Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, Peter K. Endress, and Mark W. Chase.
Phylogeny and Evolution of Angiosperms.
Sunderland, Mass.: Sinauer Associates, 2005.
paper, 370 pp., ISBN 0-878-93817-6, $64.95.

Primarily designed for graduate students and researchers in biology, botany, and paleontology, this technical text focuses on the past decade's developments in understanding the long history of angiosperms. Recent advances in molecular biology in particular have brought new evidence relative to the evolution of angiosperms, compelling contemporary scientists to rethink previously accepted classification systems. The authors provide many examples in the course of the text to illustrate relationships that have evolved over time. Their larger goal with this book is to stimulate further research to identify the complicated evolution of individual characteristics and to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships between angiosperms. The book is well illustrated with tables, drawings, photographs, and an "angiosperm supertree" indicating relationships between taxa. Even though references are extensive, this volume lacks a glossary, an essential feature necessary to attract a larger readership.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.