property rights to include the obligation ofmaintaining and enhancing the landrsquos biota

The book will interest lawyers economists biolo-gists and those working in the field of endangeredspecies Although the examples are confined to USthis book can provide guidance to nations presentlyformulating biodiversity laws and codes

DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN

ST LOUIS

DBEDIGIANYAHOOCOM

Herbal Voices American Herbalism Through theWords of American Herbalists Dougherty A K2005 The Haworth Integrative Healing Press andimprint of Haworth Press Inc 10 Alice StreetBinghamton NY 13904-1580 xviii 1 369 pp(softcover) US$ 3495 ISBN 0-7890-2204-4

Throughout much of the 20th century the practiceof herbal medicine virtually ceased to exist in the Unit-ed States Except for a small number of ethnic com-munities (Native American African-American Chi-nese-American) the only medicinal herbs the averageperson was likely to use were beverage teas such aspeppermint or chamomile or the last botanical stal-warts in pharmaciesmdashipecac and witch hazel Duringthe late 1960s and 1970s there was renewed interestin botanical medicine as a few population segmentsbegan learning about and using herbs for their personalhealing First it was a fringe group mostly composedof hippies lsquolsquohealth nutsrsquorsquo and back-to-the-land folksMany believed the interest in herbs would be a short-lived fad

Contrary to that prevailing belief interest in herbalmedicine continued to spread and recent surveys sug-gest that at least 34 of Americans currently use someherbal product (Marra 2004) While much of thisgrowth has come through the herbal industry and con-sumer self-education below the radar has been the re-surgence of professional herbalists people who havespent their lives studying various herbalmedical tra-ditions and who practice as community herbalists orclinical herbalists This book is a part of their story

Little has been written about the herbal renaissanceof the last 35 years and the author has let 20 herbalistsspeak about their work their issues (licensurelegality

environmental concerns education) and their philos-ophies The focus is not the uses of plants but thepeople who use them We hear the voices of RosemaryGladstar a true visionary who helped create the herbalrenaissance David Hoffman a British trained clinicalherbalist and former President of the American Herb-alists Guild K P Khalsa an Ayurvedic herbalist andSharol Tilgner a naturopathic physician herbalist andmanufacturer of herbal products Their unique ideasand views along with 17 others give an understandingof the diversity strengths and challenges facing thesmall but growing population of American herbal prac-titioners

This book joins a small list of titles (Conrow andHecksel 1983 Phillips and Phillips 2001 Griggs 1991)documenting the resurgence of herbal practice in theUnited States Doughertyrsquos book should be of signifi-cant interest to medical historians herbalists and any-one attempting to understand the difference betweenthe allopathic use of plant drugs and the modern prac-tice of herbalism

LITERATURE CITED

Marra J 2004 The Health amp Wellness Trends Da-tabase Natural Marketing Institute HarleysvillePA

Conrow R and Hecksel A 1983 Herbal Pathfind-ers Woodbridge Press Santa Barbara CA

Phillips N and Phillips M 2001 The Village Herb-alist Chelsea Green White River Junction VT

Griggs Barbara 1991 Green Pharmacy HealingArts Press Rochester VT (chapter 28)

DAVID WINSTON

HERBAL THERAPEUTICS RESEARCH LIBRARY

WASHINGTON NJ 07882DWHERBALCOMCASTNET

Indian Eucalypts and Their Essential Oils BhallaH K L 1997 Timber Development Associationof India PO Box New Forest Dehradun 248 006India iv 1 79 pp (hardcover) US$ 2700 ISBN81-7525-025-9

In this book H K L Bhalla Managing Editor ofJournal of Essential Oil-Bearing Plants has compiledinformation on 64 of the 6001 species and subspeciesin Eucalyptus Bhalla is an authority on wood scienceand has worked for 37 years at the Forest ResearchInstitute in India

Eucalyptus a hardy fast growing tree indigenous toAustralia Tasmania and other islands was introducedinto India in the mid-19th century and presently growsin all areas of that country The essential oils distilledfrom the leaves and sometimes from the fruit are valu-able to the medical industrial and perfume trades

Bhallarsquos gives information on each of taxa that in-cludes climate soil conditions growth rates longevitylocality specific gravity refractive value and essentialoil yield of the plant (including each component of theoil) Also the author addressed results of the oilsrsquo an-tibacterial and antifungal efficacy

This book would appeal to people with specific in-terest in the subject and to those who wish to learnabout essential oils The eucalypts has much to offerin the way of its essential oils Incidentally they willlearn as this reader did that the leaves of Eucalyptusyoumanii are an important source of vitamin P (biofla-vonoids)

JULIE POLLEY

BROOKLYN NY 11225CLAIRWASHINGTONAOLCOM

Sustainable Soils The Place of Organic Matter inSustaining Soils and Their Productivity WolfBenjamin and George H Snyder 2003 Food Prod-ucts Press an imprint of The Haworth Press Inc10 Alice Street Binghamton NY 13904-1580 xx1 352 pp (paperback) US$ 4995 ISBN 1-56022-917-9

lsquoBrown goldrsquo and lsquogreen manurersquo are upbeat labelsfor compost a mixture of ingredients mostly of veg-etable origin used to make organic soil amendmentsThese materials and their contributions are exhaustive-ly depicted here The book opens with an instructivesizing up of the past centuryrsquos ratio of farm workersto US population Intensive agriculture (machines andmonoculture) enabled fewer farmers to feed an in-creasing populace but was costly in mineral amend-ments and altered soil structure

Sustainable agriculture however is the focus of thisportrayal Decomposition of organic matter as a sourceof nutrients their physical and biological effects andprecise placement are described Benefits of andchanges brought about by conservation tillage to fer-tility pests diseases and weeds are tracked

The 11-page bibliography is quite up to date indi-cating that while the practice in sustaining soils is an-cient the authors prepared a modern review of re-search and tested procedures In spirit and in the de-tails this comprehensive review is superb Farmersand development advisors all around the globe shouldfollow its guidance It deviates significantly from theindustrial agriculture that was fashionable during thelate 1970s and 1980s

DOROTHEA BEDIGIAN

ST LOUIS

DBEDIGIANYAHOOCOM

Farmersrsquo Bounty Locating Crop Diversity in theContemporary World Brush Stephen B 2004Yale University Press 302 Temple Street New Ha-ven CT 06520-9040 xx 1 327 pp (hardcover)US$ 3750 ISBN 0-300-10049-3

As an admirer of Stephen Brushrsquos work I lookedforward to reading this book Anticipation quicklychanged to puzzlement since neither preface nor pub-lisherrsquos blurb explains for whom the book is intended

Brush begins with four chapters covering the historyof studies of crop diversity and processes of crop evo-lution This needs to be done well if it is to be doneagain Unfortunately it is not done well here Brush iscareless over facts it is inexcusable to give (p 56) thechromosome numbers of einkorn wheat as 2n 5 10emmer wheat as 2n 5 20 durum wheat as 2n 5 40and bread wheat as 2n 5 60 He is careless over peo-plersquos names (Hoph for Hopf Manglesdorf for Man-gelsdorf Whitcombe for Witcombe) He is wrongabout the number of crop species in Phaseolus andCapsicum and incorrect to imply that the domesticatedspecies in these genera diverged as a consequence ofhuman selection A prestigious university press shouldhave edited out such errors as lsquolsquoevolution is a continu-ing phenomenarsquorsquo or lsquolsquoa consequence of this campaignwas to establish gene banks for major stablesrsquorsquo All thisprovides an unfortunate example if the book is intend-ed for students His statement (p 53) that ethnobotanyspecialises lsquolsquoin plant nomenclature and classificationand while it may note the use of different species its focus is taxonomyrsquorsquo will surprise many readers ofthis journal

If the book is intended for Brushrsquos professional col-leagues it represents some missed opportunities Brushtouches on important and unresolved questions (egthe role of selection on evolution within and the main-tenance of landraces) but contributes little that is newAn in-depth comparative treatment of his findings onmaize wheat and potato rather than three separate ac-counts might have led to some useful generalisationsThis middle section of the book also contains somesurprising statements For example (p 172) lsquolsquogeneticerosion was a plausible folk model among crop sci-entists but it is a proposition that has not been thor-oughly articulated nor explicitly testedrsquorsquo This ignoresstudies on the pedigrees of cereals and some othercrops showing that progressively fewer parents are in-volved in the breeding of modern cultivars It also ig-nores demonstrations of decreases in isozyme andorDNA polymorphisms from wild relatives through tra-ditional cultivated populations to modern cultivarsBrushrsquos claim (p 199) that comparative studies of exsitu and in situ maintenance show a steady divergenceof crop populations from the same place merits moredetailed substantiation than citation of two referencesSimilarly I would have liked at least a reference andpreferably more discussion to buttress the statement

that lsquolsquoecological studies of landrace management sug-gest that planting as uniform stands of single typesrather than mixtures is frequentrsquorsquo

As erosion of botanists and agronomists becomes amatter for as much concern as erosion of genetic re-sources the importance of work on crop diversityneeds to be conveyed to politicians educators and stu-dents Few of us are able to write something as en-gaging as Edgar Andersonrsquos Plants Man and Life butBrush too often lapses into the sort of turgid interna-tional-speak that causes the reader to finish a page withno clear recollection of its content

I shall await with interest Brushrsquos further work onlandraces and their diversity However Brush appar-ently writes better in the length-limited format of peer-reviewed journals than in the less disciplined formatafforded by a book

BARBARA PICKERSGILL

THE UNIVERSITY OF READING

READING RG6 6AS UKBPICKERSGILLREADINGACUK

Maya Medicine Traditional Healing in YucatanKunow Marienna Appel 2003 University of NewMexico Press MSC11 6290 University of NewMexico Albuquerque NM 87131-0001 viii 1 152pp (hardcover) US$ 2995 ISBN 0-8263-2864-4

This slim volume is one of the few reports for theYucatecan Mayan area since 1941 The author an in-structor at Southeastern Louisiana University who gother doctorate at Tulane worked periodically with sixtraditional curers She highlights not only those indi-viduals but also compares the uses and vernacularnames of the 157 plants she recorded among theirpharmacopeia with those documented earlier

The text contains eight chapters drawings of 36 spe-cies two appendices a glossary references a plantindex and a general index There are also six tablesand a map She introduces the discussion with lsquolsquoIntro-duction and Settingrsquorsquo and then gives lsquolsquoThe YucatecanSourcesrsquorsquo and lsquolsquoPortraits of the Curersrsquorsquo Following arechapters about how the curers acquire their skills acomparison of the names given to types of curers andtheir specialties treatments and concepts of diseaseand their relationship to colonial sources This is sum-marized by a lsquolsquoConclusionsrsquorsquo chapter

Kunowrsquos sensitive characterization of the curers is astrong point that is too often lacking She sympathet-ically emphasizes the differences and similarities be-tween the individuals Too often ethnographic studiespresent their indigenous collaborators with a broadbrush The text oscillates between being deeply in-sightful about ethnology to marginal naivete especial-ly about things botanical She understandably made the

line drawings from pressed specimens Several lack thedetails necessary for technical identification

This book is well worth having I recommend thetext all readers of Economic Botany but particularlyto those interested in the Mayan world-view

DANIEL F AUSTIN

Conservation Linking Ecology Economics andCulture Borgerhoff Mulder Monique and PeterCopolillo 2005 Princeton University Press 41William Street Princeton NJ 08540 xx 1 347 pp(softcover) US$ 3950 ISBN 0-691-04980-7

Now this is a interesting and well-written bookabout the interface between ecology economics andsocio-cultural aspects of biodiversity The text is well-written and illustrated through many well-chosen ex-amples and sources a lot of relevant literature Thebook provides a broad and practically-oriented set ofviews and conservation strategies and perspectiveswhich may guide both scientists and policy makersAs it is it touches upon all aspects one would associatewith and expect from the title of the book The contentis a good read for biodiversity specialists who wouldlike to use their findings for biodiversity conservationbut policy makers will also find their pick here egeconomic valuation is concisely presented and this no-tion together with the rest of the lsquoeconomicsrsquo in thebook are well explained to and for the layman Maybethe ease with which one goes through the book is alsoits weakness yoursquod sometimes expect lsquohardrsquo arith-methics and formulae to underpin the reasonings thatare developed in the text But then this is the onlyweakness

PATRICK VAN DAMME

UNIVERSITY OF GENT

COUPURE LINKS 653B 9000 GENT BELGIUM

PATRICKVANDAMMEUGENTBE

Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytothera-py Heinrich Michael Joanne Barnes Simon Gib-bons and Elizabeth M Williamson 2004 Chur-chill LivingstoneElsevier Science Linacre HouseJordan Hill Oxford OX2 8DP England ix 1 309pp (paperback) US$ 4495 ISBN 0-443-07132-2

The conceptual framework of Fundamentals is thebioscientific rationale for the use of plants in preven-tive and therapeutic medicine A unique feature of this

text is the convergence of conventional pharmacog-nosy with complementary and alternative medicinemdashie combining the plants and phytoconstituents thatare established elements of orthodox biomedicine withbotanicals and extracts that have become popular overthe last 15 years or so largely through interest gen-erated in the informal sector

As the title suggests the book is organized in twoparts the first of which is devoted to pharmacognosyand includes chapters that review the history of phar-macognosy outline basic plant biology and the prin-ciples of botanical morphology and systematics char-acterize natural product chemistry and phytomedici-nes and sketch the role of botanical medicines in thelsquolsquogreat traditionsrsquorsquomdashChinese medicine and Ayurvedaand in some African indigenous medical systems Dis-cussion of methods for the isolation and characteriza-tion of phytoconstituents is sufficiently technically rig-orous yet still accessible to the nonspecialist Insightsare offered for the standardization quality control andother regulation of plant medicines

Part B is organized by organ systems and charac-terizes plants used for the prevention and treatment ofcardiovascular disorders skin diseases eye problemsand so on Each of these chapters opens with a generaldiscussion of the symptomssigns and an overview ofcategories of treatment Following are discrete plantlsquolsquomonographsrsquorsquomdashbotanical descriptions phytoconsti-tuents pharmacologic effects clinical efficacy andtoxicity A final chapter describes miscellaneous sup-portive modalities for cancer aging and stress

The chapters are illustrated throughout with struc-tural representations of key constituents A botanicalglossary and index which includes botanical binomi-als are useful reference tools The writing is straight-forward and interesting its accessibility no doubt re-flecting that this book was developed in part in thecontext of lecture courses introduced by the authors toround out the curriculum of the School of Pharmacyof University College London The merits of this bookrest on the window of insights it opens into the phar-macologic potential of higher plants as well as thepotential for future research to contribute to peoplersquoshealth in both the developed and developing worlds Irecommend it enthusiastically to pharmacists and stu-dents of conventional pharmacognosy and pharmacol-ogy as well as naturopaths and other practitioners andconsumers of complementary and alternative medi-cines

NINA L ETKIN

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIlsquoIndashMANOA

HONOLULU HI 96822ETKINHAWAIIEDU

Biological Time Taylor Bernie 2004 The Ea PressPO Box 1193 Newbert OR 97132 URL The-

EaPresscom xiv 1 209 pp (hardcover) US$2995 ISBN 0-9749932-0-4

Author Bernie Taylor is a fisherman and naturalistwho has spent a lot of time being subjected to thenatural rhythms of fish In this book Taylor drawsgreatly on archaeology astronomy religion and studiesof aboriginal cultures to examine how living beingskeep time Taylorrsquos examples center largely on the nat-ural biological rhythms of fish including salmon andaquatic insects He explores the significance of lunarcycles on our daily existence and relates this to manrsquosancient dependence on lunar cycles in addition to so-lar and stellar cycles for information about naturersquosintrinsic biological rhythms

Light and dark periods entrain organisms to respondappropriately to the current conditions in which theyexist Taylor refers to this as the biological time hy-pothesis In addressing the underlying biological phe-nomenon eg pineal gland and prolactin productionin vertebrates Taylor alludes to scientific observationsthat light and dark signals trigger biochemical and de-velopmental changes that are crucial for optimal sur-vival of organisms

Of the eight chapters in this book only one lsquolsquoTheHarvest We Reaprsquorsquo focuses specifically on plantsTherein Taylor presents a case for the impact of lunar-solar cycles on pollen release of sycamore trees andoptimal timing of grape harvests This section thoughfascinating in its detailing of observations of naturaloccurrences is not based on substantial definitive dataIn his quest to build a case for the impact of moonlighton plant growth and development Taylor oversimpli-fies some experimental observations about plants Spe-cifically he seeks to associate so called lsquolsquonight-breakexperimentsrsquorsquo in which some plants have been shownto flower earlier when the night period is interruptedby light exposure with potential lunar effects on theflowering rhythms of plants As night-break experi-ments typically use light of different intensity and col-or than would be expected for moonlight the drawingof such conclusions is tenuous While scientific reportsdo exist that support a role for lunar illumination inaltering the biochemistry of plants (Vogt et al 2002)that level of evidential support is lacking in Taylorrsquosdescriptions and conclusions

Taylorrsquos goal of linking science to historical and in-digenous practices is most clearly attained in the chap-ters on fish and aquatic insects Approximately half ofthe book (pp 117ndash209) consists of supplementary ma-terials including appendices and references that pro-vide information about the impact of lunar cues on fishbehavior and predator-prey interactions

Bernie Taylor presents a fascinating argument thatour failure to understand naturersquos biological rhythmsas determined by the presence and absence of light andour self-induced alterations of our natural biologicalrhythms impact our ability to manage natural resourc-

es including fish and plants as well as potentially neg-atively impacting our health including increasing sea-sonal affective disorder and breast cancer

Overall this book provides a distinctive historical-ly-based perspective of the influence of solar-lunar cy-cles on the natural life cycles of organisms The heavyuse of historical astrological and archaeological ar-guments and limited use of definitive scientific exam-ples is likely to appeal to an audience of naturalistsand non-specialists interested in the general phenom-enon of biological rhythms and timing

LITERATURE CITED

Vogt K A Beard K H Hammann S PalmiottoJ O Vogt D J Scatena F N and Hecht BP 2002 Indigenous knowledge informing manage-ment of tropical forests the link between rhythmsin plant secondary chemistry and lunar cycles Am-bio 31485ndash490

BERONDA L MONTGOMERY

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

EAST LANSING MI 48824MONTG133MSUEDU

Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 8 Po-aceaemdashRubiaceae Steyermark Julian A Paul ABerry Kay Yatskievych and Bruce K Holst eds2004 Missouri Botanical Garden Press PO Box299 St Louis MO 63166ndash0299 xiv 1 874 pp(hardcover) US$ 8500 ISBN 1-930723-36-9

The Venezuelan Guayana extends for almost500000 square kilometers of the Guayana Shield fromthe Caribbean Sea to the borders of Guyana Braziland Colombia and encompasses the southeastern Ve-nezuelan states of Delta Amacuro Bolivar and Ama-zonas This publication is the penultimate in a nine-volume series that is the first full treatment of the vas-cular flora of this region Almost twenty-three percentof the nearly ten thousand plant species of the Vene-zuelan Guayana are endemic and this series representsa great and important achievement in the cataloging ofthis unique flora

Volume eight treats seventeen families the Poaceaethrough the Rubiaceae 244 genera and 1248 speciesof vascular plants with just over one third of the textdealing with the grasses alone Artificial dichotomouskeys are included for genera and species and for sub-species and varieties when more than one occurs

Twenty-six contributors completed the taxonomictreatments thus some are presented in greater detailthan others Descriptions of families and genera aregiven for the global extent of each taxon and then forthe flora area Species descriptions cover the geograph-ic range of each taxon and frequently include both list-

ings of the ecosystems in which the plants occur andthe relative commonness or rarity of occurrence in thestudy region Because the user is expected to employthe keys and illustrations as guides for identificationfull species descriptions are not provided Species syn-onyms significant to the study area are included alongwith appropriate citations Potential confusers are list-ed with useful tips for discerning one taxon from an-other and taxa that are in need of revision are notedas such A list of new names and emendations is ap-pended at the end of the volume

At least one member of each genus and more thanhalf of the species are illustrated with detailed linedrawings Species illustrations are often grouped bygenus for comparative purposes This expansive ac-complishment is highly unusual in a flora and is ofgreat utility to researchers particularly in a region withsuch a high percentage of endemics

The economic significance of many species is men-tioned in the text Geographical extent of cultivationedibility and specific use of fruits seeds roots etcand medicinal qualities and preparations of differentplant organs are noted Common names that occurwithin the study region are included in species descrip-tions and also in the index This feature will provevaluable to researchers relying upon local informantsfor plant names

The compilation of the Flora of the VenezuelanGuayana has been an enormous and ambitious under-taking of over twenty yearsrsquo work by more than twohundred contributors and its forthcoming completionis much anticipated by those conducting research inthe region The volumes are comprehensive beauti-fully illustrated and include significant information inregard to the economic uses of many species The Flo-ra is both an excellent reference and a pleasure to use

LINDA PERRY

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

WASHINGTON DC 20013-7012PERRYLISIEDU

Emulating Natural Forest Landscape DisturbancesConcepts and Applications Perera Ajith H LisaJ Buse and Michael G Weber eds 2004 Colum-bia University Press 61 West 62nd Street NewYork NY 10023 xx 1 315 pp (hardcover) US$7450 ISBN 0-231-12916-5

Emulating natural disturbances is a rapidly emergingand increasingly contentious forest and land manage-ment paradigm This comprehensive and thought-pro-voking book is an important and timely contributionto our understanding of ecological disturbance to whatit means and to how it might be emulated in manage-ment efforts The book is organized into three sections

a background concepts and frameworks section a sec-tion on understanding forest disturbances and a policyand practice applications section There is also a sum-mary synthesis The first section and concluding syn-thesis provide an excellent overview of the rationaletheory and context that underlie the emulation of nat-ural disturbances and potential approaches and appli-cations The second section uses case studies with aparticular focus on fire to explore how one investi-gates characterizes and begins to understand the roleand significance of disturbance The third section alsocase studies evaluates the feasibility of emulating nat-ural disturbance through forest management and con-siders their ecological effects and implications from adiversity of perspectives (eg biodiversity conserva-tion economic regional planning etc) Critical atten-tion is given throughout to both temporal and spatialscales and to the methods by which disturbances mightbe investigated and evaluated (eg through historicalevidence and simulation models)

The book is well edited chapter authors frequentlyreference other chapters underlying themes and issuesare built upon and the text is error free The numerousillustrations are informative and help clarify the com-plex interactions and effects The work is thoroughlyreferenced (over a thousand citations) I appreciatedthe inclusion of differing perspectives regarding themeaning of and potential for emulating disturbancesthrough management and the acknowledged complex-ity uncertainty and inherent unpredictability of distur-bances and their ecological effects

Being from Montana I found the chapter on emu-lating natural disturbances in the wildland-urban inter-face of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem particularlyrelevant and insightfulmdashit should be required readingnot only for all ecologists and land managers but ourpoliticians and land use planners as well

While the book is focused on temperate and borealforests in Canada and northern United States the con-cepts definitions investigative approaches and con-cluding synthesis are relevant to ecosystems anywhereThe concepts section and concluding synthesis shouldbe of value to all ecologists foresters and wildlifebiologists with research or applied management inter-ests the case studies offer detailed insights of moreregional interest I highly recommend this book It isnot a light or easy read but it is well worth the effort

STEPHEN F SIEBERT

UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA

MISSOULA MT 59812STEVESIEBERTCFCUMTEDU

Medicinal Herbs A Compendium Gehrmann Be-atrice Wolf-Gerald Koch Tschirch Claus O andBrinkman Helmut 2005 Binghamton NY 13904-

1580 The Haworth Herbal Press Inc 10 AliceStreet xii 1 228 pp (hardcover) US$ 3995 ISBN0-7890-2530-2

This compendium profiles 200 herbs listed alpha-betically by their common name Latin names are alsolisted and indices of commonLatin names are con-tained for finding a particular plant Each profile isconcise and easy to use and no more than one (1) pagelong Indeed most could easily exist on one side of a3 3 5 note card Information contained in each profileinclude area of application dosage application con-traindications adverse events and interactions Manyalso include comments (ie Ephedra is banned forsale in the US) The information contained in thisvolume is an updated English translation of the Ger-man Arzneidrogenprofile Beratungsemfehlungen furdie Pharmazeutische Praxis (2000)

An explanation on how to use the profiles precedesthem and is essential for their use A pictogram key(13 in number) is also explained Pictograms accom-pany each profile and give rapid information on whento take how to take safety concerns (ie pregnancy)efficacy proven or not etc

The information in the profiles is based on officialplant monographs (ESCOP Commission E) pharma-copoeias and general reference books primary liter-ature articles being excluded Of the general referenc-es the majority represents the excellent extensive Ger-man literature on the subject matter References notedin the profiles are the exception No indices exist toallow the layperson to search for herbal remedies toameliorate specific maladies

This reviewer found the contraindications and inter-actions sections too sparsely noted for example caf-feine containing herbs have none listed guggalgugguldoes not list reported interactions for propranolol ordiltiazem nor do profiles alert the reader to theoreticalpotential interactions based on in vitro or animal test-ing (ie horse chestnutrsquos potential for increasing otheragentsrsquo hypoglycemic effects turmericrsquos platelet inhib-itory effects and CP450 interference) Informationconcerning active ingredients is expressly omitted theauthors directing the reader to the general referencelist instead

This text can be recommended for the professionals(MD RPh) seeking quick concise information fordose use prescribing etc It is only for these readersa succinct easy to use brief synopsis of essential herb-al information

ROBERT J KRUEGER

FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY

BIG RAPIDS MI 49307ROBERTpKRUEGERFERRISEDU

Tamarind Tamarindus indica L Gunasena H P Mand A Hughes 2000 International Centre for Un-

derutilized Crops University of SouthhamptonSouthhampton SO17 1BJ United Kingdom 171pp (paperback) pound15 ISBN 0-854327-274

Tamarind is a pantropical tree in the Fabaceae thathas a wide range of uses from the fruits to the leavesflowers wood and bark This publication is a sum-mation of current research of the tamarind speciesmuch of it compiled from institutions and individualsengaged in tamarind research throughout the world In121 pages this book covers distribution genetic diver-sity agriculture and marketing The appendix includesthirteen pages of institutions and individuals currentlyresearching aspects of tamarind species with their ad-dresses A second appendix lists four pages of insti-tutions with collections of tamarind germplasm Thereis also a seed suppliers directory and a glossary ofbotanical terms

After a chapter with several biochemical break-downs by plant part a later chapter discusses each partof the plant in terms of the products that are obtainedtraditionally and the products that may be obtainedthrough further processing Some of these methods arestill experimental or are possible but not traditionallyor commercially employed as yet The beauty of thistree is that in poor tropic soils and regions with longarid spells this tree will provide products and improvethe soils through nitrogen fixation and providing or-ganic compost

The stated purpose of this book is to suggest areasof research that will bring economic gain to developingnations This book is also a call for greater cooperationand communication between research and develop-ment and production facilities It fulfils these tasksconcisely and clearly

What is not so clear is any indication of the meansby which tropical countries may do this There is nomention of the institutions or the network of institu-tions local national and international that could po-tentially accomplish this task Clearly this is the nextstep toward greater development of pantropical treeproducts for the Tamarindus species and other pan-tropical trees

KATHLEEN MCCONNELL

19912 N 76TH AVE

GLENDALE AZ 85308-6016KMCCONNELLAEMAIL4UCOM

Working Forests in the Neotropics ConservationThrough Sustainable Managements Zarin Dan-iel J Janaki R R Alavalapati Francis E Putz andMarienne Schmink eds 2004 Columbia Univer-sity Press 61 West 62nd Street New York NY10023 xx 1 437 pp (softcover) US$ 4250 ISBN0-231-12907-6

Many of the contribution of this book grew out ofan international conference held at the University ofFlorida Gainesville in February 2004 The book dealswith working forests which are defined as lsquolsquonaturallyregenerated forests used for economic purposesrsquorsquo Theythus include places where logging and other extractiveactivities occur Sometimes the term is also used tosuggest management for sustained yield of forest prod-ucts In the specific case of Latin America the workingforest idea is part of a larger emphasis on the simul-taneous promotion of conservation and rural develop-ment and thus includes consideration of ecologicaleconomic and social sustainability rather than themore narrowly characterized sustained yield

The book explores ideas and evidence about the ef-ficacy of forest management as a strategy for neotrop-ical conservaton It is divided in 4 parts that (1) presenthow the strategy is being pursued (2) provide a num-ber of case studies (3) discuss the tension betweenforest management and conservation and (4) discussthe need for policies that ensure more equitable distri-bution of costs and benefits of forest sector activitiesthan occurred in the past Biodiversity conservationsustainable development sustainable forest manage-ment and working forests are all complex ideas thatare each representative of different lsquolsquobeliefsrsquorsquo (sic)about lsquolsquowhat nature means and how it should be usedrsquorsquo

The book clearly illustrates this position as the beliefpart clearly gets an important share of the discussionsMaybe thatrsquos the biggest criticism one can formulatethat the book often lacks hard facts data reasoningwith which to substantiate the theses of the differentauthors and that could be lsquolsquousedrsquorsquo in the discussionswith economists politicians and policy makers How-ever it illustrates some interesting and hot topics like(the business of) certification which gives a criticalanalysis of the pros and cons of certification for thesouth Also the commercial opportunities for localtraditional communities are well-treated and discussedand should be a source of inspiration for many ruraldevelopment and working forest people The specificAcai-case illustrates some of the wider theoretical con-cepts presented earlier in the book

In this kind of publication it is not always easy toillustrate theory by practical examples The editors tryto provide this balanced presentation but are not al-ways successful most cases and examples are well-chosen but one has a feeling there is more and thatthe picture is still incomplete and that we are thusdealing with work in progress

To summarize this is interesting work in progressand clearly the beginning not the end of the discus-sion

PATRICK VAN DAMME

UNIVERSITY OF GENT

COUPURE LINKS 653

B 9000 GENT BELGIUM

Phylogeny and Evolution of Angiosperms SoltisDouglas E Pamela S Soltis Peter K EndressMark W Chase 2005 Sinauer Associates 23Plumtree Road Sunderland MA 01375-0407 xii1 370 pp (paperback) US$ 5995 ISBN 0-87893-817-8

This book is a good summary of the current stateof knowledge regarding large-scale angiosperm phy-logeny The scope is impressive and a huge amount ofmaterial is covered concisely The initial chapter sur-veys competing hypotheses of the origin of angio-sperms Several chapters examining phylogenetic re-lationships within the major groups of angiospermsfollow each containing several summary cladogramsand one or more plates illustrating representative taxasome trees trace the evolution of selected charactersOther material includes chapters on floral diversifica-tion genome evolution parallelism in three key char-acters and angiosperm classification with a classifi-cation newly modified from APG II (2003)

The small lsquolsquosummary treesrsquorsquo showing relationshipsamong families in an order or group of orders derivefrom previous publications by the bookrsquos authors andmany others some topologies were reconstructed us-ing data from different papers in different portions ForMacClade-generated trees examining character evolu-tion with genera as terminals it is typically not overtlyspecified where the topology used came from In somecases relationships depicted in summary trees conflictwith the results of other studies and since the treeslack support values the uncertainty of the topologydepicted will not be evident to the reader

This is nevertheless a useful survey discussion ofmorphological and anatomical characters is thoroughespecially where evolution of floral form is concernedand provides numerous references The book does notgo into enough detail on individual families to be usedas a primary text for a systematics class but mightserve as valuable supplementary material if a textbooklacking adequate discussion of phylogeny was used Itis fairly up-to-date for now most of the source phy-logenies having been published in the last few yearsbut a new edition will no doubt be necessary all toosoon It was therefore thoughtful of the publisher tomake the work a relatively affordable paperback

LITERATURE CITED

APG II (Angiosperm Phylogeny Group) 2003 Anupdate of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group clas-sification for the orders and families of floweringplants Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society141399ndash436

WENDY APPLEQUIST

ST LOUIS MO 63166-0299WENDYAPPLEQUISTMOBOTORG

Investigating Local Knowledge New DirectionsNew Approaches Bicker Alan Paul Stilltoe andJohan Pottier eds 2004 Ashgate Publishing LtdGower House Croft Road Aldershot Hants GU113HR England and Ashgate Publishing Co Bur-lington VT 05401 237 pp (hardcover) US$8995 ISBN 0-7546-3230-X

Today globalization and development are taken forgranted by the worldrsquos power-brokers and confrontedwith mixed emotions by its people Increasingly cus-toms and knowledge of local cultures are incorporatedinto development programs in an effort to increasetheir potential for success at both social and techno-logical levels Yet there is no guarantee that this strat-egy will work as indigenous knowledge is much morecomplex than is often assumed as are local problemsolving and decision-making processes Furthermoredevelopment is not universally viewed as desirable Inthis volume some of the worldrsquos foremost scholars ofindigenous knowledge rise to the challenge of devel-oping new approaches to participatory developmentfor the new millennium

This volume emerged from an international confer-ence on lsquolsquoIndigenous Knowledge and Developmentrsquorsquosponsored in the year 2000 by the Association of So-cial Anthropologists Ten intensive papers explore eth-ical social political economic and methodologicalaspects of the development process While each articleexplores at least one role of local tradition and culturalecology in the context of accelerated culture changethe strength of this book is that each of these discus-sions is placed within the framework of a case studyExamples are drawn from Canada Latin America In-dia Nepal Laos Indonesia the Philippines and Pap-ua New Guinea demonstrating that participatory de-velopment can succeed in a wide range of cultural tra-ditions

I find the title lsquolsquoInvestigating Local Knowledgersquorsquo abit misleading This book is primarily about the appli-cation of local knowledge rather than lsquolsquoNew Direc-tions New Approachesrsquorsquo in ethnoscientific researchMoreover while the title implies that this is a text onmethodology this is not quite the case These casestudies are models of successful participatory devel-opment projects but often contain culturendashspecific el-ements Nevertheless each study is elegantly designedwell illustrated and meticulously presented providingample details for others to adapt to their own projectsIndeed one lesson to be learned from these studies is

that each community is unique and must be ap-proached as such

In no way does this collection imply that develop-ment agencies will meet all of their objectives by in-volving local communities in the decision-making pro-cess Culture is dynamic but it is paradoxically con-servative as well If a development project is perceivedby the local community as a threat to their culturalintegrity or autonomy this volume demonstrates thatit may be deliberately rejected Among the topics ad-dressed is the need for researchers and developmentagents to reflect carefully on their own motivationsideologies and agendas before attempting to engagemembers of other cultures in dialogue The perspec-tives of all parties must be considered before any dis-cussion is initiated

In conclusion this volume delivers lsquolsquonew directionsnew approachesrsquorsquo to ethically and successfully incor-porating local knowledge into development programsIt is not for the casual reader but it should be requiredfor professional social scientists their upper level stu-dents and representatives of international developmentagencies

MARY THERESA BONHAGE-FREUND

ALMA COLLEGE

ALMA MIFREUNDALMAEDU

Rudolf Mansfeld and Plant Genetic Resources Pro-ceedings of a Symposium dedicated to the 100thBirthday of Rudolf Mansfeld Gatersleben Ger-many 8ndash9 Octover 2001 Knupffer H and JOchsmann eds 2003 Schriften zu GenetischenRessourcen Band 22 Zentralstelle fur Agrardok-umnetation und IInformation (ZADI) Information-szentrum Biologische Vielfait (IBV) Villichgasse17 D-53177 Bonn Germany online orders atwwwzadidepublikationenschriftenpgenreshtm x1 347 pp (paperback) EURO$ 1200 ISSN 0948-8332

These proceedings were published to highlight thepresentation made at a symposium commemorating the100th birthday of Prof Rudolf Mansfeld a Germanbotanist who started a living world collection of cul-tivated plants in his time (complemented by referencecollections of herbarium specimens seed and spikesamples) and also made a lsquoProvisional list of agricul-tural and horticultural species of cultivated plantsrsquo Hisactivities and achievements are highlighted in the firstpart of the proceedings These are followed by the 21texts of 23 invited lectures and 28 out of the 31 posterpresentations

One might think that this symposium only had an-ecdotical value However the conveners were able toinvite some well-known scientists in such fields as tax-

onomy ethnobotany (Szabo) diversity and evolutionof cultivated plants (Zohary Lester on Solanum) orutilisation of genetic resources and plant breeding(Zeven Schulz) This being said symposium proceed-ings never match the potential value of a more com-prehensive set of chapters in a book In other wordsthe information provided and presented here remainsfragmentary and will probably only be of interest toa few readers The book bundles sound science and anice set of presentations but nothing more Thosereally interested should go on the internet httpwwwgenresdeinfosigrreihehtm and click on Band22

PATRICK VAN DAMME

UNIVERSITY OF GENT

The Nature of Plants Habitats Challenges andAdaptations Dawson John and Rob Lucas 2005Timber Press Inc 133 SW Second Avenue Suite450 Portland OR 97204-3527 314 pp (hardcov-er) US$ 3995 CAN$ 5495 ISBN 0-88192-675-2

This book is successful in demonstrating how plantshave adapted to the challenges of a variety of habitatsIt is arranged by groups of similar habitat problemsand adaptive strategies in nine chapters Written to in-terest the expert with the topical groupings and widerange of examples while arousing the curiosity of thenovice the authorsrsquo experience as teachers is obviousfrom the readable entertaining insightful and yet thor-ough discussion of the many ways plants have adaptedThis book is unique in providing a lot of rich examplesfrom New Zealand (the authorsrsquo main area of re-search) but all geographic areas are thoroughly cov-ered making for a well-written book for anyone inter-ested in a holistic planet-wide look at plants and theirclose relatives

There is a brief preface and Table of Contents Thefirst chapter lsquolsquoThe FreeloadersmdashPlants Using Plantsrsquorsquois a fascinating look at the plumbing and strategies ofvines epiphytes and plant parasites lsquolsquoNot Enough Wa-terrsquorsquo covers plants of the worldrsquos seasonally and per-sistently dry habitats This chapter is extremely thor-ough but bone dry too long and a departure from thetone of the rest of the book lsquolsquoRising from the Ashesrsquorsquorecovers nicely with a variety of fire-coping strategieslsquolsquoSerpentine and Saltrsquorsquo enlightened me on plants thathave adapted to toxic soils though the focus was onnaturally toxic soils not those made toxic by recenthuman pollutants lsquolsquoToo Much Waterrsquorsquo addresses bothaquatic plants and those of swampy or flood-prone en-vironments while lsquolsquoToo Cold for Treesrsquorsquo covers thosefrom alpine and arctic settings lsquolsquoMostly Hidden Re-

lationshipsrsquorsquo describes the capabilities and structures offungi lichens bacteria and plant viruses The mostoutstanding chapters are lsquolsquoA Love-Hate Relationshiprsquorsquowhich shows how plants and animals use each otherthrough predation pollination and dispersal with aplantrsquos-eye viewpoint and lsquolsquoPlant Evolution Throughthe Agesrsquorsquo a well-written overview that follows en-vironmental pressures adaptations and plant distri-bution

The book is filled with rich color photographs andillustrations and is of durable high quality manufac-ture with a study hardback binding heavyweight pa-per and an attractive color jacket The Glossary andReferences are good and clearly written if somewhatsmall The Index is thorough but is focused on planttaxa at a variety of levels and not topics so the readercan easily find references to a variety of specific plantsand life forms but not a topic like lsquolsquostomatarsquorsquo

This book would be of interest to any botanist orecologist and should be on library shelves It wouldalso be a good tool for both college instructors andmiddle or high school science teachers looking forgood approaches for presenting botany The topical ar-rangement is a coherent approach to presenting a largeamount of information on adaptation ecology and en-vironment This book would be a good reference forschool and community libraries to purchase as wellsince it would be a valuable aid for writing schoolreports and exciting the curiosity of plant enthusiasts

KAROL CHANDLER-EZELL

STEPHEN F AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY

NACOGDOCHES TEXAS 75962KAROLEZELLAOLCOM

Useful Cosmetic Herbs for Skin Care Hair CareBeauty Care and Toiletries Cosmetech Instituteof Natural amp Modern ed 2000 Institute of Naturalamp Modern Cosmetech HSIDC Shed No 138 Sec-tor-31 Faridabad Haryana India v 1 316 pp(hardcover) Rs 47500 US$ 4000 ISBN 81-901204-0-9

As it says in the preface lsquolsquothis book is an attemptto collect information on all the herbs which were ei-ther used in [the] past or still used for their cosmeticand related applications from various sources rsquorsquoDiscussions include cosmetic and medicinal plantsused for skin care hair care dental and oral care soapsand detergents deodorants tattooing body coloringand skin painting foot hand and lip care aromatic andmedicated baths aromatherapy and color cosmeticsPlants from the Americas Europe Africa Asia Aus-tralia the Pacific Islands and India are included

The book is set up in alphabetic order by genuswith the family noted Below this complete taxonomicidentification is given with common names in various

languages the plantrsquos distribution applications thecategory of cosmetic and the action or uses such aslsquoastringent antibacterialrsquo Scattered throughout thebook are one page ads for hair and skin products dem-onstrating the uses listed for that plant

This book is designed to be a first resource Thereis almost no information on biochemistry and molec-ular structures It describes traditional formulationsapplications and uses that would be useful to an an-thropologist The lack of any systematic treatment ofnew research limits this books usefulness Two inter-esting parts are the List of Herb Suppliers all Indian

companies and the bibliography of source materialThe book should have been edited for Englishmdashthereare typos and poor grammatical construction on everypage And this reference book would have been usefulto a wider range of research purposes if it had includedmore scientific information data that the Institute ofNatural and Modern Cosmotech must possess

KATHLEEN MCCONNELL

19912 N 76TH AVE

Trading the Genome Investigating the Commodi- fication of Bio-Information Parry Bronwyn

The Genus Aloe Medicinal and Aromatic Plantsmdash

People and Plants in Ancient Western North America

Flowering Plants of the Neotropics

Ivan M Johnstonrsquos Studies in the Boraginaceae

Genetically Modified Crops

Plant Resources of Tropical Africa

Etnografıacutea y Alimentacioacuten entre los Toba-

A Guide to Effective Management of Germplasm

Medicinal Plants in Folk Traditions An Ethnobotany

Acacia senegal and the Gum Arabic Trade Monograph

Conserving Migratory Pollinators and Nectar

Species at Risk Using Economic Incentives to Shelter Endangered Species on Private Lands

Herbal Voices American Herbalism Words of American Herbalists

Indian Eucalypts and Their Essential Oils

Sustainable Soils The Place of Organic Matter Sustaining Soils and Their Productivity

Farmersrsquo Bounty Locating Crop Diversity in

Maya Medicine Traditional Healing in Yucatan

Conservation Linking Ecology Economics and

Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy

Biological Time

Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 8

Emulating Natural Forest Landscape Disturbances

Medicinal Herbs

Tamarind Tamarindus indica L Gunasena

Working Forests in the Neotropics Conservation

Phylogeny and Evolution of Angiosperms

Investigating Local Knowledge New Directions

Rudolf Mansfeld and Plant Genetic Resources

The Nature of Plants Habitats Challenges and

Useful Cosmetic Herbs for Skin Care Hair Care