Book Review

Abstract

This is the new standard reference for everything about grasses (including bamboos), for everyone, and especially for those looking for accurate data cutting across scientific disciplines. The author integrates traditional floras with genomics, karyology, gene expression studies, anatomy, embryology, not to forget ecology, phylogenetics (of course), biochemistry, more evo-devo than anyone can comfortably digest in a single sitting, plus the kind of research only possible for commercial crops such as genomic changes following domestication. The volume of literature consulted seems in fact a little frightening. The personal knowledge of the author reflects the breadth of the literature: it is not possible to compile this quantity of disparate information without it. Works of this size and depth are usually edited volumes written by multiple specialists. Not this one. A lot has changed in plant sciences during the last 30 years, and this is a fully functional replacement for the previous desktop references to the world’s grasses, Clayton and Renvoize’s Genera Graminum (1986) and The Grass Genera of the World (Watson & Dallwitz, 1994). There are identification keys to the subfamilies and to the genera in each subfamily, lists of common synonyms at the generic level, descriptions, chromosome numbers when known, brief statements of distributions, and commentary which usually points the reader to the latest research relevant to generic delimitation. The phylogenetic classification is compiled by Rob Soreng as an online list (Soreng et al., 2015) and has been added to species descriptions by Bryan Simon (Simon et al., 2015), but nobody else has so far attempted to re-write 711 generic descriptions to reflect 30 years of new data. This has made possible something that can only happen by means of a thorough global synthesis, the elusive thing that moves a discipline forward: a record of the knowledge gaps. The comparison with Genera Graminum (Clayton & Renvoize, 1986) and The Grass Genera of the World (Watson & Dallwitz, 1994) is perhaps not fully appropriate because this book is significantly broader in scope. ‘Poaceae – General Information’ is a modest section title but it is more than a mere preface to ‘Classification of the Poaceae’: this is where everyone should go for the 123 page multidisciplinary synthesis. This is the first real Phylogenetic Monograph of a plant family, notable not just for its subject matter but also as a pilot study in how information about diverse groups can be presented. Synapomorphies at all levels are central to the structure of the book. All known synapomorphies are marked in italics within the descriptions of subfamilies, tribes, subtribes, and genera. When subfamilies, tribes, subtribes, and genera are insufficient to describe the evolutionary tree, clade descriptions appear such as ‘The Diheteropogon + Parahyparrhenia + Pseudanthistiria group’. Genera known to be not monophyletic are placed in inverted commas. Evolutionary relationships for many groups are not yet known, so some genera are named ‘473. “Panicum” sect. Monticolae + sect. Verrucosa + sect. Ovalifoliae’. And why not? No colour illustrations or fancy maps, just 416 thin pages of pure condensed information. Good value for money, although it is disheartening to think this synthesis will only be available to those who can pay £180.