Reviews

A joint project of the National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University, and the Department of Systematic Botany, Uppsala University, the Ethiopian Flora Project that was launched in 1980, continues to produce results since the first volume (in fact Vol. 3) was published. Many efforts have gone into fund raising, and SIDA, the Swedish International Development Cooperation (earlier SAREC), and the Ethiopian Government have contributed considerable sums of money to achieve the publication of the Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The editorial team in Uppsala, Addis Ababa and Eritrea has to be congratulated that within two years after the appearance of both volumes of 1995 another issue has left the press. In this extremely rich flora region, with altitudes ranging from below sea level to 4413 m above with a multitude of climatological areas and niches a complete Flora that works has been sorely missed. Endemism is considerable. After a rather slow start, not in the last place caused by political and financial reasons, the authors have apparently contributed their shares at a much more rapid pace. The history of the organization of the writing of the Flora of Ethiopia has been elaborated in the first volume which appeared, no. 3 (Flora of Ethiopia), and the other volumes (Flora of Ethiopia and Eritrea) report on the progress made. In the title the independence of Eritrea since 1993 is reflected. Taxon 41 (1992) 403 provided scant information for Vol. 3.