Book Review

by Paul Ganderton

Cullen J. 1997. The Identification of Flowering Plant Families - 4th. edn. Cambridge University Press. pp xxi + 212.ISBN 0 521 58550 3.

One of the main problems in teaching ecology is identification and yet this is crucial if students are to achieve an understanding of ecological processes. This pocket-sized text is designed to aid identification to the family level. From that point it should be easier to provide correct identification. In this new edition, Cullen has set about making this as accurate and as painless as possible. The plant range is temperate Northern Europe (with a few common families from elsewhere) and the technique is the dichotomous key. The text starts with a description of the parts of plants used in identification and some idea as to why certain features are important. From there, the key leads the reader to, ideally, the correct family. This is followed by a description of the families giving more ecological and geographical data. The book is completed with a bibliography and glossary.

This is a very comprehensive text but not one for the complete beginner - some basic grounding in botany is essential. It will prove to be essential to field centres and botanists.