''Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana'' is a multivolume

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

describing the

vascular plant Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes () or collectively Tracheophyta (), form a large group of land plants ( accepted known species) that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They ...

s of the

Guayana Region The Guayana Region is an administrative region of eastern Venezuela. History In the 1970s, after the process of forming the Political-Administrative Regions through CORDIPLAN in the government of Rafael Caldera, the Region of Guyana was f ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, encompassing the three states south of the Orinoco: Amazonas, Bolívar, and

Delta Amacuro Delta Amacuro State ( es, Estado Delta Amacuro, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State is found to the south, the Atlantic ...

. Initiated by

Julian Alfred Steyermark Julian Alfred Steyermark (January 27, 1909 – October 15, 1988) was a Venezuelan American botanist. His focus was on New World vegetation, and he specialized in the family Rubiaceae. Life and work Julian Alfred Steyermark was born in St. Louis, ...

in the early 1980s, it was completed after his death under the guidance of Paul E. Berry, Kay Yatskievych, and Bruce K. Holst. The nine volumes were published between 1995 and 2005 by Timber Press and

Missouri Botanical Garden Press The Missouri Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri. It is also known informally as Shaw's Garden for founder and philanthropist Henry Shaw. Its herbarium, with more than 6.6 million sp ...

. The project brought together more than 200 botanists from around the world and was "the first effort to produce a comprehensive inventory and identification guide for the plants of such an extensive region of northern South America".

Volumes

The first volume, written primarily by Italian ecologist

Otto Huber Otto Huber (March 12, 1914 – April 9, 1989) was a Major League Baseball player. He played one season with the Boston Bees The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article d ...

, is an introduction to the geography, ecology, botanical history and conservation of the Venezuelan Guayana, and includes two fold-out maps of the region (one vegetation and one

topographical Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

, both 1:2,000,000 scale).Berry, P.E., B.K. Holst & K. Yatskievych (eds.) (1995). ''Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. Volume 1. Introduction.'' Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis. The subsequent eight volumes cover the known plant families of the area in alphabetical order, each treating around 1000–1300 species.

Fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes exce ...

s and

fern allies Fern allies are a diverse group of seedless vascular plants that are not true ferns. Like ferns, a fern ally disperses by shedding spores to initiate an alternation of generations. Classification Originally, three or four groups of plants were ...

are covered in the first part of volume 2, with the remainder of that volume, and the rest of the flora, devoted to

seed plant A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

s (generally following the

Cronquist system The Cronquist system is a taxonomic classification system of flowering plants. It was developed by Arthur Cronquist in a series of monographs and texts, including ''The Evolution and Classification of Flowering Plants'' (1968; 2nd edition, 1988) ...

for

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s). Both native and naturalised species are included. Around half of all species are illustrated with black-and-white line drawings by Venezuelan artist Bruno Manara. Species accounts include non-exhaustive synonymies, and

vernacular name A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

s are occasionally given.Harriman, N.A. (March 2003). Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, volume 7, Myrtaceae–Plumbaginaceae. ''Economic Botany'' 57(1): 147–148. * Volume 1, Introduction (1995). . 363 pp. * Volume 2, Pteridophytes, Spermatophytes, Acanthaceae–Araceae (1995). . 706 pp., 1285 species treated, 618 line drawings. * Volume 3, Araliaceae–Cactaceae (1997). . 792 pp., 1113 species treated, 628 line drawings. * Volume 4, Caesalpiniaceae–Ericaceae (1998). . 799 pp., 1329 species treated, 621 line drawings. * Volume 5, Eriocaulaceae–Lentibulariaceae (1999). . 833 pp., 1304 species treated, 707 line drawings. * Volume 6, Liliaceae–Myrsinaceae (2001). . 803 pp., 1217 species treated, 657 line drawings. * Volume 7, Myrtaceae–Plumbaginaceae (2003). . 765 pp., 1338 species treated, 646 line drawings. * Volume 8, Poaceae–Rubiaceae (2004). . 874 pp., 1248 species treated, 659 line drawings. * Volume 9, Rutaceae–Zygophyllaceae (2005). . 608 pp., 971 species treated, 503 line drawings.

Reviews

In his ''Guide to Standard Floras of the World'', David G. Frodin cited ''Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana'' as an example of a " od modern, relatively 'concise' conventional flora".Frodin, D.G. (2001)
''Guide to Standard Floras of the World. Second Edition.''
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. The introductory volume has been singled out as both a useful addition to the flora and a valuable work in its own right. Writing in the ''

Edinburgh Journal of Botany Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

'', S. Bridgewater considered the first volume "an excellent way of starting a Flora" and "a highly desirable book for anyone with a love of botany and South America".Bridgewater, S. (November 1997). Book reviews: Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. Volume 1. Introduction. ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' 54(3): 355–356. He added that the prose "is both unpretentious and accessible, whilst being thoroughly researched". These views were echoed in the ''Handbook of Latin American Studies'', where the volume is described as "authoritative and superbly illustrated" and " ch broader than tstitle suggests".McCan, K.D. (2000)
''Handbook of Latin American Studies: No. 57''
University of Texas Press, Austin. R. Atkinson, who reviewed volume 2 for the ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'', considered the book's

dichotomous key In phylogenetics, a single-access key (also called dichotomous key, sequential key, analytical key, or pathway key) is an identification key where the sequence and structure of identification steps is fixed by the author of the key. At each point i ...

s "concise and easy to use" and the illustrations "clear although sometimes rather diagrammatic".Atkinson, R. (July 1998). Book reviews: Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. Volume 2. Pteridophytes, Spermatophytes; Acanthaceae–Araceae. ''Edinburgh Journal of Botany'' 55(2): 317–318. More serious criticism was levelled at the alphabetical arrangement of families, which Atkinson considered the work's "biggest drawback". He continued: "It would be more valuable if a systematic approach had been taken to avoid the absurdity of closely related families being placed (under an evolutionarily arbitrary, alphabetical system) in different volumes." Reviewing volume 7 in '' Economic Botany'', Neil A. Harriman wrote that the entire flora was "lavishly produced, with a great many line drawings to aid in identification". He added: "I think it indicates how carefully these volumes are done, that weedy little ''

Plantago major ''Plantago major'', the broadleaf plantain, white man's footprint, waybread, or greater plantain, is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family Plantaginaceae. The plant is native to Eurasia. The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw, ...

'' gets just as much space, and just as fine an illustration, as any of the rare, exotic, endemic orchid species do." Harriman also noted the comprehensive literature citations, which he found "most helpful". Although rather conservative, Harriman considered the species synonymies adequate.

References

{{reflist * Higgins, W. (2003). Book review: ''Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana'', Volume 7 Myrtaceae–Plumbaginaceae. ''Selbyana'' 24(1): 117. Venezuelan Guayana F. Guayana Highlands Books about Venezuela Botany in South America Natural history of Venezuela 1995 non-fiction books 1997 non-fiction books 1998 non-fiction books 1999 non-fiction books 2001 non-fiction books 2003 non-fiction books 2004 non-fiction books 2005 non-fiction books