This volume consists of text relating to how a seed is made, the structure if seeds, the characteristics of families of seeds ordered by relation resulting in families of dicotyledons.

First published in 1976, Professor Corner's study is a major work of botanical scholarship and reference. The most unsatisfactory part of the classification of dicotyledons is the arrangement of their families into orders. In these volumes the author shows how important the seed is in classification. Systems of ordinal classification based on the flower are potentially misleading in as much as floral similarity is often the effect of polyphyletic convergence. A different system of classification based on the seed is outlined. The work is the result of more than thirty years' collection and study of seeds, particularly in the tropics. The account is published in two volumes. The text in this first volume has five introductory chapters leading up to the nature of the primitive arillate seed. There then follows in alphabetical order concise descriptions of the seed in families and certain of their genera. The second volume contains more than 600 original illustrations made by the author. The two volumes are unique sources of teaching and reference material for botanical institutions throughout the world.

This is the only comprehensive account of all eight species in the genus Adansonia. It describes the historical background from the late Roman period to the present. It covers the extraordinary variety of economic uses of baobabs. There are also appendices on vernacular names, gazetteer, economics, nutrition and forest mensuration. This book fills a gap in the botanical literature. It deals with a genus that has fascinated and intrigued scientists and lay persons for centuries.

Considers the role of fungi in the tropical ecosystem and their potential as a source of useful, novel compounds.

Biosystematic studies on the Rubiaceae have a long tradition at the Institute of Botany in Vienna. Within this family the Anthospermeae, and especially its African and Madagascan members, are of particular interest because of several aspects in their evolution: I) Perfection of anemophily within an otherwise nearly exclusively zoophilous family; 2) transitions from hermaphrodity to polygamy and finally dioecy; 3) differentiation from large and long-lived shrubs to short-lived herbs; 4) adaptive radiation from humid to seasonally dry, fire-exposed and xeric habitats. However, morphological diversity linked to sexual differentia tion, modificatory plasticity, and eco-geographical polymorphism have for a long time hampered our understanding of the relationships among these African Anthospermeae. Thus, it was imperative to put special emphasis on field observations and to carry out a variety of experiments with cultivated plants in addition to the analysis of an enormous herbarium material. The author, for this reason, carried out extensive field work, often under very adverse conditions, and covered most African countries from Ethiopia to Southern Africa and twice visited Madagascar. In this way a multitude of data was accumulated on the group in respect to germination and growth form, vegetative and reproductive morphology, anatomy and biology, embryology, karyology, crossing relationships, phytochemistry, distribu tion and ecology, etc.

This book presents a synthesis of critical new information for the Melastomataceae, one of the ten richest families among flowering plants with over 5,800 species that has its diversity highly concentrated in tropical or subtropical areas. It describes the family’s global diversity and distribution and summarizes recent advances in systematics, evolution, biogeography, reproductive biology and ecology.