366 BOOK REVIEWS

experience of the volume will be typical of many: however interesting the papers in a
volume such as this, only a few (three in my case) have any direct relevance to my work.
As far as I can see, it is not possible to buy individual articles from this volume online,
so anyone whose institution does not subscribe to the series will have to decide whether
to buy the whole volume or to track down the articles via search engines. It took just a
couple of minutes to find the first two papers I hunted for on ResearchGate, from where
I could send reprint requests to the authors. I suspect that, with a little more effort, I
could have tracked down most of the others too. That illustrates an unfortunate truth:
the publishing model for volumes such as this has not kept pace with the realities of the
21st century. That is ironic, because a celebration of the career of a successful scientist
is, in effect, recognition of someone who most definitely had kept pace with a changing
world.
M a rty n K e l ly

Syllabus of Plant Families. A. Engler’s Syllabus der Pflanzenfamilien, 13th edition.

Part 2/1: Photoautotrophic Eukaryotic Algae. Glaucocystophyta, Cryptophyta,
Dinophyta/Dinozoa, Haptophyta, Heterokontophyta/Ochrophyta, Chlorarachniophyta/
Cercozoa, Euglenophyta/Euglenozoa, Chlorophyta, Streptophyta p.p. W. Frey
(ed.). Stuttgart: Borntraeger Science Publishers. 2015. 324 pp., 67 figures.
ISBN 978 3 443 01083 6. 89 € (hardback).
doi: 10.1017/S0960428617000208
This is a multiauthor work edited by Wolfgang Frey. The authors of chapters
are Wolfgang Hofbauer (Glaucocystophyta, Eustigmatophyceae); Hiroshi Kawai
and Takeshi Nakayama (Introduction to Heterokontobionta p.p., Cryptophyta,
Dinophyta, Haptophyta, and Heterokontophyta [except diatoms, Phaeophyceae and
Eustigmatophyceae], Chlorarachniophyta, Euglenophyta); Eileen Cox (diatoms);
Bruno de Reviers, Florence Rousseau and Thomas Silberfeld (Phaeophyceae); Jiří
Neustupa (Chlorophyta, Streptophyta p.p. [except Ulvophyceae, Charophyceae],
Trentepohliales); Frederik Leliaert, Juan Lopez-Bautista and Olivier de Clerck (Ul-
vophyceae, except Trentepohliales); Frederik Leliaert (Palmophyllales); and Irmgard
Blindow and Michael Schudack (Charophyceae). The green algae (Chlorophyta +
Streptophyta p.p.) account for 111 of the 301 pages of taxon accounts.
Part 2/1 in the revised ‘Engler & Prantl Pflanzenfamilien’ covers the groups
traditionally referred to as ‘algae’. Well, not quite all of them because, for some reason
(page limits?), the red algae have been left to part 2/2, whereas the prokaryotic ‘blue-
green algae’ have been put in part 1/1, together with a motley collection of eukaryotic
groups traditionally classified as ‘fungi’. These seem curious decisions. If the idea
was to provide a coherent systematic account (which one might assume would be
the intention in a ‘syllabus of plant families’), why separate the oomycete fungi (in
part 1) from their autotrophic cousins in the heterokont classes (part 2/1), or the
 BOOK REVIEWS 367

streptophyte green algae (part 2/1) from their ‘higher’ relatives (bryophytes and non–
seed-bearing vascular plants, in part 3)? Again, why are the heterotrophic Dinophyta
included but the heterotrophic Cercozoa omitted, leaving the Chlorarachniophyta as
the only group of Cercozoa included? Alternatively, if the idea was to maintain an
essentially physiological approach (i.e. to maintain the concept of ‘plantness’, which
is of course still valuable ecologically and is inherent in the international codes of
nomenclature that govern the naming of taxa, even though ‘plants’ and ‘algae’ are
not monophyletic groups), why separate the free-living blue-green algae from their
endosymbiotic relatives, the chloroplasts of eukaryotic autotrophs, and why include
any exclusively heterotrophic groups?
But although I think that the organisation and coverage of the present volume
could have been better and certainly needed better explanation, the truth is that there
is no easy way to deal with the ‘algae’. Whereas the green land plants (bryophytes
+ tracheophytes) are a monophyletic group that can be classified hierarchically and
the subgroups named according to the rules of a single international code (for
‘algae, fungi and plants’), the various kinds of green, blue-green, red, yellow and
brown algae are in many cases less related to each other than to phagotrophic or
osmotrophic organisms traditionally regarded as ‘animals’ (including ‘protozoa’) or
‘fungi’. Furthermore, although as noted in the Introduction (p. 1), “the last three
decades provided revolutionary new insights into the diversity and phylogeny of
organisms on earth”, there are still cases in which the affinities of major algal
groups (phyla, classes) are uncertain. For example, the positions of the Cryptophyta
and Haptophyta are not yet clear (as noted in this book on pp. 24 and 52,
respectively), and relationships among the heterokontophyte classes are less well
understood than is implied in the present volume in Fig. 7-2 (p. 63), which is based
principally on a paper by Yang et al. (2012) but has been reproduced without the
bootstrap and Bayesian support values. In fact, although there is evidence for three
groupings within the heterokontophytes (the SI clade, comprising Raphidophyceae,
Chrysomerophyceae, Aureanophyceae, Xanthophyceae, Schizocladiophyceae, Phaeo-
phyceae and Phaeothamniophyceae; the SII clade, comprising Eustigmatophyceae,
Chrysophyceae [including Synurophyceae], Pinguiophyceae, Synchromophyceae and
Picophagea; and the SIII clade, comprising Pelagophyceae, Dictyochophyceae,
Bacillariophyceae and Bolidophyceae), relationships within each clade are still unclear
(see Yang et al., 2012, fig. 1 and discussion). At lower levels too, knowledge is very
patchy.
Of course, taxonomists almost always claim that their own group needs better study
(otherwise their job is done!), but this really is true for the microalgae. So, when
Frey writes (in the preface to the present volume, p. v) “the authors hope to have
created an up-to-date overview of families and genera that will serve as reference for
a long time”, we must hope that they will quickly be disappointed: the current state
of ‘algal’ (and protist) classification is certainly better (i.e. based on and reflecting
considerable advances in our knowledge of diversity and relationships) than it was even
20 years ago, but it is still woefully inadequate. Although taxonomists working on some
368 BOOK REVIEWS

groups of metazoa or ‘higher’ plants are often within a whisker of having a complete
catalogue of species and devote considerable effort to amassing impressive molecular
and morphological datasets for revising generic and infrageneric classifications yet
again, for many microalgal genera not even one gene sequence is available, let alone
the data that might establish whether genera and families are monophyletic, and our
knowledge of species-level diversity probably underestimates the true extent by an
order of magnitude.
It is in fact this lack of understanding that convinces me that the present volume
of the Syllabus of Plant Families is worthwhile, despite what I think are major
inadequacies. It is important that the volume simply exists, not so much to catalogue
what is known, but to remind people that there is a huge diversity of groups and
species that are not green land plants and are often ignored in contemporary university
education and research funding. Indeed, this volume of the Syllabus is probably most
valuable as an illustration of what is not known, and the very impenetrability of the
volume (see below) is in some ways perhaps a benefit, because it gives some idea of
the complexities of dealing with the ‘algae’. These organisms are not easy. Whereas
land plants all adhere to more or less the same life cycle rules (alternation of haploid
and diploid generations), have similar cell structure (with two membranes around their
chloroplasts, thylakoids stacked into grana, monotonously similar light-harvesting
machinery, mitochondria with cristae, smooth flagella [where present] asymmetrically
inserted, etc.) and cell division (via a phragmoplast), not to mention the ubiquitous
cuticle, the ‘algae’ vary in every respect. Nothing can be assumed.
Besides demonstrating the variety and complexities of ‘algae’, the Synopsis lists
genera and places them in a hierarchy, gives an indication of species numbers (I could
not find an explanation of how these were obtained; it must have involved a lot of
online searches), and provides an entry to the taxonomic literature on each group.
These data are useful and are difficult to find elsewhere. The accounts of the brown
algae are particularly helpful, because a list of ‘key references’ is given for each family.
It is a pity that this excellent practice was not adopted for all the groups covered in the
volume.
The principal difficulties of this book are navigation and the depth of understanding
that one has to have before it becomes truly useful. Navigation is difficult because
no overview is given of what we know, or think we know, about the phylogeny of
eukaryotes. For this, readers will have to go elsewhere and learn about the ‘supergroups’
and the extent to which these are supported by various strands of molecular and
cytological or morphological evidence; a useful beginning might be to read Burki’s
(2014) summary – published more or less simultaneously with the completion of the
text for the Synopsis. Without this, it is impossible to get a clear picture of how the
organisms contained in the present volume relate to each other and, more importantly,
to non-photosynthetic groups. Another approach might be to look at the provisional
classifications of the protists by Adl et al. (2005, 2012).
The depth of understanding necessary to make sense of the Synopsis can be
illustrated by taking a few examples. The Peridiniales are one of the groups of
 BOOK REVIEWS 369

dinoflagellates in which the amphiesmal vesicles (!) contain plates of cellulose (so
they are referred to as ‘armoured’). The number, arrangement and shape of these
plates are important characters for family, genus and species distinctions, and some
of the main characteristics of plate arrangement can be expressed as a formula –
the ‘tabulation’. So, for example, the tabulation for the Peridiniaceae (p. 40) is (Po,
X) 4 , 3a, 7 , 5–6c, 5–6s, 5 , 2 . I wonder what this can possibly mean to anyone
who is not already well educated about dinoflagellates. There is no explanation in the
Synopsis. The reader will have to use textbooks or online resources to learn about
tabulation, perhaps the very readable explanation on the Tree of Life Web Project
site (Hoppenrath & Saldarriaga, 2008). I wonder too how many botanical readers will
know how to recognise a pseudoconoid and rhoptries (in perkinsids and Psammosa)?
Will they understand cryptostomata or haplostichous, oligostichous and polystichous
thallus construction in brown algae? One of the strengths of some earlier editions
of the Pflanzenfamilien was the extensive introduction provided for major groups,
which gave a basis for understanding the family and genus descriptions. An example,
well illustrated and still of some value, is Georg Karsten’s (1928) introduction to the
diatoms, which contained an account of diatom biology and morphology running to
over 90 pages. In contrast, in what is the most comprehensive and readable introduction
to any group in the present volume, Eileen Cox’s account of the diatoms is given 9
pages. The Synopsis has no glossary. There is no subject index.
The Synopsis is nicely printed and sturdily bound. Attractive and instructive colour
plates are included for many of the groups covered. There are some editorial lapses
and a surprising number of spelling errors, which I would have thought could have
been eliminated rather easily by running the whole text through a spellchecker. The
formatting of the text (in particular, use of small type for notes and indentation of
paragraphs) is sometimes inconsistent and this can hinder easy reading. There is an
index to taxa.
In summary: this is not a book that can be read and used on its own. It is valuable
as a reminder to phycologists and non-phycologists alike that algal classification is
messy and difficult, and it contains information on genera and families that is rarely
brought together and must have been hard to assemble; the authors of the various
chapters are experts in their field and the classifications that they have documented are
a good statement of the current position. A huge amount of information is summarised
in this small volume. However, no one (neither the publisher, nor the editor, nor
the authors) seems to have thought sufficiently clearly about the intended readership
and their needs. For most people, the taxon descriptions and overviews will become
understandable only after extensive background reading. The Handbook of Protists
(edited by Archibald et al., due August 2017) may be a helpful adjunct, and a good
algal textbook too (possibilities are van den Hoek et al., 1995; Lee, 2008; and Graham
et al., 2009). If a further edition of the Synopsis is prepared, it must provide more
comprehensive introductions to the groups covered, including explanations of the
terms and concepts used. Furthermore, although I and many others prefer ‘real’ books
to pdfs and online literature, the Synopsis is in many ways ideal material for the Web,
370 BOOK REVIEWS

because hyperlinks would allow cross linking of terms to glossary entries, and searching
and updating would be easy.
Dav i d G. M a n n

References
A d l , S. M . , S i m p s o n , A . G. B. , Fa r m e r , M . A . , A n d e r s e n , R . A . , A n d e r s o n ,
O. R . , Ba rta , J. R . , B ow s e r , S. S. , B ru g e ro l l e , G. , Fe n s o m e , R . A . ,
Fr e d e r i c q , S. , Ja m e s , T. Y. , K a r p ov , S. , Ku g r e n s , P. , K ru g , J. , L a n e , C. E . ,
L e w i s , L . A . , L o d g e , J. , Ly n n , D. H . , M a n n , D. G. , M c C o u rt , R . M . ,
M e n d o za , L . , M o e s t ru p , Ø . , M o z l e y- Sta n d r i d g e , S. E . , N e ra d , T. A . ,
S h e a r e r , C. , S m i r n ov , A . V. , S p i e g e l , F. W. & Tay l o r , M . F. J. R . (2005).
The new higher level classification of eukaryotes with emphasis on the taxonomy of protists.
J. Eukar. Microbiol. 52(5): 399–451.
A d l , S. M . , S i m p s o n , A . G. B. , L a n e , C. E . , L u k e š , J. , Ba s s , D. , B ow s e r , S. S. ,
B row n , M . W. , B u r k i , F. , D u n t h o r n , M . , H a m p l , V. , H e i s s , A . ,
H o p p e n rat h , M . , L a ra , E . , l e Ga l l , L . , Ly n n , D. H . , M c M a n u s , H . ,
M i t c h e l l , E . A . D. , M o z l e y- Sta n d r i d g e , S. E . , Pa r f r e y , L . W. ,
Paw l ow s k i , J. , Ru e c k e rt , S. , S h a dw i c k , L . , S c h o c h , C. L . , S m i r n ov , A . &
S p i e g e l , F. W. (2012). The revised classification of eukaryotes. J. Eukar. Microbiol. 59(5):
429–514.
A rc h i b a l d , J. M . , S i m p s o n , A . G. B. & S la m ov i t s , C. H . (eds) (2017). Handbook
of the Protists, 2nd edition. Heidelberg: Springer (in press).
B u r k i , F. (2014). The eukaryotic tree of life from a global phylogenomic perspective. Cold
Spring Harbor Perspect. Biol. 6: a016147.
G ra h a m , J. E . , Wi l c ox , L . W. & G ra h a m , L . E . (2009). Algae, 2nd edition. San
Francisco, California: Pearson.
H o e k , C. va n d e n , M a n n , D. G. & Ja h n s , H . M . (1995). Algae. An Introduction to
Phycology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
H o p p e n rat h , M . & S a l da r r i a ga J. , F. (2008) Tabulation in Dinoflagellates. In:
M a d d i s o n , D. R . & S c h u l z , K . - S. (eds) Tree of Life Web Project. Online. Available:
http://tolweb.org/notes/?note_id=4796#AboutThisPage
K a r s t e n , G. (1928). Bacillariophyta (Diatomaceae). In: Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien,
vol. 2, 2nd edition, pp. 105–303. Leipzig: W. Engelmann.
L e e , R . E . (2008). Phycology, 4th edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ya n g , E . C. , B o o , G. H . , K i m , H . J. , C h o , S. M . , B o o , S. M . , A n d e r s e n , R . A .
& Yo o n , H . S. (2012). Supermatrix data highlight the phylogenetic relationships of
photosynthetic stramenopiles. Protist 163(2): 217–231.

Nepal: an Introduction to the Natural History, Ecology and Human Environment of the
Himalayas. A Companion to the Flora of Nepal. G. Miehe, C. Pendry & R. Chaudhary
(eds). Edinburgh: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 2015. 576 pp. ISBN 978 1 910877
02 9. £70 (hardback).
doi: 10.1017/S096042861700021X
The Himalayas are the greatest mountain range on Earth. This mountain system,
which includes the world’s highest peaks, including Mount Everest, is the largest