Genera Palmarum - The Evolution and Classification of the Palms

Since the publication of the first edition of Genera Palmarum in 1987, there has been an explosion of interest in this quintessentially tropical flowering plant family. Palms tend to attract attention, perhaps because of their recognisable rather simple growth form, their ecological and economic importance, or indeed simply because of their association with the exotic. The numerous biological intrigues within the family explain the abundance of palm research across the world, as demonstrated by the vast body of palm literature published since 1987 that is listed in the bibliography of this book. Genera Palmarum Edition 1 provided the basic taxonomic framework on which such palm studies could be based. Over the…