Reviews

The International Conference ‘Compositae: Systematics, Biology, Utilization’ held in 1994 inspired the authors, on the suggestion of Dr. K. Ferguson, to publish a book accommodating more general systematic papers on Asteraceae, resulting in the present work. It contains seventeen chapters [in English, French (1), and Spanish (1)], including the Introduction by C. Jeffrey, and is provided with a taxonomic index. Following the Introduction, Jeffrey gives a review of the developments in Asteraceae systematics during the last 20 years, since the conference of 1975. I agree with him that improvements are possible in the use of cladistic analysis in taxonomy, but it seems to me that his review is a bit too negative in this respect. Advances in Compositae Systematics presents studies at many different taxonomical levels, from macromorphology to molecular systematics and chemistry. The sequence of the chapters seems rather arbitrary; however, starting with a paper dealing with the origin of the Asteraceae seems very logical. In this chapter DeVore & Stuessy argue that the Asteraceae originated in late Eocene on the South America-Antarctica-Australia supercontinent. The Calyceraceae and Goodeniaceae would be families most closely related to the Asteraceae. DeVore & Stuessy used information on (pollen) morphology, present distribution, fossil records, and geology to reach their conclusions.