The anatomy of palms (Arecaceae–Palmae)

Abstract

Palms are without doubt one of the most important plant families from a human perspective and they are vital to both the ecological and economic wellbeing of the world's tropical regions. Understanding how they function is therefore an important challenge to palm biologists, who will be gladdened by the appearance of this new and important textbook by Tomlinson, Horn and Fisher. The anatomy of palms does what it says on the cover: it provides the reader with an in-depth survey of anatomical diversity within the Arecaceae. This information is given a phylogenetic focus by the inclusion, as a backdrop to the anatomical data, of the now well-established genus-level phylogeny of the family. Palms are a readily recognisable group of plants. Two of their typical characteristics are of particular relevance here: firstly, their large size raises problems for microscopy studies and necessitates, as pointed out by the authors, a ‘seemingly reductionist’ approach involving ‘small samples from relatively standard regions of the plant’. Secondly, palm tissues are often very fibrous, with strong lignification and frequent occurrence of silica bodies, thus making them difficult to fix and section. As can be expected from a group of established leaders in the field of palm anatomy, the authors have tackled these obstacles with great success. Many of the images in the book were obtained from unembedded material and were prepared specially for this publication. The book consists of 276 pages in total and is a work of striking beauty, containing around 800 photos, the vast majority in colour. It is structured into various sections: a short chapter on the anatomical methods used; a brief overview of palm biology; chapters on the structure of the lamina, leaf axis, stem, root and vascular tissues; then an overview of anatomical evolution in palms. The remaining (and greater) part of the book is devoted to the discussion of the anatomical features of the palm family in a phylogenetic context. Each of the currently recognised 183 palm genera is dealt with. The internal structure of all vegetative organs of palms is reviewed, with special emphasis on lamina anatomy. Taxonomic keys based on anatomical characters are provided for groups at different levels in the family. Thus keys are given for some genera (e.g. Hyophorbe), while others relate to subtribes (e.g. Attaleinae) or tribes (e.g. Ceroxyleae). Although the authors emphasise in the preface that the ‘incompleteness’ of this work should be recognised, it will be immediately apparent to most readers that this is a titanic work that will serve as a reference to the palm community for many years to come. The anatomy of palms will be a ‘must have’ reference book, not only for palm biologists, but also for the wider community of structural plant biologists interested in the diversity and evolution of anatomical characters. It will also be an ideal complement to The structural biology of palms, another essential but more general work published earlier by P. Barry Tomlinson (1990), the latter now being available as a ‘print on demand’ version.