Walker, Egbert H.:
Flora of Okinawa and the Southern Ryukyu Islands, 1976, Washington. Smithsonian Institution, 1st edition, hardcover in dustjacket, 8 x 10.5 in, 1159 pp, glossary, indexes, black and white illustrations and photographs, map endpapers. Color frontispiece. Green cloth boards with gilt decoration to cover and lettering to spine.

With meticulous care and an essentially conservative perspective, Egbert Walker has written this reference book designed to supply the needs of a wide and diverse audience. The work treats the vascular cryptogams and seed plants occurring in the portion of the Ryukyu Archipelago extending from Iheya Island, just north of Okinawa, to Yonaguni Island, at the southern end of the chain. In compiling this Flora, Walker received contributions and material aid from many fellow botanists in many parts of the world. Over 2080 species in 1008 genera and 218 families are fully described in this Flora, clarifying much of the existing confusion in our knowledge of the plants of this area. Not only are the taxa identified by their scientific names, but by their Romanized Japanese and Okinawan names, and also by their English names when available.

The glossary of technical terms gives the equivalents in English and Japanese. The meanings of scientific plant names are recorded in this book except those that are in the glossary or those of geographic origin that would be readily recognized. Westerners will find the translation or explanation of Japanese plant names another valuable feature. The book brings together much information that would otherwise be obtainable only through extensive searching of the scattered literature, and it helpfully and most uniquely notes where knowledge is uncertain.

Enhanced by 185 line drawings and 24 photographs, a glossary, a selected bibliography, and a special bibliography of works concerned with the meanings of scientific names, the book is replete with separate indexes of Japanese, Okinawan, English, and scientific plant names. Contents includes: Introduction; Descriptive Flora: General Keys to Major Groups, Families, and (in Pteridophyta) to Genera; Phylum I. Pteridophyta; Phylum II. Spermatophyta - Seed plants; Class I. Gymnospermae; Class II. Angiospermae; Subclass I. monocotyledoneae; Subclass II. Dicotyledoneae; Glossary; Reference List of Abbreviations of Names of Authors of Scientific Names; Collectors and Collections Cited; Abbreviations of Herbaria in Which Cited Specimens Are Deposited; Selected Bibliography; and Special Bibliography of Works Concerned with Meanings of Scientific and Japanese Names. The Indexes include: Japanese Plant Names; Okinawan Plant Names; English Plant Names; and Scientific Plant Names.

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