Review

As stated in the preface, this book is intended as a textbook on orchid biology. Fifteen chapters treat a diverse array of topics, from physiology to ethnobotany. In spite of its title, Fundamentals of Orchid Biology contains much general information that is only indirectly related to the purported subject matter. The chapter on cytology, for example, contains little which cannot be found in any undergraduate textbook on cell biology. More than one page in this chapter is devoted to the microscope used by Robert Brown, about which we learn that “it was made by the English barometers manufacturer Robert Banks (who also spelled his name Bancks) before 1820, and its stage is engraved with the maker’s name and address –Banks 441 Strand London.” I quote this as a specimen of the irrelevant information (others might like to call it erudition) which is found on almost every page, perhaps the most irrelevant item being a photograph of the last wife of Mao Zedong on page 50