A lavish new treatment of Antarctic mosses A lavish new treatment of Antarctic mosses. R Ochyra, R I Lewis-Smith, H Bednarek-Ochyra . 2008. The Illustrated Moss Flora of Antarctica. Cambridge University Press. xvii + 685 pp. + 42 color photographic plates [ISBN 978-0-521-81402-7 hardback]. In English. £ 125 ($US or € equivalent, but may be less from internet suppliers), www.cambridge.org..

Abstract

Few bryologists are likely to have the opportunity to venture to Antarctica so this magnificently produced moss flora will have to serve as the next best option. While many bryologists will find the cost to acquire this moss flora ranging from well beyond one’s comfort level to exorbitant, it is, nonetheless, worthy of investment. Read on. Before this book arrived for review I was already excited about the task at hand since I have in my library a copy of The Moss Flora of King George Island by Ryszard Ochrya (1998). I’ve now gone through this new moss flora cover to cover and I am impressed with the care and attention to detail that the authors have spent on its contents. The book is rather large with dimensions of 22 3 28 3 3.5 cm, yet there is no wasted space among its pages with text extending to within a few mm of the top and bottom page margin. The binding and paper are of a high quality standard. The beginning of the book contains a set of Roman numeral pages that address taxonomic and nomenclatural novelties, a foreword, preface and acknowledgments. The first 58 pages contain five chapters which include an introduction, history of muscological investigations in Antarctica, terrestrial environment and moss ecology of Antarctica, diversity and phytogeography of the moss flora and background to the flora. These introductory pages are jammed full of important information and provide the context for the flora that follows. I found this section of this work to be exceptionally well written. The next 600+ pages contain the systematic account of the taxa followed by a glossary, references, and index to Latin plant names. The references section is extremely detailed with nearly 2000 entries. This section provides a remarkable assemblage of literature related to Antarctic mosses. A set of color plates is inserted between pages 46–47. There are 36 half page photographs and six full-page color plates. While these plates provide many landscape views, most images are of moss communities. These photographs offer a glimpse of the open and barren terrain of Antarctica. I was particularly moved by an image of an Andreaea community (closed stand) covering an area of approximately 1 ha! To me, however, many of the images are rather dark colored, therefore they lack crisp detail. The moss community images generally have better color contrast than the landscape images.