Taxon Volume 21 Issue 1 1972 [Doi 10.2307%2F1219250] -- Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the...

8/11/2019 Taxon Volume 21 Issue 1 1972 [Doi 10.2307%2F1219250] -- Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungiby G. C. A

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Ainsworth &Bisby's "Dictionary of the Fungi" by G. C. AinsworthTaxon, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Feb., 1972), pp. 179-180Published by: International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1219250.

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2/3

more

comprehensive,

Plant Variation

and

Evolution

of

1969,

and

Solbrig's

Prin-

ciples

and

methods

of plant

biosystematics

of 1970

(the

two latter books

surpris-

ingly

not

noted

in

the

bibliography).

The

main title

does

full

justice,

however,

to

the

emphasis given

to the nature

and

origin

of variations in

plants

which is

under-

standably

taken as

the

basic theme to

elaborate

the fundamental

principles

of

mod-

ern biosystematics and, on this basis again, of general systematics. The

general

characters

of variation

are

discussed

in

the

first

part

of

the

book,

their

origin

in

the

second;

the

third

part

deals

with

speciation,

taxonomic units and with

the meth-

ods

of

plant taxonomy.

The

methods

of

classical

taxonomy

are

dealt

with in

two and a half

pages, biosystematic

methodology

is

dealt

with in 10

pages,

of

which

about

half deal

with

numerical

taxonomy.

These

figures

show

that

the meat

of

this

book will

not

be

found

in

the much too brief

discussion

of

the

systematic

methodology

in

general,

but

indeed in

the

processes

of

variation and

speciation

as

they

have become known

in the

course

of

the

last

forty

years. Cytological

and

ge-

netical

data and

theories

are

described

in

some detail

in so far

as

they

are of

basic

importance

for

modern

systematics.

The

text

is

mainly

directed towards

students

but will be read with advantage by all those whose taxonomic training took place

in an era in which

biosystematics

played

a

lesser

role.

AINSWORTH

AND BISBY'S

DICTIONARY OF

THE

FUNGI

G. C.

AINSWORTH,

insworth

&

Bisby's

Dictionary of

the

Fungi.

Sixth edition.

Including

the

Lichens

by

P. W.

James

and

D. L.

Hawksworth.

Commonwealth

Mycological

Institute,

Kew,

Surrey,

1971.

631 pp.,

16

plates,

121/2

x

181/2

m, buckram,

price

?

5.oo,

US

$

13.oo00.

The

new

Ainsworth

and

Bisby

differs

considerably

from

the

previous

(fifth)

edi-

tion

even

at

first

sight:

it

is

much

more

bulky.

The

total

number of

pages (630)

constitutes

an

increase

of

some

200/0

over

that

of

the

1961

edition. The

most

imme-

diately apparent

addition to the contents

is

the inclusion of

the

lichens;

the

most

striking change

in

general

is that

in

price:

?

5.00

now

against

?

1.50

(30 s)

in

1961.

Before

any

potential

user

voices his

protest

against

the increase in

price,

how-

ever,

he

should

read

the

preface.

This

is,

admittedly,

a

curious

advice:

prefaces

are

usually

read

only

by

reviewers,

but

the interested user

will

now learn

that

the

price

reflects

truthfully

the

great

changes

effected since

the fifth

edition. The first

edition

of

the

Dictionary

was

published

in

1943.

For

the four

subsequent

editions

standing type

was

used,

a

procedure

limiting

the

cost

noticeably,

but

also

limiting

the authors with

respect

to revisions.

After the fifth edition

the

type

was dis-

persed,

and the

present

edition therefore

differs

from the

earlier ones in

many

aspects.

The taxonomic

framework

is

now

basically

that

of the

general

purpose

classification proposed by Ainsworth in 1966, the lichens are included (a major

step

forward), many

names

of

fungal

metabolites

are

included,

and

many

of

the

major

entries

have been rewritten

entirely.

The

present

reviewer can

hardly

be

called

a

mycologist

but has even

so

made

extensive use

of

the

previous

editions.

Dr.

Ainsworth

states

in

his

preface

that

Prof.

J.

Webster

was

possibly

the

only

person

who had read

the

whole

text

of

the

fifth

edition,

in

addition

to the

printer

and

the

author.

I

can

assure

him

that the

working group

on

Index

nominum

genericorum

in

Washington

has come

close to

doing

likewise,

although

this holds

admittedly

mainly

for

the

names

of

taxa and

to a

lesser

extent

for

the

general

and

terminological

entries.

Even

so,

the

overall

impression

has

been one of admiration for

the

amount of information

compressed

in

the

book and for the

high degree

of

reliability.

General

praise

for

Ainsworth

and

Bisby

is

really

superfluous:

the success of the

book,

the sixth edition

reached

within

thirty years,

its

very general

distribution

throughout

the

world,

not

only

among

professional

biologists

but

also

outside

those esoteric

circles,

are

sufficient

evidence

of

the

merits

of

the

book.

I

shall therefore refrain from

describing

its

general

contents,

well known

after

all,

and leave

the

specialized

criticism

to

my

my-

cological colleagues.

The

many non-mycological

users

of the book

will

find

it

to

be

not

simply

a

technical

compendium

of

names,

taxonomic

assignments

and

terms,

FEBRUARY

972

179

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3/3

but

-

especially through

its extensive

general

entries

-

an admirable

intro-

duction

to the

knowledge

of

fungi

and a

reference

book

of

inestimable

value.

One or two remarks

on

some

of

the

general

entries.

The

major

entry

on

Fungi

now

discusses

the recent

support

for

the

view

that the

Fungi

constitute

a

separate

king-

dom,

and

accepts

in

general

the

five-kingdom system

of

Whittaker. Ainsworth

adds as a consolation that this should cause little inconvenience to traditionalists.

The

Dictionary

is faithful

to

the

circumscription

of

the

Kingdom

Fungi

in

this

mod-

ern sense

by

excluding

the bacteria

(incl.

actinomycetes)

and

by including

the

myxomycetes

and cellular

slime moulds.

With

respect

to

the

taxonomic

classification of

the

fungi

here

adopted,

most

noticeable

is the

fact that

the

Phycomycetes

are

no

longer recognized.

The

Divi-

sions

recognized

in

the

Kingdom

are

Myxomycota

and

Eumycota,

the latter

with

the subdivisions

Mastigomycotina, Zygomycotina,

Ascomycotina, Basidiomycotina

and

Deuteromycotina (Fungi imperfecti).

The lichens

are

treated as

a

separate

series

The

entry

on numbers

of

fungi

now

contains

a

detailed

list

of

numbers

of

genera

and species; the total number of accepted genera is 5.100, 4000 names are re-

garded

as

synonyms;

the

number

of

described

species

is

estimated to

be 45.000. The

average

number

of new

species

of

fungi

described

per

year

now

exceeds

1.000;

whether

or

not

we

shall ever

know

the total number

of

existing fungi

(100.000,

250.000

species)

becomes

a

moot

question:

many

of

them will

be

extinct

(destruc-

tion

of

habitats)

before man can

recognize

them. The number of lichen

genera

stands at

circa

500

(750 synonyms),

of

species

still at

18.000.

It

would be

tempting,

if

time

and

space

allowed,

to

quote

further

from

the

in.

formative

general

entries.

These

examples,

however,

may

suffice

to show

that

the

Dictionary

of

Fungi

is

not

a

mere

list

of

names

but

a

storehouse

of

information.

THE GENUS FUSARIUM

C.

BOOTH,

he

genus

Fusarium.

Commonwealth

Mycological

Institute,

Kew

Surrey,

Eng-

land

1971,

237

pp.,

5o

figures,

20

plates,

15

x

241/2

cm, buckram,price

?

3.00,

US

$

7.80.

Fusarium

species

are

widely

known as

plant

pathogens,

as

spoilage

organisms

in stored

products,

and

in other

economically negative

aspects.

A

profound

know,

ledge

of

the

group

can be obtained

only through

time-consuming

cultivation.

My-

cologists

as

well

as

a

wide

group

of

applied

biologists

will be

grateful

for the

ap-

pearance

of

this book. The number

of

species

names

published

for

the

genus

num-

bers

around

1000.

The

study

by

Booth,

based

on

an

exceptionally

wide

range

of

cultivated

specimens

obtained

over

many

years

from all

parts

of the

world

shows

that the synonym to correct name ratio is extremely high in this case. In The genus

Fusarium

the

author

recognises

approximately fifty

species

and

varieties,

admitting

that there are

undoubtedly

others

which he

has

not

seen,

but

expressing

as

his firm

conviction

that

this

number

will be

nowhere

near

the

number of

published

names.

A

better

knowledge

of

the life

cycles

of

the

various

species

has

shown

that

various

stages

(micro-

and

macroconidial

forms)

were

often

described

as different

species;

often

the

taxonomic

synonymy

is caused

by

the

description

of

putative

new

species

by

authors not

fully

aware

of

what had

already

been done in

the

field,

but

most

common

is the

fact

that

a

new

species

was

described

simply

because the

fungus

was

found

on a

new

host.

After a brief historical introduction

the author

provides chapters

on

methods

of

isolation,

culture and stimulation

of

sporulation,

on

preservation,

and on Fusarium

nomenclature.

As

far

as

his

nomenclature

is concerned

the author

admits that

in

a

genus

like

Fusarium,

with

scanty

or

no

type

material

at

all

it is

in

many

cases

almost

im-

possible

to follow

the rules

of

nomenclature

in all

details. Too

many

of

the

old

names

cannot

be

identified

with

certainty,

and

even

if,

with

modern

methods,

such

identification is

now

necessary

it results

almost

invariably

in

confusing

name

changes.

One can

therefore

sympathize

with

his

decision

to

follow

what has

become

180

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