Goldberg R., Michelangeli F.A., Almeda F. (eds.) Systematics, Evolution, and Ecology of Melastomataceae

Springer, 2022. — 786 p.This volume summarizes much of what is currently known about the systematics, phylogeny, classif i cation, biogeography, and ecology of Melastomataceae, one of the ten largest families of fl owering plants. The family is largely a tropical one that is mostly unknown to people who have spent their lives in temperate latitudes. A few northern-hemisphere garden-lovers will recognize the glory bushes (Pleroma) or a few species of Medinilla that are cultivated in greenhouses, while some North Americans might be familiar with the several species of meadow beauties (Rhexia) that are distributed across a good part of the eastern United States. On the other hand, anyone with some experience in tropical and subtropical fl oras around the world has surely encountered the extraordinary diversity of species presented by this family. Although it is one of the easiest to recognize at the family level, the task of identifying genera and species has typically been an onerous one for the general-ist. Despite its size and diversity, we suspect that the primarily tropical distribution of Melastomataceae has contributed to its almost forgotten and largely unknown status in terms of systematics, evolution, and ecology. Redressing this shortcoming by bringing together the many recent research advances focused on Melastomataceae into one volume is a major objective of this book.
Unlike the Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae, and Poaceae—larger widespread fl owering plant families that have attracted an army of specialists—relatively few botanists have gravitated to the Melastomataceae. Until the end of the twentieth century, few systematists dedicated all or a portion of their careers to botanical research on the Melastomataceae in a global or regional context. These included A. P. de Candolle (1778–1841) in Geneva, D. Don (1799–1841) in London, C. V. Naudin (1815–1899) in Paris, J. J. Triana (1828–1890 ), a Colombian and the fi rst Latin American specialist who conducted fi eld work and study visits to European herbaria, C. A. Cogniaux (1841–1916) in Brussels, H. A. Gleason (1882–1975) in New York, R. C. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Jr. (1911–1987) in Leiden, H. Jacques-Félix (1907–2008) in Paris, and J. J. Wurdack (1921–1998) in Washington, D.C.