Phylogeny and classification of the orchid family /

Dressler's The Orchids: Natural History and Classification (CH, Jun'81) marked the beginning of his ongoing concern to produce a useful and more natural phylogenetic system of orchid classification. Since the previous volume was published, new information has come to light making possible some extensive revision among a number of groupings. These are put forth in the new volume. Several major groups within the family are delimited and reevaluated in terms of their phyletic relationships. A fully natural, comprehensive classification of the orchids still awaits the collection of much more data, but Dressler provides a clear, concise, updated reference. The major part consists of descriptive data of some 700 genera under each tribe or subtribe; additional chapters cover topics such as anatomical structure, phylogenetic analysis, and new information on pollination. The 96 well-printed color photographs, about one third of them from the 1981 book, plus useful drawings, diagrams, and two pages of black-and-white micrographs of seeds, constitute the illustrative material. Following the glossary (better than the one in the 1981 book), appendixes provide a key to the major orchid groups and an outline of classification with lists of genera. An extensive bibliography and general index complete the book. Recommended. Graduate; faculty. L. G. Kavaljian; California State University, Sacramento