The Anatomy of Palms: Arecaceae - Palmae - Tapa dura

"This is work of exceptional dedication which may leave you unmoved, but if you need the information contained, it is an absolute gold mine." -- Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 2011 "This book is the first to bring together the anatomy of a plant family group and place the characters in such a clear phylogenetic context. It does it for an extremely important tropical group. The Anatomy of Palms is thus a landmark volume for all plants, as it shows how to go about understanding the origin and evolution of characters using the strengths of anatomical and evolutionary analysis...One final comment: it is a stunningly beautiful work of art." -- National Tropical Botanical Garden Although focused on a single plant family-- albeit species-rich and morphologically diverse-- this book represents an exemplary textbook of vegetative anatomy...it seems churlish to criticise a book of such impressive quality, which presents data and concepts that would not otherwise be readily available to the modern student of botany." -- Paula J. Rudall, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society "This is work of exceptional dedication which may leave you unmoved, but if you need the information contained, it is an absolute gold mine." -- Bulletin of the British Ecological Society 2011 "This book is the first to bring together the anatomy of a plant family group and place the characters in such a clear phylogenetic context. It does it for an extremely important tropical group. The Anatomy of Palms is thus a landmark volume for all plants, as it shows how to go about understanding the origin and evolution of characters using the strengths of anatomical and evolutionary analysis...One final comment: it is a stunningly beautiful work of art." -- National Tropical Botanical Garden Although focused on a single plant family-- albeit species-rich and morphologically diverse-- this book represents an exemplary textbook of vegetative anatomy...it seems churlish to criticise a book of such impressive quality, which presents data and concepts that would not otherwise be readily available to the modern student of botany." -- Paula J. Rudall, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society

Palms are an economically important group of plants and support major agronomic and horticultural industries, quite apart from their regional use in the cultures of many tropical countries as sources of food, fibre, and building materials. Although easily recognized and limited by a lack of secondary growth, they range widely in size, life form, and habitat. The Anatomy of Palms provides an extensive survey of the structure and vegetative anatomy of members of the palm family (Arecaceae or Palmae) and uses the most recent molecular phylogenetic treatment of the family as the basis for interpreting the systematic and ecological significance of anatomical characters.

The first section (Palm Structure) starts with a description of the often distinctive anatomical techniques used, followed by the principles of palm development, a series of chapters on the microscopic anatomy of all the main organs, and finally an analysis of how these structures might have evolved. The second section (Systematic Anatomy) documents the systematic anatomical variation found in the subfamilies, tribes, and subtribes. The internal structure of all vegetative organs is reviewed, although lamina anatomy is emphasized. In those cases where genera are anatomically distinctive, they are described in detail. The intrinsic novelty of this approach is the innovative synthesis of the latest structural information for all genera of palms, set in a contemporary molecular phylogenetic context.