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This work is the first of its kind in so far that it gives an account of the chemotaxonomy of a large family of plants and its implications on the taxonomy of that family. The ideas for this book were derived from a symposium, to which all the 19 authors contributed, ‘The Comparative Biochemistry of the Leguminosae’, which was held at the John Innes Institute, Hertfordshire. The first chapter, by V. H. Heywood, gives a ‘Systematic Purview’ of the family. Chapter 2—14 provide a description of the known distribution of both low molecular weight and macromolecular constituents. In several chapters the methods used are also extensively discussed. Often the information of the various chapters has been obtained by workers belonging to other disciplines than taxonomy, and little attention has been given to taxonomic methods. Several of the chapters lack a summary and a discussion of the taxonomic implications.

Trees or shrubs, in Mal. evergreen or almost so, usually containing very bitter substances. Twigs pithy. Hairs mostly simple and 1-cellular, sometimes glandularcapitate. Leaves (in Mal.) spirally arranged, simple or 1-pinnate, often articulated, often provided beneath (rarely also above) with pitted, concave, or flattish glands (in Mal. in Ailanthus, Brucea, Samadera, and Soulamea). Stipules usually absent, (in Mal.) present in Irvingia and Picrasma. Inflorescences usually compound, axillary, rarely terminal; plants monoecious, rarely dioecious. Flowers usually small, actinomorphic, uni- or bisexual, or functionally unisexual. Sepals 3-5, almost always partly connate, valvate to slightly imbricate. Petals 3-5, free, imbricate or valvate, rarely absent (in extra-Mal.), or united into a tube (extra-Mal.). Stamens inserted at the base of the disk, isomerous or dimerous, rarely numerous (extra-Mal.), mostly obdiplostemonous, rarely the stamens of the outer whorl doubled, not rarely with a scale at the inner base; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise, introrse to latrorse, versatile. Disk intrastaminal, often gynophorous, sometimes rather inconspicuous, at least when dry. Ovary often 2-5-lobed, 1-5-celled, or with free carpels; styles 1-5. Ovules 1-2 (in Mal. 2 only in Suriana), axile, anatropous (in Harrisonia and Suriana amphitropous). Fruit(s) usually indehiscent often drupaceous, sometimes a samara, some carpels sometimes aborted. Seed: endosperm 0 or scant; cotyledons planoconvex; embryo straight or curved; no aril. Distribution. About 30 genera, with c. 200 spp. with the main centre in tropical America, and a second centre in tropical West Africa. With the exception of Picrasma quassioides (D. DON) BENN., ranging as far north as North Japan and Korea, and of Ailanthus altissima (MILL.) SWINGLE, which is endemic in subtropical to temperate China, the species of this family are native in the tropics. The monotypic genus Suriana has the widest range and is almost pantropical along sandy beach, being absent only o

During the pre-naming of some new collections made by the Forestry Service of North Borneo, Mr L. L. Forman, Kew, provisionally identified a collection from Pulau Gaya, District of Jesselton, San 20499, gathered by Dr. W. Meijer, as an undescribed species of the American genus Simaba. As he knew that I had almost finished a revision of the Simaroubaceae for the Flora Malesiana, he immediately gave notice and sent the material with the permission of the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, without delay to Leyden. I have to thank him most cordially for this friendly and generous gesture. Later Dr. J. A. R. Anderson, of the Sarawak Forestry Service, Kuching, kindly pointed our attention to the fact that the species had been collected in the past, both in Borneo and Sumatra, and that these specimens had been distributed as Parishia sp. In critical checking the generic identity of the specimen, Mr Forman’s opinion appeared to be correct, and the new plant has been since described as a new species in the Flora Malesiana. At the same time it appeared possible to accommodate it also in several other American and African genera as well, for example Simarouba, Hannoa, and Odyendyea. This necessitated a closer comparison of these genera, and some others, a desirability which I had earlier thought to lie outside the scope of the Flora Malesiana revision.

The composition of the 2nd part of this work corresponds to that of the 1st, but, because it deals with only one class, the Monocotyledons, the whole could be more homogeneous. The Monocotyledons are systematically and anatomically less profoundly examined than the Conifers and the Dicotyledons, and for that reason it might be expected that phytochemistry could offer more often a solution in difficult taxonomical questions than in the above mentioned taxa. Unfortunately the phytochemical knowledge of the ca. 40 families of Monocotyledons has appeared to be so scant that it was impossible to base a comparison of the taxa on the chemical constituents. Only in a few cases there appeared to be clear chemical relations or differences, e.g. in the taxa of the Liliaceae – Amaryllidaceae complex. As in the first part of this book the author followed the view of Von Wettstein regarding the circumscription of the families, except for instances where chemistry favoured the spl

Herbarium specimens of 13 species of the Simaroubaceae were investigated on phenolic compounds present in their hydrolised leaf extracts and on the presence of alkaloids (table 2). Leucoanthocyanins, myricetin, gallic acid, ellagic acid, as well as alkaloids were demonstrated to occur rather frequently in this family. The relationships between the Simaroubaceae and Rutaceae and the position of the genera Irvingia and Suriana are briefly discussed: the Simaroubaceae and Rutaceae seem to be closely related not only morphologically but also biochemically. Irvingia seems to fit rather well in the Simaroubaceae (except for the assumed lack of bitter principles). Suriana deviates much more from all other species investigated. This stimulates further research to check the recent proposal of Gutzwiller concerning the classification of this genus.