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The grass family is not only one of the largest in the flowering plants but economically of prime importance, containing as it does the creals that provide the bulk of our dietary calorific and protein needs. It is a pleasure, therefore, to welcome this Chinese account of the grass genera of the world prepared by Dr Xu Zhu. This volume follows the earlier account by the same author of the Grass Genera of China and like it has been generated automatically by computer from a Taxonomic database that was compiled using a Chinese adaptation of the DELTA system of representing and manipulating taxonomic descriptions. The modification of the DELTA system into the Chinese CDELTA version has involved a great deal of high-level computer programming and software development and Dr Xu zhu is to be congratulated on his skill and tenacity in achieving this, I am delighted that some of the work that led up to this volume was carried out by the author in my former Department in The University of Reading.

 

This account of the grass genera of the World includes detailed descriptions of 785 genera and follows a Chinese system of classification based on Watson 1996 system using numerical taxonomic techniques, The generic descriptions include not only norphological and anatomical features but structured information on other fields such as physiology and biochemistry, DNA values, cytology, embryology, phytogeography, pathogens, distribution, ecology and economic uses. It gives much more detail than the previous works on the genera of grasses that occur in China, especially their component species, distribution and economic importance.
The Chinese Grass Genera of the World is a major contribution to the literature on this important groups of plants and will be widely welcomed by agrostologists, agronomists and many other groups of users in China and elsewhere. Dr Xu Zhu is to be warmly congratulated on this excellent achievement.

 

 

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