French common names. After the useful bibliography there is a list of scientific names with their equivalent vernacular version. A very nicely produced book dealing with one of the most fascinating floras in the world. Thoroughly recommended.

Felix'. In 1990 the Yemen Arab Republic (or North Yemen) and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (or South Yemen) merged to form the Republic of Yemen, but since the present volume only covers the area of the former Yemen Arab Republic, the title is somewhat misleading. A better name would have been Handbook of the North Yemen Flora. The introduction is divided into five parts, and the first part gives a concise historical review of the discovery of the Yemen flora, with more detailed notes on the travels of, e.g., ForsskMl, Botta and Schweinfurth. The second part describes the five topographical regions of (North) Yemen, the Tihama, the Escarpment, the High Plateau, the Mashriq, and the sands, as recognised by the author. The climate, geology, and several factors related to human activities are discussed in the third part, whereas the fourth and largest part of the introduction concerns the vegetation of (North) Yemen in relation to the five topographical regions as defined by the author. In addition to the main text, several geological maps as well as distributional maps for various taxa, are provided. However, the maps would have improved considerably in clarity by drawing the geographical boundaries to fit the frame, instead of letting the boundaries end in limbo as presently done. The fifth and last section of the introduction deals with the composition of the flora from a phytogeographical point of view. The taxonomic part is arranged systematically and the order and circumscription of the families basically follows the system of Cronquist (1981). Dichotomous keys to the genera and species, but not for the families, are provided. The short descriptions given for the families and genera only refer to plants occurring in (North) Yemen, a fact that the reader should bear in mind. The species descriptions are followed by notes on the distribution and ecology and Arabic names are given for species where there is good evidence that the name is used for that particular species in (North) Yemen. Specimens are only cited occasionally, and then for undescribed species or for species where the taxonomy is uncertain. The relatively few line drawings are basically of good quality but tend to have lost in quality by an over reduction in size. The colour plates, which are gathered at the end of the book, are very fine and beautifully reproduced. There are also appendices for the Arabic plant names, poisonous plants, a very useful gazetteer, and a selected bibliography at the end of the book. The taxonomic