This new fourth edition has been completely revised and updated, covering all aspects in the field of plant sciences including biochemistry, plant physiology, cytology, ecology, genetics, evolution, biogeography, earth history, and earth sciences. Over 500 new entries, including Rosales, physical dormancy, menthol, and codeine, enhance the dictionary's coverage of botanical terms, key drugs and medicines derived from plants, and plant orders, families, and genera. It also explains many ecological terms, and expands beyond plants to describe fungi and bacteria and how they affect plants. Numerous appendices include Plant Classification and SI Units, with new timelines showing important moments in plant evolution. For ease of use, vernacular plant names have been transferred to an appendix, fully cross-referenced to the A to Z entries. The dictionary's dedicated companion website points to recommended web links and additional resources. The most up-to-date dictionary available on...

The Oxford Dictionary of Plant Science
edited by Michael Allaby
Oxford University Press (2012)
Michael Allaby’s third edition of the Oxford Dictionary of Plant
science provides a lengthy and comprehensive update of the two
earlier editions. In his preface to the first edition Allaby sets out
the dictionary’s objective to cover complex biological principles and
explain them succinctly. This is certainly achieved in a compact
little book that acts almost as a pocket encyclopaedia of biological
terms. In this way it achieves the editor’s aims of combining the
short entries of a dictionary with the longer ones of an
encyclopaedia.
With over 7,600 entries from across the plant sciences this
dictionary caters for a wide range of interests, from ecology, Earth
Sciences, Earth history, evolution, genetics, plant physiology,
biochemistry, cytology and biogeography, to list the disciplines
cited in the preface. From asparagus to zea, anthocyanins to
zwitterions, the entries span a wide spectrum of biological interest
offering plenty to satisfy both the professional plant scientist as
well as including definitions that will be useful for A-level students
and undergraduates, particularly the cytological and genetic
entries.
The dictionary is well set out and easy to use with clear crossreferencing.
It combines short definitions such as “Apical:
Pertaining to the “apex” with longer entries for processes such as
the C4 pathway or meiosis and mitosis. In places simple line
drawings support the definitions and aid understanding, for
example for epicotyl or leaf shapes. This volume includes
extensive entries on plant taxonomy, also branching into the larger
groups of algae and bacteria and includes as an appendix the
current listing of Plant Classification compiled by the Angiosperm
Phylogeny Group
This third edition includes recognition of recent developments in
plant phylogeny following increased understanding of plant
genetics and the technology of genome sequencing. This covering
of genetic terminology is especially useful since this an area that is
developing very fast and few GCE or undergraduate textbooks can
keep up. Genetic terms are concise and clear, providing the
reader with unambiguous definitions for terms that can confuse
Refer 28 (1) Spring 2012 Part 2 9
students of biology such as gene flow, gene frequency, genetic
drift and genetic erosion. Promoters and transcription factors are
also covered although STRs do not appear. The plant taxonomy
included, which reflects developments in our understanding of the
genetic relationship between plants, provides the most up to date
agreement on evolutionary pathways and classification groupings.
Since many of the key scientists who have contributed to the
development of plant biology have wider biological interest this
books provides brief biographies of key personalities in Biology, as
well as defining a wide range of new and established botanical
nomenclature and terms. There are entries for Darwin and Braun-
Blanquet, as well as zoologists such as Haeckel and Sutherland.
As a teacher of A-level Biology I can see this book being very
useful for sixth formers and undergraduates. I would suggest that
it could also be useful for Geography students who may not cover
the detail of cell function and biochemistry of Biology courses. I
feel that it would be a valuable addition to any School Biology
department or library as a useful reference work to complement
text books and help when students are tackling research papers as
part of their AS or A2 coursework elements.
In addition to the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group’s Plant
Classification, the dictionary also includes a summary of fungal
classification, the Universal Genetic Code and the Geological
Time-Scale. Useful for the keen amateur as well as the
professional plant scientist, forestry consultant or ecologist this
paperback edition is compact and easy to use. It provides a handy
reference volume and one that should spend more time on the
desk that in the book shelf.
Reviewed by Hannah Peel
Head of Biology, Moreton Hall,
Weston Rhyn, Oswestry SY11 3EW