The importance of haploids is well known to geneticists and plant breeders. The discovery of anther-derived haploid Datura plants in 1964 initiated great excitement in the plant breeding and genetics communities as it offered shortcuts in producing highly desirable homozygous plants. Unfortunately, the expected revolution was slow to materialise due to problems in extending methods to other species, including genotypic dependence, recalcitrance, slow development of tissue culture technologies and a lack of knowledge of the underlying processes. Recent years have witnessed great strides in the research and application of haploids in higher plants. After a lull in activities, drivers for the resurgence have been: (1) development of effective tissue culture protocols, (2) identification of genes c- trolling embryogenesis, and (3) large scale and wide spread commercial up-take in plant breeding and plant biotechnology arenas. The first major international symposium on “Haploids in Higher Plants” took place in Guelph, Canada in 1974. At that time there was much excitement about the potential benefits, but in his opening address Sir Ralph Riley offered the following words of caution: “I believe that it is quite likely that haploid research will contr- ute cultivars to agriculture in several crops in the future. However, the more extreme claims of the enthusiasts for haploid breeding must be treated with proper caution. Plant breeding is subject from time to time to sweeping claims from ent- siastic proponents of new procedures.

The book is aimed to be a treatise on the ‘Systematic Pomology’, the primary component of science of fruits, dealing with identification, nomenclature and classification of fruit species based on the descriptions of characteristics related to their morphological, genetical, physiological, biochemical, biotechnological and eco-attributes. Besides taxonomic narrative of each species under the respective orders and genera, considerable emphasis has been laid on cultivars. The treatment is based on the latest version of Nomenclature and Phylogenetic System of Classification (APG III). The book is richly illustrated with diagrams and colour plates and carries fairly exhaustive bibliography and glossary. Thus, the book is of high academic value for research workers/teachers, students and anyone interested in advanced fruit culture to provide insight in identifying and classifying fruit plants, providing standard nomenclature and terminology, in avoiding the confusion from synonymy and promoting correct labeling, to understand their genetic relations, in establishing or maintaining a garden, a germplasm block, a research orchard or even herbaria, in identification of new genotypes or cultivars for introduction and in deciding orchard management practices as well as methods of utilization, in using the correct related cultivars kept in a genetic resources repository for improvement considering the limits of hybridization, and in selecting genetic material for a breeding programme considering their taxonomic proximities and specific characters related to fruit bearing, regularity, nutritive and edible quality, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and plant stature and form.