Review Reviewed Work(s): Umbelliferae (Apiaceae) of India by Prasanta Kumar Mukherjee and Lincoln Constance Review by: Dan H. Nicolson Source: Taxon, Vol. 44, No. 1 (Feb., 1995), p. 116 Published by: International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1222697 Accessed: 08-08-2018 08:07 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
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TAXON 44 - FEBRUARY 1995
116
unearthening of soils. New to this edition are 113 maps and charts. Some suggestions for edition Add more information on the natural features of the area, for instance, the highest mountains, lo
rivers, etc. The chapter on "Transportation" might be better titled "Roads and transportation
would benefit from information on some of the main highways, including the major mountain pas
Add a bibliography to each section (only the accounts of vegetation and ocean resources references), and for goodness sake add an index. - Rudolf Schmid, UC
Mukherjee (Mukhopadhyay), Prasanta Kumar & Constance, Lincoln. Umbelliferae (Apia
of India. American Institute of Indian Studies and Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., 66 Janpath, N
Delhi 110001, India, 1993, viii, 279 pp., ill., ISBN 1-881570-26-6 (HB), US$59.00 (f
International Science Publisher, 52 LaBombard Rd. N., Lebanon, NH 03766-1400, USA) contents see Taxon 42: 946.]
The presence of keys to six artificial groups based on umbel and fruit characters (the latter a
essential for identifications in this family) suggests that the emphasis is on ease of identi tion-something that should please users. The family name (Umbelliferae or Apiaceae) is sa have a type "genus" and generic names to have type "species". This confuses names (with a
but no circumscription) with the things named, taxa (without a type and any number of circumscr tions). Taxa (genera and species) cannot be types buttheir names can represent their underlying The format is standard: (1) accepted name with place of publication and the Flora of British In
citation followed by (2) synonymy, at least for Indian botany (Although types of synonyms ar
specified, a sentence beginning "Based on ... collector and number" with "locality info
protologue" gives type information for the names in that paragraph of synonymy); (3) about a ten
description, with flowering time; (4) locality of the type of the accepted name; (5) distributio
presentative specimens by locality (with collector, number and herbarium, if known) and, some
(6) notes. The coverage seems excellent in that attention was paid to the treatments of surrou
and more northerly floras such as Pakistan, Nepal, China, and Central Asia (Flora Iranica) depauperate umbelliferous flora of Sri Lanka was neglected. As noted earlier (Taxon 42: 946 work includes 68 genera and circa 240 species (95% native) of this circumboreal family of more 400 genera and over 3000 species (D. J. Mabberley, The plant-book, 1987). Eight genera and 60 species are endemic to the Indian subcontinent. This is solid alpha taxonomy at its best. Wo that we had treatments of this quality for even 10% of the world's flora! - Dan H. Nicolso
Nilsson, Karen B. A wildflower by any other name: Sketches ofpioneer naturalists who named
western plants. Yosemite Association, Box 545, Yosemite National Park, CA 95389, USA, 1
[iv], xii, 152 pp., ill., ISBN 0-939666-76-6 (PB), $14.95. [Contents: intro; coll., naming pls.; bion
on 43 botanists; bionote Nilsson (1936-91); biblio.; no index.]
This is a charming and interesting potpourri of biographical sketches of 43 botanists who g their names to genera, species, and even subspecies and common names of plants of western N America, for instance, Lewisia and Clarkia (Portulac., Onagr.), Darlingtonia (Sarraceni.), Dedeck (Polygon.), Eschscholzia (Papaver.), Draba sharsmithii (Cruc.), Arctostaphylos hookeri subsp. ra (Eric.), Douglas fir, including fossil plants such as Arbutus traini (Eric.) and Acer scottiae (A
The persons and most plants are illustrated, generally each on a full page, naturally with many vin
photos. The treatment is roughly chronological. Botanists bor after 1900 receiving empha Carl Sharsmith (1903-94), Agnes Scott Train (1905-91), Mary DeDecker (b. 1909), and Peter R
(b. 1936). The brief text suffices to give the reader a sense of the person's importance. However serious flaws mar this otherwise worthwhile effort: The selection of plants discussed is oft haphaz
John Torrey (1796-1873) is coupled with Pinus torreyana (Pin.) and not the more logical To (Tax.), notto mention the more obscure Melica torreyana (Gram.) and Phyllospadix torreyi (Zo
There is no index to names of people and plants. Thus one must scan the table of contents to se is represented. The totally inadequate bibliography cites only five floras and not such indispe
biographical works as J. A. Ewan's Rocky Mountain naturalists (1950) and Evan & N. D. Ew Biographical dictionary of Rocky Mountain naturalists (1981), etc.- Rudolf Schmid, UC
Oxford science shelf, The: Instant access to OxfordReference, version 1.0, Oxford University P Electronic Division, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, USA, 1992, 6 3 1/2" diskettes, bo
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