Legumes of the World

Description

Legumes of the World is the first authoritative, comprehensive illustrated guide, describing and illustrating all 727 genera. Legumes contribute enormously to the world's economy, through food and drink, pharmaceuticals, medicines, biotechnology, building and construction, textiles, furniture, horticulture, paper and pulp, fertilizers, chemicals, pest control and ecotourism. This book lavishly illustrates legume diversity and spotlights as yet untapped economic potential by placing genera in a modern systematic framework. It will thus appeal to the professional, student and amateur alike, across a broad range of disciplines.

Gwilym Lewis is an authority on South American legumes and has specialist knowledge of the genus Caesalpinia and several mimosoid genera. He has written three books and c. 100 research papers on legumes and is currently head of the legume team in the Herbarium at Kew. Brain Schrire studied botany in South Africa where he headed Natal Herbarium in Durban from 1980 to 1985. He was South African Liaison Botanist at Kew from mid 1985 to mid 1988 and later joined the Kew Legume Section in 1994. His main research interests are legume biogeography and systematics. Barbara Mackinder studies tropical African legumes. She has a specialist knowledge of the genera of leguminous trees which dominate the forests of west and central Africa and is currently monographing the Caesalpinioid genus Berlinia.