plant identification. creating user-friendly guides for biodiversity management anna lawrence,...

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Plant Identification Creating User-friendly Guides forBiodiversity ManagementAuthor(s) Kimberly E MedleySource Economic Botany 61(3)309-310 2007Published By The New York Botanical GardenDOI httpdxdoiorg1016630013-0001(2007)61[309bPICUGF]20CO2URL httpwwwbiooneorgdoifull1016630013-000128200729615B309b3APICUGF5D20CO3B2

BioOne (wwwbiooneorg) is a nonprofit online aggregation of core research in thebiological ecological and environmental sciences BioOne provides a sustainable onlineplatform for over 170 journals and books published by nonprofit societies associationsmuseums institutions and presses

Your use of this PDF the BioOne Web site and all posted and associated contentindicates your acceptance of BioOnersquos Terms of Use available at wwwbiooneorgpageterms_of_use

Usage of BioOne content is strictly limited to personal educational and non-commercialuse Commercial inquiries or rights and permissions requests should be directed to theindividual publisher as copyright holder

Ancient Starch Research Torrence Robin andHuw Barton eds 2006 Left Coast Press Inc1630 North Main Street 400 WalnutCreek CA 94596 wwwLCoastPresscom256 pp (hardcover) US$ 6995 ISBN 1-59874-018-0

This book is part of a collaborative project be-ginning with the initiation of the Ancient StarchResearch Group (ASRG) at the Australian Mu-seum in August 1998 The book is intended as agateway to starch analysis in archaeology

This text is divided into 11 chapters It startswith a general introduction on starch and archae-ology The biology of starch is treated succinctlyHow starch can become an archaeological mate-rial and how it behaves as such is discussed in thestarch pathways and taphonomy chapters Starchanalysis is discussed in chapters on reference collec-tions and description classification and identifica-tion How we can find and recover starch in sedi-ments and on artifacts is treated in chapters 8 and9 The interpretive value of modified starch is cov-ered in chapter 10 The text ends with a prospec-tive chapter under the heading of looking ahead

Within chapters we find further individualand collaborative contributions set as boxes thatrepresent self-contained discussions of relevanttopics examples of applications discussed in thetext the results of experiments addressing specificresearch problems and recommended protocolsadopted by various members of the group thatare tried and tested but like any new form ofanalysis might be improved upon The references(pp 225ndash243) are exhaustive useful and recentUnfortunately the starch grains of Late Neolithicnoodles from China (Houyuan et al 2005) werepublished when the book was in press

The authors of the book are 27 experts from avariety of disciplines archaeobotany ethnogra-phy food-processing technologies paleodietsThey come principally from Australia (14) USA(4) United Kingdom (2) and Argentina (2)

The book includes numerous boxes tables fig-ures and black and white images Up to 64 black

and white plates are arranged in 16 pages printedin glossy paper inserted between pages 128 and129 They are useful for a better understandingof the topics covered

The editing is accurate This book furnishes amethodological and conceptual framework to re-searchers scholars students and professors inter-ested in starch and starch plant sources We en-joyed reading it and strongly recommend it as atool however a cheaper paperback edition wouldreach a wider audience

Literature Cited

Houyouan L Y Xiaoyang Y Maolin LKam-Biu X Zhengkai R Xiaoyan CLinhai W Naiqn and L Tung-Sheng 2005Culinary archaeology Millet noodles in LateNeolithic China Nature 437967ndash968

Concepcioacuten OboacutenUniversity Miguel Hernaacutendez

Orihuela (Alicante) Spaincobonumhes

andDiego Rivera

Plant Biology DepartmentUniversity of Murcia

Murcia Spaindriveraumes

Environmental Change and Human Adapta-tion in the Ancient American SouthwestDoyel David E and Dean Jeffrey S eds2006 The University of Utah Press 1795 ESouth Campus Dr 101 Salt Lake City UT84112-9402 xvi + 344 pp (hardcover) US$4500 ISBN 0-87480-853-7

This book provides archaeological perspectiveson human environmental adaptation Chapter 1provides theoretical underpinnings and summarizeseach subsequent chapter Before reading Chapters

Book ReviewsBook Review Editor Daniel F Austin

Economic Botany 61(3) 2007 pp 302ndash313copy 2007 by The New York Botanical Garden Press Bronx NY 10458-5126 USA

2-12 I recommend reading Chapter 13 in whichGeorge Gumerman explains that the cultural ecol-ogy ldquoecological functionalismrdquo viewpoint preva-lent in 1970sndash1980s American archaeologylargely rejected recently is still a useful approachas long as its shortcomings are recognized Gumer-man notes that many recent archaeological studiesseek to relate human adaptation to environmentusing newer approaches he terms ldquosymbolic ecol-ogyrdquo (focusing on nonmaterial aspects of culture)ldquohistorical ecologyrdquo (purporting that historicalcultural factors are important in shaping land-scapes) and ldquopolitical ecologyrdquo (exploring howlarge-scale power relationships influence how hu-mans use the environment) Case studies in thebook integrate these ldquonew ecologiesrdquo with still-accepted aspects of the 1970s-1980s cultural eco-logical perspective

Despite its title the bookrsquos scope is limited toArizona and southern New Mexico except thatChapters 2 (Simmons) and 4 (Suzanne and PaulFish) touch on northwestern New Mexico andSonora The theoretical approach is also limitedas contributors were asked to relate their researchareas to the ldquoAnasazi Behavioral AdaptationModelrdquo (ABAM) an environmental determinismmodel Dean and others developed in researchingprehistoric cultural and environmental interactionamong northeastern Arizonarsquos Kayenta Anasazi

Most of the authors consider evidence for cul-ture change at specific times and places againstABAM to assess the importance of environmentalchange in human adaptive strategies and move-ments but not all authors conclude that ABAMis useful for considering when and why strategieschanged For instance Reid et al (Chapter 6) sayABAM fails to recognize the importance of cul-ture in determining how people adapt and sev-eral other case studies bear this out Sullivan andRuter (Chapter 9) the only authors who discusshuman use of specific plants other than maize inany detail conclude that ABAM is less applicableto societies that relied more on wild plants thandomesticates These authors conclude that south-western societies who relied more on wild plantsthan maize ldquochallenge the orthodoxy that hasconstrained our thinking about the range oflivelihood options available to ancient southwest-ern societies on the Colorado Plateausrdquo

Somewhat unusual is Chapter 12 in whichMasse and Espenak posit that total solar eclipsessupernovae comets and other rare sky phenom-ena precipitated major changes in Arizonarsquos

2007] BOOK REVIEWS 303

ancient Hohokam culture Native American oraltraditions about the Hohokam confirm that raresky events were important but most archaeologistswould not agree with the chapterrsquos dates on majorHohokam culture changes so the correlation ofculture changes with sky phenomena is question-able Further this chapter and most others fail toacknowledge that all prehistoric southwestern cul-tures experienced major culture changes at similartimes cultural expansion ca AD 770ndash800 dif-ferentiation ca 1000ndash 1050 reorganization ca1130ndash1150 aggregation ca 1275ndash1300 and de-population ca 1400ndash1450 At least some of thesemay be developmental changes that resulted froma gradual increase in social complexity and interac-tion in addition to adaptational requirements

Allen DartOld Pueblo Archaeology Center

Tucson AZ USAadartoldpuebloorg

Histories of Maize Multidisciplinary Ap-proaches to the Prehistory Linguistics Bio-geography Domestication and Evolution ofMaize Staller John Robert Tykot and BruceBenz eds 2006 Academic Press BurlingtonMA xxv + 678 pp (hardcover) US $14900ISBN 978-0-12-369364-8

This book is based on a two-day symposiumheld at the 2004 meeting of the Society for Ameri-can Archaeology in Montreal Although many pa-pers presented in the symposium are included thebook does not represent all the speakers and or-ganizers The diverse topics covered range from theorigin dispersal evolution and cultural uses inprehistory to the linguistics of maize The authorsemploy a wide range of research methods from thenatural sciences and social sciences Forty-eightchapters are divided into five sections The firstpart includes nine chapters on ancient DNA mor-phological studies of maize cobs and phytolithsThe second section includes thirteen chapters thatexamine stable isotope analysis and what that evi-dence reveals about prehistoric diet at archaeologi-cal sites in Argentina Peru Chiapas the Yucataacutenthe Southwest eastern North America and Can-ada Part III has ten chapters on the movement ofmaize in Central and South America in the Carib-bean El Salvador Costa Rica Peru BoliviaChile and Argentina Part IV which contains

eight chapters about the spread of maize in NorthAmerica and northern Mexico focuses on Chi-huahua New Mexico the Mississippi Valley theNortheast and Ontario Part V on the ldquolanguageof maizerdquo has eight chapters centered on linguis-tic evidence which include applications of glot-tochronology for dating maize and descriptionsof indigenous folk taxonomies as well as the so-cial and symbolic significance of maize

A helpful tool in a volume covering such awide range of diverse research methodologies isthat each chapter begins with a glossary of termsThis enables the reader who lacks the necessaryexpertise to more easily follow the highly techni-cal information It is also helpful because someauthorrsquos interpretations of terms do not fully cor-respond with the definitions in the scientific liter-ature most people know

The organizers of the original SAA symposiumand editors are to be commended for their out-standing job of consolidating up-to-date informa-tion in the many varied areas of research onprehistoric maize culminating in an importantpublication Anyone interested in the rich highlycomplex and fascinating story of maize will wantto read this book Its one weakness is that it takesthe position that maize had a single origin from asingle teosinte progenitor (Zea mays spp parvig-lumis) and its domestication occurred in the Bal-sas River drainage Consequently this volume ex-cludes consideration of recent new evidence theeditors perceive as conflicting with their core as-sumption about the origin of maize For examplethere is no discussion of R S MacNeishrsquos com-parative analysis of different models for the originof maize (R S MacNeish and M W Eubanks2000 Latin American Antiquity 113ndash20) eventhough the book is dedicated to Scottyrsquos memoryalong with D W Lathrap This is why the vol-ume fails to meet its goals of being ldquoa compre-hensive multidisciplinary set of datardquo and ofbeing ldquoholisticrdquo As long as the reader is aware ofhow this operating assumption limits perspectiveand that there are stories of maize that take abroader more inclusive biocultural view there ismuch to be learned from the multi-faceted linesof research reported in this valuable contributionto the anthropological literature on maize

Mary EubanksDuke University

Durham NC USAeubanksacpubdukeedu

304 BOOK REVIEWS [VOL 61

Ethnobiology and the Science of HumankindEllen Roy ed 2006 Blackwell Publishing 350Main Street Malden MA and Royal Anthro-pological Institute 50 Fitzroy Street LondonW1T 5BT UK vii + 202 pp (paperback) US$3495 pound 1999 ISBN 1-4051-4589-7

This book is a collection of essays published in aspecial issue of the Journal of the Royal Anthropo-logical Institute derived from a panel of the NinthInternational Congress of Ethnobiology held at theUniversity of Kent in 2004 The aim of the book isto position the role of ethnobiology in relationshipto anthropology The volume highlights variouscontributions that subfields of ethnobiology havealready made and have the potential to make toanthropological theory methods and practical ap-plication

The volume is introduced by editor Roy Ellenwho reviews and contextualizes the main thereot-ical frameworks and paradigms employed in cur-rent ethnobotanical research and their linkages tocurrent anthropological work Ellenrsquos introduc-tion is followed by seven essays from scholarswho have made important contributions to bothdisciplines

Brent Berlin explores the contributions that thecross-cultural study of ethnozoological nomencla-ture can bring to the study of phonaesthesia (thesound symbolic but non-onomatopoeic representa-tion of non-acoustic phenomena) linguistics andthe understanding of the co-evolution of the humancognitive abilities The next three chapters discussthe importance of connecting the past with thepresent through the complementary use of archael-ogy paleoanthropology ethnobiology historicalecology and ethnography While Mithenrsquos essay il-lustrates how a paleoanthropological non-linguisticapproach can inform ethnobiology Harris discussesthe interplay of the ethnographic and archeologicalevidence and how they can complement each otherin the study of past human subsistence in the trop-ics Finally Laura Rival reviews how ethnobotanicalstudies showed that part of the Amazon forest hasbeen shaped by past human activities and argues fora historical ecology that encompasses beliefs and val-ues jointly with the material environment and con-tingencies of history

Waldstein and Adams review the contributionof medical ethnobotany and ethnophysiology tomedical anthropology and Sillitoe reviews howethnobiology has contributed to the recognitionof indigenous knowledge in development projects

and the general shift from top-down to bottom-up approach Hunn concludes the book by show-ing how scholars of the field can comunicate theirresearch and expertise with a particular discussionof the need to write ethnobiological ethnogra-phies with different audiences in mind

The book accomplishes what it promises at thebeginning highlighting the overlooked centralityof ethnobiology in anthropology The essays arelogically ordered with an easy to follow structurethat clearly links chapter topics Looking at eth-nobiology from the perspective of different sub-fields the essays convey the sense of the multidis-ciplinarity that characterizes ethnobiology

Personally I both enjoyed it and found it auseful read I recommend this book to anyone in-terested in ethnobiology and anthropology Thisbook is particularly suited to provide orientationto graduate students who seek to synthesize boththese fields in their work

Peter GiovanniniSchool of Pharmacy

University of London UKpetergiovanninigmailcom

Biodiversity and the Precautionary PrincipleRisk Uncertainty and Practice in Conser-vation and Sustainable Use Cooney Rosieand Barney Dickson eds 2006 Stylus Publish-ing LLC 22883 Quicksilver Drive SterlingVA 20166-2012 xxii + 314 pp (paperback)US$ 3995 (the hardcover is $14500) ISBN1-84407-277-0

The precautionary principle calls on decisionmakers to ensure that where there is a lack of fullscientific certainty regarding a risk that lack ofcertainty is not used as a basis for failure to pro-tect against that risk One of the (broad) fields towhich the principle can (and should) be appliedis biodiversity conservation and sustainable usedecision-making and management The book ex-amines and addresses the precautionary principlein the context of its application to the latter fieldsand concerns As such it does not seek to providea comprehensive analysis of the principle but toprovide an initiation of and stimulus to abroader and necessary study

The book presents a range of examinations andanalyses of the precautionary principle in theoryand practice contributed by 34 authors from 12


countries in such areas as invasive alien speciesutilization and trade (of wildlife but also to a lim-ited extent plant species such as mahogany) pro-tected area management and forestry These ex-amples provide a range of perspectives on theimpacts of the application of the principle withinwidely varying socio-cultural situations (which isinteresting for ethnobotanists) and governancesystems The nice thing about the book is thatthis approach yields a wealth of insights that con-tribute to the ldquoguidelines for best practicesrdquo (in-cluded as an appendix)

The book deals with the international regimesand policy processes that influence the definitionmeaning and application of the precautionaryprinciple It goes on to illustrate the applicationthrough specific cases from Australia and Ar-gentina that focus on biodiversity weeds sea tur-tles and fishery in general Decision making andpolicy development are dealt with in a third sec-tion whereas the link with local livelihood ismade in section four In the latter section casesfrom wildlife conservation in India forest man-agement in Uganda and protected landscapesand seascapes provide concrete insights in pitfallsand discussion points The book ends with someeconomic considerations lessons and insights

Plant people will have to delve through a lot of(interesting) information and will at times have tolsquotranslatersquo the (case study) information providedinto guidelines and ideas specifically related toplants The scope of the book however is so wideand rich in thoughts and considerations that it stillremains a challenging and inspiring read The ma-hogany (Swietenia macrophylla) case presented onpages 30ndash34 provides interesting information forboth scholars and policy people who have to tryand fit the precautionary principle into an interna-tional convention such as CITES In summarythis book is interesting and well-documented andshould attract a wide audience of researchers anddevelopment-oriented practitioners

Patrick Van DammeUniversity of Gent

Gent Belgiumpatrickvandammeugentbe

The Forest Certification Handbook SecondEdition Nussbaum Ruth and Markku Sim-ula 2005 Earthscan London and Stylus

Publishing LLC 22883 Quicksilver DriveSterling VA 20166-2012 styluspubcomxvi + 300 pp (hardcover) US$ 7500 ISBN1-8807-123-5

I think that one seldom comes across a bookwhereby the content matches the title so well asthis one Indeed the Forest Certification Handbookis indeed the ultimate handbook for anyone inter-ested in the difficulties of forest certification Thissecond edition leaves nothing uncovered com-bines theory and practice and tells you all youwanted to know aboutmdashbut were afraid to ask

A first part deals with ldquohow forest certificationworksrdquo and with such questions as what is a forestcertification scheme forest standards certifica-tion (in general) and accreditation and producttracing and claims The second part presents howcertification can be done in practice and guidesthe reader through the different stages highlight-ing pitfalls and problems Illustration comes fromexisting forest certification schemes (part 3)where the last part concentrates on the biggercontext policy progress since certification startedand remaining issues Figures tables and boxesare to the point and very factual

This book is a must read for scholars and prac-titioners policy makers and professionals fromdevelopment and protection agencies but alsolaymen and people interested in the issues of for-est protection and sustainable use


Gent BelgiumPatrickVanDammeugentbe

Gaining Ground In Pursuit of Ecological Sus-tainability Lavigne David M ed 2006 In-ternational Fund for Animal Welfare GuelphCanada and the University of Limerick Lim-erick Ireland wwwifaworgforum xiv + 425pp (paperback) US$ 5000 ISBN 0-9698171-7-7

In June of 2004 The International Fund forAnimal Welfare in association with the Universityof Limerick Ireland hosted a forum on ecologicalsustainability The presentations from this confer-ence have been collected and edited to this book

The question of sustainability is defined aswhether it is possible to reconcile twin imperatives


improving the human condition and protectingwildlife and the natural systems This uniqueview implies that to measure sustainability itwould be necessary to understand and measureboth the human experience and the health of nat-ural and wild habitats Though the chapters dia-logue this question there is no accounting for away to benchmark progress

This book is of particular interest for those in-terested in sustainability For there to be a suc-cessful progression of this movement it is helpfulto be acquainted with the different contexts inwhich sustainable thought is applied The firstsection The Global Context introduces a histori-cal and theoretical overview of conservation phi-losophy and its convergence with sustainabilityThis platform tends to alienate ecological sustain-ability from other sustainability pursuits such asbiological and economical Rather than isolatethese theorems it would be interesting and usefulto view how they are interrelated

Ward Chesworth in his chapter The EnemyWithin stood out as a high point From a soil sci-ence background Chesworth offers unique per-spectives and priorities toward sustainability TheEarthrsquos soil is an indicator of health in the bios-phere and it has been overexploited greatlyChesworth does trail off in offering a solutionaside from adopting a long term conservationethic

Part two moves into modern examples of at-tempted sustainable use From fisheries to ivoryand ecotourism there have been failed attemptsto use natural commodities in a sustainable wayThe authors of these sections use the failed at-tempts to address concerns for future attemptsThese sentiments make a smooth transition intopart three Factors at Play This section beginswith Lavigne and Vivek Menon exploring howattitudes values and ethics affect the treatmentof science The dialogue continues throughoutthe section to explore how it is possible to alignglobal conservation theory with individual andspecific concepts of knowing and customary prac-tices

In the final section of the book the editor isable to meet one of his goals to provoke andstimulate discussion on the conservation move-ment From Robert Worcesterrsquos perspectives ofpublic opinion to John Oates call for a change inattitudes the authors fuel dialogue William Kde la Mare introduces a brilliant perspective re-garding the need to design differently to achieve

different outcomes Together with the thesis ofAtherton Martin in his Integrated DevelopmentPlanning Approach there is hope for achieving asustainable tomorrow

This book offers valuable perspectives from theconservation movement It will be interesting tosee how these concepts seed and sprout a newgeneration of discourse in sustainable thoughtand action

Tasha GoldbergPaia HI 96779

tashagoldbergyahoocom

The Foragerrsquos Harvest A Guide to IdentifyingHarvesting and Preparing Edible WildPlants Thayer Samuel 2006 Foragerrsquos Har-vest Ogema WI 360 pp (paperback) US$2295 ISBN 0-9766266-0-8

Samuel Thayer an experienced forager for wildfoods teaches wild plant use in weekend classesin Wisconsin This book is an in-depth conversa-tional exploration of his favorite techniques andplants Although the volume is essentially self-published its quality is excellent and in myopinion it is the single best book available to in-troduce foraging to an American reader

The book opens with discussions of plantidentification and methods of harvesting pro-cessing and storing plant foods Thayer empha-sizes safety and knowledge of the plants used withan additional guiding philosophy (further expli-cated on his website httpwwwforagersharvestcom) the sense of taste is an innate means ofjudging edibility so plants that donrsquot taste goodshouldnrsquot be eaten In his view plants that otherbooks describe as ldquomarginally ediblerdquo are in factinedible This means that if your tastes are any-thing like his you will genuinely enjoy the plantshe recommends

Thayer criticizes existing references for repeat-ing inaccurate information understating the dif-ficulty of collecting a plant (because the authorsnever tried it) overstating the risk of confusionwith poisonous plants or emphasizing weedyplants familiar to Europeans while overlookingtastier native plants He proposes a code of ethicsfor wild food writers in which explicit citationsare provided for every fact not derived from per-sonal experience For example while almost allrecent references claim that common milkweed is


inedibly bitter unless exhaustively processedThayerrsquos and his studentsrsquo tongues-on experiencehas shown that milkweed is not bitter and is tastywhen cooked normally he traces the misinforma-tion to Euell Gibbons (1962) who apparentlyconfused milkweed with dogbane or a more toxicAsclepias species (The table provided to distin-guish between milkweed and dogbane shoots istherefore particularly helpful) Many of Thayerrsquosclaims of error in other books are correct but hisassertion that Nuphar and Nymphaea species im-plied by other references to be edible are poison-ous is not supported by Burrows and Tyrl (2001)however if it is wrong itrsquos more forgivable thanthe opposite type of mistake

A limited number of plants are covered in 32chapters each dealing with one plant or a groupof closely related plants Some of your favoriteplants will have been omitted However each in-cluded plant averages over eight pages with severalexcellent color photographs and detailed discus-sion often pointing out important facts ignoredby standard references Unlike the typical bookthis treatment guides the novice to best use theseplants and be genuinely sure of what hersquos doingand almost everyone who reads it will be encour-aged to try a new plant or two A disadvantage isthat the bookrsquos utility will diminish with distancefrom the upper Midwest although many includedplants are widespread For people in very differentbioregions Brill (1994) who emphasizes weedierplants would be a better introductory text

Literature Cited

Brill S 1994 Identifying and Harvesting Edibleand Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not SoWild) Places Hearst Books New York

Burrows G E and R J Tyrl 2001 ToxicPlants of North America Iowa State Univer-sity Press Ames IA

Gibbons E 1962 Stalking the Wild AsparagusDavid McKay New York

Wendy ApplequistMissouri Botanical Garden

St Louis MO USAwendyapplequistmobotorg

Ayurvedic Herbs A Clinical Guide to the Heal-ing Plants of Traditional Indian MedicinePremila M S 2006 The Haworth Press Inc

10 Alice Street Binghamton NY 13904-1580xviii + 368 pp (paperback) US$ 3495 ISBN978-0-7890-1768-0 0-7890-1768-7

The book Ayurvedic Herbs is divided into 14chapters The first chapter is a synopsis of the his-tory of Ayurveda methods of harvesting and pro-cessing of medicinal plants and the importancesynergy plays in Ayurvedic herbal mixtures Thenext summarizes the evolution of medicinal plantresearch in India The rest of the twelve chaptersinclude monographs of over 60 medicinal plantsthat are arranged into therapeutic categoriesEach monograph describes the species and wherepossible itrsquos Sanskrit Hindi Tamil and Englishnames and their uses in Ayurvedic and Westernmedicine Besides the uses of various herbs in thepractice of Ayurveda the monographs refer totheir known active chemical constituents andpharmacological properties The last part of themonographs includes adverse effects of the herbsor their toxicity if any The author has also pro-vided the translation of Sanskrit terminology intoEnglish to help Western practitioners compre-hend Ayurvedic concepts of medicine The ap-pendix provides the reader with easy access to thelocation of the 68 medicinal plants species in thebook based on their pharmacological properties

The most useful aspect of the book is thecompilation of known clinical studies of theAyurvedic herbs commonly used in clinical prac-tice Each chapter is referenced with research ar-ticles not often cited in publications of a similarnature It is an invaluable resource for healthpractitioners of traditional as well as Westernmedicine

Rustem S MedoraUM School of Pharmacy

Missoula MTrustemmedoraumontanaedu

EDITORrsquoS NOTE Premilarsquos book is not nearly ascompete in species as Parrottarsquos Healing Plants ofPeninsular India (CABI 2001 review 562912002) but covers somewhat different materialabout some of the same plants

The Identification of Medicinal Plants AHandbook of the Morphology of Botani-cals in Commerce Applequest Wendy 2006American Botanical Council PO Box


144345 Austin Tx 78714-4345 wwwherbalgramorg xxii + 209 pp (hardcover)US$ 8995 978-0-9655555-1-7 0-9655555-1-8

Let me start by saying that I am very enthusias-tic about Wendy Applequistrsquos book on the identifi-cation of botanical plant parts commonly availablein commerce It is a must have for anyone inter-ested in unprocessed commercial herbs be it theamateur or purchaser of these botanicals botanystudents or research scholars (including ethnob-otanists and ethnopharmacologists) It goes with-out saying that the correct identification of plantparts is a prerequisite for sound research and with-out this botanical quality control any ethnobotan-ical or ethnopharmacological statements madeabout a given plant species are doubtful at best

The book starts with a short and basic intro-duction into plant morphology identificationand nomenclature I particularly appreciated thepractical notes on identification that are writtenwith great clarity and provide nice tips for the as-piring botanist The main part of the book isdedicated to monographs of 113 plant speciesand contains numerous detailed and beautifulline drawings that aid in the botanical identifica-tion of plant parts sold The choice of the plantsin the book is based on their popularity of use asWestern botanical products and their ease ofrecognition and potential of misidentificationThe format for each entry is as follows (1) scien-tific and common plant and family name (2)taxonomy and description of the species (3)plant part available in commerce (4) practicalidentification guidelines for this plant part withemphasis on macroscopic characteristics andcriteria of color taste or odor (5) possible adul-terants and (6) selected references I tried outthe book myself using the entries for lindenchamomile and lavender and with available driedmaterial of linden fruits floral heads ofchamomile and lavender flowers By zooming inon specific plant parts I learned a great deal ofnew information that might otherwise have es-caped my attention if I were to look at the wholeplants The specific and often macroscopic andorganoleptic identification clues for plant partsprovided by the author in combination with theline drawings make the book a very handy tool tobring abstract botanical knowledge into practice

This book which also includes a glossary ofbotanical terms an index and a reference list is

not one that you will put to rest on your shelf Ihave found myself repeatedly fascinated by thethought ldquoletrsquos see if this plant really is what itclaims to berdquo and pulling out the book to verifyits identification I can only hope that WendyApplequist is already working on a second editionthat will include more herbs

Ina VandebroekThe New York Botanical Garden

Bronx NYivandebroeknybgorg

Catalogue of Botanical Prints and Drawings atthe National Museum amp Galleries of WalesLazarus M H and H S Pardoe eds 2003National Museums amp Galleries of WalesCathays Park Cardiff CF10 3NP Wales 320pp (paperback) pound4500 0-7200-0525-6

Typically Economic Botany does not include re-views of catalogues they are put in Books ReceivedThis publication is an exception because it is a par-tial history of both botany and botanical illustra-tors The text notes the various types of collectionsthe National Museums amp Galleries of Wales has inmore than 7000 prints and drawings These in-clude a number of artists and collectors who haveeither donated or sold their art to the museum Themuseumrsquos aim is to gather together work of pastand contemporary artists but particularly thosewith Welsh connections These date from 1737 ACurious Herbal by Elizabeth Blackwell to AnnetteTownsend (1973ndash) Others famous for their art-work include Mark Catesby (1679ndash1749) GeorgDionysius Ehret (1708ndash1770) and Sidney Parkin-son (1745ndash1771)

There are literally dozens of artists representedand to make the volume more valuable most in-dividuals are illustrated The text for each personruns from about a paragraph (eg William Kil-burn 1745ndash1818 p 47) on those for whom notmany data are available to almost a page (egHooker p 73)

Flowering plants (eg Sarracenia catesbaei p11) ferns (eg Osmunda regalis p 170) gym-nosperms (eg Pinus ayacahuite p 273) andeven some mushrooms (eg Amanita muscariap 178 234) are illustrated Several techniqueswere usedmdashink drawings watercolors oils etcHenry Bradbury (1831ndash1860) I learned madehis as ldquonature printsrdquo where the plant is put


between metal plates and then under pressureThe plant leaves exquisite details on one platethat was then used to make a print later inked byhand Harold Drinkwaterrsquos (1855ndash1925) werepainted in gouache (water-color mixed with Chi-nese white) on gray paper (p 198) interestingbut not my favorite Perhaps most astoundingare some of the paintings by Pierre-Joseph-Franccedilois Turpin (1775ndash1840) who apparentlyused a brush with a single hair to leave such deli-cate detail

One of the many things I learned from thisbeautiful publication is that some of the well-known botanists from the 1800s were also artistsmdashand good ones Examples are Johann Hedwig(1730ndash1799) William Roxburgh (1751ndash1815) SirWilliam J Hooker (1785ndash1865) and John Lindley(1799ndash1865)

This compilation will take a prominent placeamong in my small historical collection I recom-mend it to all lovers of beauty and history

Daniel F AustinArizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Tucson AZ USAdaustindesertmuseumorg

Plant Identification Creating User-friendlyGuides for Biodiversity ManagementLawrence Anna and William Hawthorne eds2006 Earthscan 8-12 Camden High StreetLondon NW1 0JK UK wwwearthscancouk distributed in the USA by Stylus Publica-tions LLC 22883 Quicksilver Drive Ster-ling VA 20166-2012 wwwstyluspubcomxvi + 268 pp (paperback) US$ 6000pound3150 ISBN 1-84407-079-4

Plant Identification is a recent addition to thePeople and Plants Conservation Series This jointinitiative by WWF UNESCO and the RoyalBotanic Gardens Kew publishes manuals ongaining biodiversity knowledge and using thatknowledge to contribute to local livelihoods asmandated by the Convention for Biological Di-versity Funded under UKrsquos Forestry ResearchProgram (Department for International Develop-ment) Lawrence a human ecologist andHawthorne a forest botanist at Oxford Univer-sity apply their interdisciplinary backgrounds tofield projects on plant guides in five tropicalcountries Their purpose for the book is clear

ldquo[i]n order to manage use and conserve plantswe need to improve communication of useful in-formation about plantsrdquo (p 2)

Following a jointly-prepared introduction(Chapter 1) Lawrence and collaborators in Bo-livia and Brazil overview the production process(Chapter 2 Lawrence and Norrish) and describeparticipatory approaches that can be used to planand budget the guide (Chapter 3 Lawrence etal) compile information from primary and sec-ondary sources (Chapter 7) test its usability(Chapter 9 Lawrence et al) and ensure its pub-lication (Chapter 10) Hawthorne applies re-search on forest guides in Grenada Ghana andCameroon to describe how trees are named(Chapter 4 Hawthorne and Harris) and ldquoac-cessedrdquo in the field guide (Chapter 5) some dis-tinctive plant characters (Chapter 6) and the roleof illustrations (Chapter 8 Hawthorne and Wise)The authors mostly describe their projects in sepa-rate chapters which are then compiled into thisco-edited book The chapters are prescriptive pro-viding the reader with clear guidelines and sup-portive examples followed by over 300 referencesand a detailed index ldquoThe Virtual Field Herbar-iumrdquo (URL httpherbariaplantsoxacukVFH)developed at Oxford University provides an on-line companion to the book and the authors useover 60 boxes tables illustrations and eight colorplates to highlight examples from their projectsother case studies (eg rapid color guides at theChicago Field Museum p 88) and other onlineresources (eg BRAHMS for database manage-ment p 157 Thumbs Plus for images p 205)The reader can compare plant guides designed forecotourism community resource managementand field taxonomy

Plant Identification compiles valuable meth-ods that can be used by practitioners workingon field guides and explored by students andscholars who want to learn more about field tax-onomy For example I found their descriptionsof how stakeholders select plants for the guideand test their scientific accuracy interesting andimportant lessons in field ethnobotany The au-thors emphasize plant identification as theirmain purpose but the ldquoprocess of producing afield guiderdquo (Figure 21 p 16) can also be agood way to share global and local knowledgeabout plants Lawrence and Hawthorne describeconsultative collaborative and participatorymethods that should promote interesting con-versations about plants and new learning about


biodiversity before and after the publication ofany new field guide I highly recommend thebook as a strong addition to the People andPlant Conservation Series and another excellentmanual on how we can learn about the uses andvalues of plants

Kimberly E MedleyMiami University

Oxford OH USAmedleykemuohioedu

Flowering Plant Families of the World Re-vised Heywood Vernon H Richard KBummitt Alastair Culham and Ole Seberg2007 Firefly Books Ltd 66 Leek CrescentRichmond Hill Ontario L4B 1H1 Canada424 pp (hardcover) US$ 5995 978-1044407-206-9 1-044407-206-9

The original edition of this reference appearedin 1978 and was updated and revised in 1994Now a completely new team of editors and au-thors has complied a third iteration of this valu-able resource The original edition discussed 306families this one has 506 recognizing the chang-ing views of how we now understand the rela-tionships between plants

The layout of this is similar to the earlier edi-tions There were 44 contributors in the earlierbooks this one has 46 including more familyspecialists George W Staples and Brummitthave done an excellent job updating Clive AStacersquos treatment for Convolvulaceae in the olderbooks Illustrations in the introductory pages ofthe book are changed from earlier versions andthis one contains a Forward by Sir Peter CraneGeneral references are included now (pp 9) inaddition to those after individual families amajor improvement over the earlier books TheClassification segment has been updated in thepast 13 years and recognizes a consensus arrange-ment of the families markedly different from ear-lier books The illustrated glossary is republishedand remains a prime short resource for botanicalterms The biggest change in arrangement is thatfamilies are now alphabetical within ldquoDicotyle-donsrdquo and ldquoMonocotyledonsrdquo While phyleticarrangement does not group them within theirsupposedly ldquoproperrdquo superorders as the olderbooks did it allows specialists and non-specialists quicker access to data Besides

phyletic arrangement will likely change again inthe near future

One point likely to be criticized is that familysynonyms are not included For example some-one looking for the Empetraceae will not find itin the index (pp 410ndash424) The data and moreimportantly the illustrations are not lost Simplylooking for the genus Empetra will reveal that isnow considered a tribe within the Ericaceae Col-ors too have been changed on the distributionmaps and it is easier to see where some gaps existin ranges The artists are touted as being ldquospe-cially commissioned botanical illustrations metic-ulously rendered by professional botanicalartistsrdquo There are three of them Judith DunkleyVictoria Goaman and Christabeacutel King have con-tributed to Curtisrsquo Botanical Magazine and vari-ous books plus other publications

The book is not perfect but it comes closeOne persistent mistake a holdover from previouseditions is on Plate II (p 14) a funnelformflower labeled as Convolvulus is Ipomoea Theremay be other errors in the book but I have notfound them You will not find a better source forthese data


Tucson AZdaustindesertmuseumorg

Flowering Plants of KeralamdashA HandbookNayar T S A Prasiya Beegam N Mohananand G Rajkumar 2006 Tropical BotanicGarden and Research Institute Palode Thiru-vananthapaurm Kerala 695 562 Indiax + 1069 pp (hardcover) US$ 9500 Rs150000 ISBN 81-900397-6-8

Scientists in the southern Indian states are pro-ducing plant lists and floras at an admirable rateThe rest of the world would do well to emulatethem Since India contains one of the Worldrsquoslargest floras and its people have been using theirplants since the area has been inhabited these com-pilations are of outstanding value The publicationsare valuable throughout the world but this hand-book is one of the most worthwhile to a widerrange of users than Westerners have seen recently

The contents are the Introduction a listing ofdicotyledons and then monocotyledons doubtfulspecies excluded species references and indices


(both technical and Malayalam names) Tradi-tional families are alphabetical and descriptionsare limited to 6ndash10 lines Within each familyboth genera and species are alphabetical Eachspecies has some or all of current name syn-onyms habit nativity distributions in WesternGhats and Kerala phenology in Kerala threat(s)economic importance Malayalam names Mostspecies are followed by several (usually) referencesto where other information (eg descriptions il-lustrations) can be obtained Distributions andphenology came from herbarium specimensSpecies considered both native and introducedare followed by lists of those cultivated andplanted

Considerable thought was involved in creat-ing the format To fit this information on 4081species 1415 genera and 188 families in a bookthis size is a laudable feat

As with any compendium of this size andcomplexity there are points with which peoplewill quibble How nativity was determined isnot addressed and some statements are surelyfalse As examples Aniseia martinicensis andDatura metel are native to the New World andnot the Old Similarly Ipomoea indica ispantropical and not native to only the NewWorld Some of the concepts are at odds withthe most recent revisions and monographs (egEchinochloa crus-galli vs E frumentacea Melinisvs Rhynchelytrum)

References are frustratingmdashnumbered and inno obvious order (1376 titles 49 pp) This lackof organization makes it complicated to deter-mine what references were or were not cited An-other weakness is that there are few citations bynon-Indians This makes the work introvertedand not really international

In spite of these problems is it worth buyingAbsolutely yes I have used the text to look upseveral points that had confused and bothered meabout plants in several families in India I will useit repeatedly



Neotropical Savannas and Seasonally DryForests-Plant Diversity Biogeography and

Conservation The Systematics AssociationSpecial Volume Series 69 Pennington RToby Gwilyn P Lewis and James A Rattereds CRC Press Taylor amp Francis Group6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW Suite 300Boca Raton FL 33487-2742 484 pp (hard-cover) US$ 11995 (online price $10796)ISBN 0-8493-2987-6

Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) alsoknown as tropical dry forests (TDF) and tropicalsavannas are seldom in the news and all too sel-dom championed by the major conservation or-ganizations Yet these are among the most criticallyendangered of the great global ecosystems Theseare also regions that have been among the mostpoorly known of the great ecosystems of theworld This book brings current research andconservation of New World or NeotropicalSDTF to the forefront and is now the premierreference on the topic

This volume is based largely on a symposiumheld at the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Gardenin 2003 There are 20 chapters and 50 contribu-tors from different regions of the world The em-phasis is on South America including BrazilVenezuela Paraguay Peru and Bolivia I espe-cially welcome the detailed coverage of SDTF inBolivia There is only a single chapter dealingwith the northern TDF in Mexico and thischapter centers on Chamela which is at theldquowetrdquo end of TDF in western Mexico As with allof the chapters in this landmark volume thescholarship and information is of the highestcalibermdashit does not get any better Althoughthere are other volumes dealing with TDF inMexico I come away from the current book real-izing that we need another similar current vol-ume treating the ldquonorthernrdquo TDF realm as wellas other regions of the world

The area of coverage embraces substantial re-gions of exploding human population in the ldquobeltof miseryrdquo encircling the globemdashregions of ram-pant loss of habitat and all too often areas of lossof human dignity Understanding the biologicalunderpinning of these regions is essential

No brief review can do justice to the broadscope of coverage and I hesitate to attempt men-tion of one chapter and not go on about all ofthem I lament the high price but realize the lim-itations of a scientific tome with a selective read-ership I strongly urge that funds such as fromUNESCO be used to translate this book into


Spanish and Portuguese and make it available toLatin American students at a reasonable priceThis book is too important to the world to have alimited distribution

Richard FelgerDrylands Institute

Tucson AZrfelgerdrylandsorg

Flora of North America North of Mexico Vol-ume 19 Magnoliophyta Asteridae part 6Asteraceae part 1 2006 Edited by Flora ofNorth America Editorial Committee OxfordUniversity Press New York Oxford 579 pp(hardcover) US$ 9500 ISBN 978-0-19-530563-0 0-19-530563-9



I would have expected this ldquodifficultrdquo andlargest family of vascular plants in North Americato be one of the last to be completed but ampleased to have it available now My copies havealready seen heavy use

By now most readers of Economic Botany arefamiliar with the format and scope of coverage ofthe various volumes of the ambitious Flora ofNorth America project Some volumes are betterthan others and these three volumes are amongthe best ldquoVolumes 19-21 treat 2413 species in418 genera contained in 14 triberdquo (Vol 19xix)The very complexity of these plants boggles the

mind and gives pause for praise to the editorscontributors artists reviewers publisher andfunders for producing these fine volumes I donot think it would be possible to have a more ac-curate coverage The list of contributors coversthree pages of three columns I commend thescholarship and accomplishment of these experts

Each volume has its own index and a cumula-tive index and the extensive literature citationsare provided in Vol 21 The indices are excellentA quick-reference index to genera on the endcovers is especially handy Errors seem minimal(There are obvious order-of-magnitude errors forpappus diameters on p 9 of volume 19 eg pap-pus ldquobristles with diameters 50mdash100 mm arecalled coarse bristlesrdquo) Because the diagnosticparts tend to be small and diversity so extremethe keys to the major groups genera and ofteneven the species of the larger genera are lengthyand not necessary user-friendly for the noviceKeys to the tribes and genera cover 59 pages Theillustrations are excellent but far too few if I had achoice in the matter The complexity and enor-mity of the subject is not conducive to more user-friendly treatments without more illustrations Amodicum of economic information is offered forsome of the taxa For example composites includea rich diversity of medicinal plants due to the sec-ondary compounds which relates to their evolu-tionary success in dry environments

Many of us will lament the passing of familiartaxonomies and the splitting of so many once fa-miliar genera Some critics accuse monophyleticdogma of reducing ldquonewrdquo composite genera tothe smallest possible units But plant taxonomy isdynamic and molecular studies provide powerfultools allowing more accurate classifications Usingthese three volumes you will soon realize thatsome taxa have undergone modern revisionswhile others remain relatively unchanged

As might be expected the treatments and taxo-nomic value judgments vary greatly among the taxaand contributors Taxonomy the poetry of botanyis not easy when the variation is continuousmdashhow


do you slice up a continuum Guy Nesomrsquos treat-ment of the 173 species of Erigeron includes 18pages of keys The few Erigeron species I haveworked with indicate that taxonomic boundariescan indeed be fuzzy and some species are distin-guished primarily on differences in pubescence(eg E divergens and E lobatus) The differencegenerally correlates with eco-geographic distinc-tions Should such differences be recognized at thespecies or infraspecific level Opting for infraspe-cific recognition could result in a domino effectand bring chaos to taxonomic house of cards Atthe other end of taxonomic value judgments arespecies that seem defined by lumpers such as theSenecio flaccidus complex or the amazing Ericame-ria (nee Chrysothamnus) nauseosa with 21 varieties

I especially like the comments and explana-tions offered for many of the taxa often provid-ing insights for distinguishing closely related oreasily confused genera or species Fundamentalinformation for some of the larger genera is mostwelcome For example we are treated to threepages of detailed ldquophylogenetic relationshipswithin Antennariardquo (19389ndash392) and ldquoidentify-ing Antennaria specimensrdquo (Vol 19392) Inmany cases a generic assignation is not clear-cutand it is indeed helpful to have the authorsrsquo opin-ions for fence-sitter taxa For example GuyNesom retains Tessaria sericea in Pluchea but pro-vides valuable insight for the probable relation-ships and future research

John Semple said these books are as good asthey are because Ted Barkley (1934ndash2004) had abig input on their content and format The teamof editors and contributors have done a heroic jobAs you use these volumes you realize the amazingquality and quantity of information and the pas-sion of dedication of the multitude of people in-volved in producing three magnificent volumes



Fascinating literature for Botanists Horticulturists Gardeners and all those who simply enjoy the wonders of nature

A comprehensive source on toxic plants

- Explore the fully revised Second Edition

Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants L S Nelson New York University School of Medicine New York NY USA R D Shih Morristown Memorial Hospital Morristown NJ USA M J Balick The New York Botanical Garden Bronx New York USA

In the 20 years that have passed since the publication of the fi rst edition both poison control centers and emergency departments have witnessed an expansion in the number and variety of poisonings caused by toxic plants At the same time there is a proliferation in the diversity of plants in our gardens and homes continually expanding the range of possible consequences from exposure to toxic plants

This second edition of the Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants is created to assist the clinician in the initial response to the needs of a child or adult exposed to a poisonous or injurious plant It lists common plants that might lead to the development of the symptom complex and describes the mechanisms of action of the implicated toxin additional clinical manifestations and specifi c therapeutics for each presentation It has methodically enhanced the previous editionrsquos botanical rigor with insights from both pharmacognosy and clinical medicine to make it a truly comprehensive source

With its thorough references and full-color photos of hundreds of potentially toxic and injurious plants inside the home anyone who has an interest in plants will fi nd this book useful in the garden or out in the wild

With a foreword by Lewis R Goldfrank MD and an introduction by Andrew Weil MD Co-published with The New York Botanical Garden

2nd ed 2007 XVIII 340 p Softcover ISBN 978-0-387-31268-2 $3995

012977x

springercom

ORDER

NOW

SECONDedition

ABCD

Easy Ways to Order for the Americas Write Springer Order Department PO Box 2485 Secaucus NJ 07096-2485 USA Call (toll free) 1-800-SPRINGER Fax +1(201)348-4505 Email orders-nyspringercom or for outside the Americas Write Springer Distribution Center GmbH Haberstrasse 7 69126 Heidelberg Germany Call +49 (0) 6221-345-4301 Fax +49 (0) 6221-345-4229 Email SDC-bookorderspringercom Prices are subject to change without notice All prices are net prices

By David L Lentz and Ruth Dickau

Memoirs of The New York Botanical GardenVolume 91Order No MEM 91ISBN 0-89327-467-4$6500304 pagesOver 500 species represented

Seeds of Central America and Southern Mexico The Economic Species

Send all orders to

The New York Botanical Garden Press

th Street and Kazimiroff BoulevardBronx New York - USA bull fax

nybgpressnybgorg bull wwwnybgorg

Shipping amp Handling

USA $ + of subtotal outside USA$ + of subtotal Prepayment in UScurrency made payable to The New YorkBotanical Garden Press is required Acceptedforms of payment are checks and moneyorders drawn on a US institution cashAmerican Express MasterCard and VisaPayment must accompany order All pricesare subject to change Please allow to weeks for delivery


USA $ + of subtotal outside USA$ + of subtotal Prepayment in UScurrency made payable to The New YorkBotanical Garden Press is required Acceptedforms of payment are checks and money ordersdrawn on a US institution cash AmericanExpress MasterCard and Visa Payment mustaccompany order All prices are subject tochange Please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery

ISBN 0-89327-461-5Order no FLN 94$5500236 pages47 illustrations1 graph

CECROPIACornelis C Berg and Pilar Franco Rosselliwith a chapter by Diane W Davidson

Flora Neotropica Monograph 94

Ancient Starch Research

Environmental Change and Human Adaptation

Histories of Maize Multidisciplinary Approaches

Ethnobiology and the Science of Humankind

Biodiversity and the Precautionary Principle

The Forest Certification Handbook Second

Gaining Ground In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability

The Foragerrsquos Harvest A Guide to Identifying

Ayurvedic Herbs A Clinical Guide to the Healing

The Identification of Medicinal Plants A

Catalogue of Botanical Prints and Drawings at

Plant Identification Creating User-friendly

Flowering Plant Families of the World Revised

Flowering Plants of KeralamdashA Handbook

Neotropical Savannas and Seasonally Dry

Flora of North America North of Mexico Volume



Ancient Starch Research Torrence Robin andHuw Barton eds 2006 Left Coast Press Inc1630 North Main Street 400 WalnutCreek CA 94596 wwwLCoastPresscom256 pp (hardcover) US$ 6995 ISBN 1-59874-018-0

This book is part of a collaborative project be-ginning with the initiation of the Ancient StarchResearch Group (ASRG) at the Australian Mu-seum in August 1998 The book is intended as agateway to starch analysis in archaeology

This text is divided into 11 chapters It startswith a general introduction on starch and archae-ology The biology of starch is treated succinctlyHow starch can become an archaeological mate-rial and how it behaves as such is discussed in thestarch pathways and taphonomy chapters Starchanalysis is discussed in chapters on reference collec-tions and description classification and identifica-tion How we can find and recover starch in sedi-ments and on artifacts is treated in chapters 8 and9 The interpretive value of modified starch is cov-ered in chapter 10 The text ends with a prospec-tive chapter under the heading of looking ahead

Within chapters we find further individualand collaborative contributions set as boxes thatrepresent self-contained discussions of relevanttopics examples of applications discussed in thetext the results of experiments addressing specificresearch problems and recommended protocolsadopted by various members of the group thatare tried and tested but like any new form ofanalysis might be improved upon The references(pp 225ndash243) are exhaustive useful and recentUnfortunately the starch grains of Late Neolithicnoodles from China (Houyuan et al 2005) werepublished when the book was in press

The authors of the book are 27 experts from avariety of disciplines archaeobotany ethnogra-phy food-processing technologies paleodietsThey come principally from Australia (14) USA(4) United Kingdom (2) and Argentina (2)

The book includes numerous boxes tables fig-ures and black and white images Up to 64 black

and white plates are arranged in 16 pages printedin glossy paper inserted between pages 128 and129 They are useful for a better understandingof the topics covered

The editing is accurate This book furnishes amethodological and conceptual framework to re-searchers scholars students and professors inter-ested in starch and starch plant sources We en-joyed reading it and strongly recommend it as atool however a cheaper paperback edition wouldreach a wider audience

Literature Cited

Houyouan L Y Xiaoyang Y Maolin LKam-Biu X Zhengkai R Xiaoyan CLinhai W Naiqn and L Tung-Sheng 2005Culinary archaeology Millet noodles in LateNeolithic China Nature 437967ndash968

Concepcioacuten OboacutenUniversity Miguel Hernaacutendez

Orihuela (Alicante) Spaincobonumhes

andDiego Rivera

Plant Biology DepartmentUniversity of Murcia

Murcia Spaindriveraumes

Environmental Change and Human Adapta-tion in the Ancient American SouthwestDoyel David E and Dean Jeffrey S eds2006 The University of Utah Press 1795 ESouth Campus Dr 101 Salt Lake City UT84112-9402 xvi + 344 pp (hardcover) US$4500 ISBN 0-87480-853-7

This book provides archaeological perspectiveson human environmental adaptation Chapter 1provides theoretical underpinnings and summarizeseach subsequent chapter Before reading Chapters

Book ReviewsBook Review Editor Daniel F Austin

Economic Botany 61(3) 2007 pp 302ndash313copy 2007 by The New York Botanical Garden Press Bronx NY 10458-5126 USA































































Literature Cited






























































































012977x

springercom

ORDER

NOW

SECONDedition

ABCD





Send all orders to



























































































Literature Cited






























































































012977x

springercom

ORDER

NOW

SECONDedition

ABCD





Send all orders to




















































































































012977x

springercom

ORDER

NOW

SECONDedition

ABCD





Send all orders to
































Send all orders to





























plant identification. creating user-friendly guides for biodiversity management anna lawrence,...

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