Poaceae, Pt.1: Parte General y Panicoideae. 2012. (Flora de la Republica de Cuba, Series A, Volume 17:1-2). 252 coloured plates. XVI, 912 p. gr8vo. Hardcover. (978-3-905997-03-3)

In recent times there have been many books to illustrate in color the worlds plant diversity. They mostly present showy flowers such as ornamentals,orchids in particular. The idea of devoting an entire volume of pictures to humble grasses is novel.Grasses are among the most important families fo rhuman kind, and knowing them is of considerable practical value. However, they are reputed to be hard to identify, all looking the same. This is not a popular book but part of an important national Flora of high scientific standing. The panicoid grasses dealt with in the accompanying text volume (with descriptions, keys, full synonymies, distribution map sand other important data, as usual) are the familys largest and most difficult group, accounting for more than half of Cubas Poaceae species:266 in total. Some are endemic to Cuba, but over 80 are of foreign origin and naturalized, often important as forage grasses and/or noxious weeds. All native and naturalized taxa, 250 in total, are represented photographically, each on two facing pages showing the general habit (representative herbariumspecimens, mostly Cuban, often types) and at least one close-up of a spikelet or spikelet group,shown under a stereo-microscope equipped with extended focus imaging (a novel technique that allows merging images taken at various focal levels into a single picture). They are an ideal complement to the keys and descriptions of the text, convenient for consultation side by side as text and illustrations are separately bound.