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Southern Asia is a vast and ecologically diverse region that extends from the deserts of Afghanistan to the rainforests of Thailand, and is home to a marvelously rich palm flora. Palms of Southern Asia is the only complete field guide to the 43 genera and 352 species of palms and rattans that occur in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. This attractive guide's handsome illustrations and succinct, authoritative, and jargon-free text make identification easy.
Each species account includes the correct scientific and common names, and fully describes morphology, habitat, and uses. Featuring a distribution map for most species and 256 full-color photographs, this is also the only field guide to cover the extremely diverse palm flora of Vietnam, and the first to offer a taxonomic overview of the rattan species of Southern Asia.
Palms of Southern Asia is a book of major importance for botanists and an invaluable aid for naturalists and conservationists, and it's the perfect field guide for ecotourists traveling in the region.
FOREWORD, by John Dransfield 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 9 INTRODUCTION 11 Palm Regions in Southern Asia 11 Layout of the Book 17 Classification of Southern Asian Palms 20 Morphology of Palms 20 Key to the Genera of Palms in Southern Asia 25 THE PALMS OF SOUTHERN ASIA 29 1. Areca 29 2. Arenga 31 3. Bentinckia 36 4. Borassodendron 37 5. Borassus 37 6. Calamus 38 7. Caryota 92 8. Ceratolobus 96 9. Chuniophoenix 97 10. Clinostigma 98 11. Cocos 98 12. Corypha 99 13. Cyrtostachys 101 14. Daemonorops 101 15. Eleiodoxa 109 16. Eugeissona 110 17. Guihaia 111 18. Hyphaene 112 19. Iguanura 112 20. Johannesteijsmannia 115 21. Kerriodoxa 115 22. Korthalsia 116 23. Licuala 119 24. Livistona 131 25. Loxococcus 133 26. Maxburretia 134 27. Myrialepis 135 28. Nannorrhops 135 29. Nenga 136 30. Nypa 137 31. Oncosperma 138 32. Orania 139 33. Phoenix 1 34. Pholidocarpus 143 35. Pinanga 144 36. Plectocomia 155 37. Plectocomiopsis 158 38. Rhapis 159 39. Rhopaloblaste 163 40. Salacca 163 41. Satakentia 165 42. Trachycarpus 166 43. Wallichia 169 APPENDIX: Checklist of Species by Country or Region 175 REFERENCES 183 INDEX OF COMMON NAMES 187 INDEX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES 191
Andrew Henderson is a curator at the Institute of Systematic Botany at the New York Botanical Garden. His books include "Field Guide to the Palms of the Americas" and "Flowering Plants of the Neotropics" (both Princeton).
This is a very well-organized field guide. It is clear in its presentation of the facts and the language is without unnecessary complications. The science behind this popular presentation is very sound. The descriptions in general are very concise.--Henrik Balslev, University of Aarhus, Denmark
