56
DAVID D. KECK
panded rapidly; the fourth edition, which appeared in the years 17971810 and was edited by Carl Ludwig Willdenow of Berlin, consisted of
6 volumes and 7144 pages.
The next flora of world scope was the "Prodromus Systematis Naturalis
Regni Vegetabilis," by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, professor of
botany in Geneva, and his son Alphonse. This extensive work, in 17 parts
and 21 volumes, covering 13,195 pages and attempting to account for all
seed plants, described 58,975 species. The elder de Candolle wrote the
first 7 volumes, which appeared between 1824 and 1839, and the son
edited the last 10, which were written by himself and some 33 other
monographers, the last volume appearing in 1873.
During this period monographic studies came to the fore, and the
dependence of floras upon them became accentuated. The task of ordering up the accumulated knowledge about the thousands of newly discovered species of seed plants alone precluded the possibility of preparing a world flora for decades to come. It became obvious that monographic and revisional studies of almost all plant groups from all regions
would have to precede such an attempt. This point was driven home
when the ambitious German work, "Das Pflanzenreich," edited by one of
the most competent organizers in systematic botany, Dr. Adolf Engler,
director of the botanic garden in Berlin, came almost to a halt when the
greater part of the herbarium and library at Berlin-Dahlem was destroyed during World War II. This world flora had been in production
for half a century; some 129 parts have now appeared, totalling 26,521
pages. At present the job of treating the 200,000 to 250,000 species of
seed plants remains less than half done, and the accounts of many of the
families already completed have become obsolescent as additional
botanical exploration and monographic revisional work have accumulated.
The time for writing a flora encompassing the seed plants of the world
remains considerably in the future. On the other hand, adequate definitive floras can now be prepared for parts of Europe, parts of the United
States, and some other scattered areas. Satisfactory regional floras are now
available for over half the United States, with state floras for scarcely ten
states. In Europe the coverage is somewhat better. For the rest of the
world the situation is irregular, with most of the southern hemisphere
and Asia in need of new or thoroughly revised treatments. Several major
works on the African flora are in preparation. One group of botanists
at Kew is thoroughly revising the "Flora of West Africa," while another
group is working on a "Flora of Tropical East Africa." The Portuguese
botanists, working in close cooperation with botanists at the British
DAVID D. KECK
panded rapidly; the fourth edition, which appeared in the years 17971810 and was edited by Carl Ludwig Willdenow of Berlin, consisted of
6 volumes and 7144 pages.
The next flora of world scope was the "Prodromus Systematis Naturalis
Regni Vegetabilis," by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle, professor of
botany in Geneva, and his son Alphonse. This extensive work, in 17 parts
and 21 volumes, covering 13,195 pages and attempting to account for all
seed plants, described 58,975 species. The elder de Candolle wrote the
first 7 volumes, which appeared between 1824 and 1839, and the son
edited the last 10, which were written by himself and some 33 other
monographers, the last volume appearing in 1873.
During this period monographic studies came to the fore, and the
dependence of floras upon them became accentuated. The task of ordering up the accumulated knowledge about the thousands of newly discovered species of seed plants alone precluded the possibility of preparing a world flora for decades to come. It became obvious that monographic and revisional studies of almost all plant groups from all regions
would have to precede such an attempt. This point was driven home
when the ambitious German work, "Das Pflanzenreich," edited by one of
the most competent organizers in systematic botany, Dr. Adolf Engler,
director of the botanic garden in Berlin, came almost to a halt when the
greater part of the herbarium and library at Berlin-Dahlem was destroyed during World War II. This world flora had been in production
for half a century; some 129 parts have now appeared, totalling 26,521
pages. At present the job of treating the 200,000 to 250,000 species of
seed plants remains less than half done, and the accounts of many of the
families already completed have become obsolescent as additional
botanical exploration and monographic revisional work have accumulated.
The time for writing a flora encompassing the seed plants of the world
remains considerably in the future. On the other hand, adequate definitive floras can now be prepared for parts of Europe, parts of the United
States, and some other scattered areas. Satisfactory regional floras are now
available for over half the United States, with state floras for scarcely ten
states. In Europe the coverage is somewhat better. For the rest of the
world the situation is irregular, with most of the southern hemisphere
and Asia in need of new or thoroughly revised treatments. Several major
works on the African flora are in preparation. One group of botanists
at Kew is thoroughly revising the "Flora of West Africa," while another
group is working on a "Flora of Tropical East Africa." The Portuguese
botanists, working in close cooperation with botanists at the British