Book Reviews

This new version again is worth reading and contains many interesting data about anatomy, morphology and evolution of vascular plants. After a general introduction followed by chapters on the origin of land plants and their vegetative and generative parts, the different divisions of the vascular plants are surveyed. The same well-ordered plan is used as in previous editions. Also some relevant physiological and ontogenetic data are included and integrated with morphological or anatomical characteristics. On a few general points, such as raising classes to divisional ranks the book deviates from the second edition. In particular the text is updated with information from recent literature (sometimes up to 1988) and new photographs and line drawings are added. In this way the relevance of this edition is again increased. The book maintains its emphasis on comparative anatomy and morphology, and the structural analysis of the transport tissue also occupies an important part. For wood anatomists it offers information on transport tissues ranging from primitive types to more specialized ones. Furthermore, insight is given into phylogenetic trends in transport tissues from early land plants to seed plants. The role of lignins is stressed for the evolution of land plants. Less attention is paid to changes that have taken place in land plants, and derived from features developed by their predecessors living in water, such as macro-algae. Possibilities already present in the alternation of generations, the way of dispersal and the model of growth and construction, similarly pre-determine the way in which the land was conquered. Plant strategies to survive in co-operation with abiotic and biotic factors are also well covered. Some recent theories are added in this edition about the origin of land plants and flowers, the last ones not all in accordance with classical morphology. Mostly, the different opinions are given without comment or only followed by an indication of the relevant literature.