Reviews

ANDERSON, J.A.R., A checklist of the trees of Sarawak, 364 pp. (1983, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Cawangan Sarawak, for Forest Department, Kuching, Sarawak). Cloth Mal$ 15.00. When Dr. Anderson retired from the Forest Department in 1973 he left the manuscript of this checklist for publication. Unfortunately publication was delayed for 10 years. It contains data on over 2500 arboreous plant species. The text consists mainly of two parts: the first is a list of vernacular names with their scientific equivalents, the second is a list of plant names alphabetically arranged by family. Each species is concisely annotated with its vernacular name(s), maximum diameter, ecology, frequency, soils, etc. Species names have been coded: the first two figures are for the family, the next two for the genus and the last two for the species. A list is given of the trees of the peat-swamp forests of which Anderson was a great expert. A small draw-back is that the literature of the last ten years has not been included. Nevertheless this is a most helpful book. — C.G.G.J. van Steenis.