This book is an attempt to compile and integrate the information documented by many botanists, both Egyptians and others, about the vegetation of Egypt. The ? rst treatise on the ? ora of Egypt, by Petrus Forsskal, was published in 1775. Records of the Egyptian ? ora made during the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt (1778–1801) were provided by A. R. Delile from 1809 to 1812 (Kassas, 1981). The early beginning of ecological studies of the vegetation of Egypt extended to the mid-nineteenth century. Two traditions may be recognized. The ? rst was general exploration and survey, for which one name is symbolic: Georges-Auguste Schweinfurth (1836–1925), a German scientist and explorer who lived in Egypt from 1863 to 1914. The second tradition was ecophysiological to explain the plant life in the dry desert. The work of G. Volkens (1887) remains a classic on xeroph- ism. These two traditions were maintained and expanded in further phases of e- logical development associated with the establishment of the Egyptian University in 1925 (now the University of Cairo). The ? rst professor of botany was the Swedish Gunnar Tackholm (1925–1929). He died young, and his wife Vivi Tackholm devoted her life to studying the ? ora of Egypt and gave leadership and inspiration to plant taxonomists and plant ecologists in Egypt for some 50 years. She died in 1978. The second professor of botany in Egypt was F. W.

The position of Egypt as a cross-road territory between the Middle East and Africa has attracted the attention of naturalists and explorers for many centuries. There have been many thousands of published studies relating to aspects of the ecological and botanical patterns of Egyptian vegetation, but this work draws this information together.

The vegetation in Wadi El Gemal National Park in Egypt's Eastern Desert is more diverse than might first be expected, but even more surprising is the relationship that the desert dwellers continue to have with the plant life in their habitat, despite the increasing modernization of their world. As a ranger in the park, Tamer Mahmoud quickly realized the importance of surveying, identifying, and documenting the indigenous plants, and recording the information he compiled from interviews with the local community about how they use the plants for food, healing, animal fodder, and fuel. The result is this detailed and colorful guide, which includes photographs of each plant, the scientific name and local name in Arabic and English, and information on location, distribution, uses, and ecology. A glossary, bibliography, visitors' information section and distribution maps make this a comprehensive reference work that will interest visitors, scientists, anyone interested in the flora of arid areas, and even anthropologists.

The Eastern Desert of Egypt occupies 21% (c. 223000 km2) of the total area of Egypt. From the early beginnings of the last century, this desert attracted scientists, especially botanists, to study its flora, ecology and vegetation. This study (between Latitudes 30 00 N and 24 00 N) included an up-to-date checklist of its flora, quantitative analysis of its vegetation, patterns of species distribution, and a proposed phytogeographical map based on GIS analysis techniques of 500 geo-referenced sites as a preliminary step towards a general vegetation map. Classification of the vegetation yielded 20 vegetation associated distributed in 3 major habitats: (1) inland desert, (2) coastal wadis, and (3) roadsides. Fourteen species, mostly weeds, characterized the present survey that neither recorded in previous studies nor in the literature. These may be considered as new additions to the flora of the Eastern Desert of Egypt. On the other hand, 92 historical records (61 perennials, 31 annuals) were documented, and there was no other indication about their presence till to date. These can be considered as extinct. Species of Saharo-Sindian chorotype (element) were the dominant.