Review

The three volumes of this publication contain the results of almost five years of fieldwork over a period of almost 15 years in the Simbu Valley in the Central Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Volume I, ‘The People and their plant-lore’, contains an introduction to the Simbu people, as well as a discussion of their classification and naming of plants [the latter very useful reading for (ethno)botanists]. The main part is formed by an annotated alphabetical list of Simbu plant names. For each vernacular name the translation or interpretation and the botanical determination are given. Furthermore tribe names (for names used by specific tribes), the name of the species in other languages, and (for part of the names) the Simbu names of cultivars are provided. The list also contains general terms, for example for parts of plants. Because of the compact way in which Sterly presents the data, the reader will need some practising before being able to use the book. This is also the case for volumes II and III. Several maps are provided, with the location of villages, rivers and mountains, the tribe distribution, and a vegetation map. Volume I contains the list of references for all three volumes.