Reviews Microscopic Preparation Techniques for Plant Stem Analysis

IAWA Journal Reviews34 (4), 2013: 510–511 510

ReviewS Microscopic Preparation Techniques for Plant Stem Analysis. Holger Gärtner & Fritz H. Schweingruber, 78 pp., colour illustrations, 2013. Kessel Publishing House, www.forestrybooks.com, www.forstbuch.de. ISBN 378-3-941300-76-7. Price: EUR 22.00 (paperback). This book is a treasure trove of practical methods and techniques to sample and prepare stems and roots of trees, shrubs, climbers and herbs for microscopic observation. The authors have chosen to be brief on text and rich on illustrations in this “cook book” for beginners, as they qualify this manual in the preface. Thus in a concise manner, the reader is guided through sampling of live or dead plant parts, collection and preservation, sectioning and maceration, fixation, bleaching, staining, mounting of sections on permanent or temporary slides, labeling and storing, preparation errors (with very useful hints), and microscopic observation. Unlike the often cited classical microtechnique handbooks which mostly recommend embedding and subsequent sectioning, all methods presented here are for unembedded plant parts either directly clamped in microtome knife holders, or flanked by cork, pith, carrot of styrafoam (see also Schweingruber 2012b). All techniques described are well tested in decades of experience in the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Birmensdorf, Switzerland, and taught with great impact at the international anatomical courses organized by the authors. The specially designed WSL-Core microtome, and the lightweight but very handy GLS1 bench microtome with all their practical advantages are introduced as well as the WSL modification of the classical Reichert Microtome, together with their knife holders for disposable blades. In addition to wood and bark from plants collected in the wild, due attention is paid to charcoal (Schweingruber 2012a) and subfossil material as well as decayed wood, plywood and textile fibres. Many of the practical methods described in this book are refreshingly simple and effective. Though mostly developed by the authors themselves, several must be the result of parallel evolution, because the “master technicians” in the old centres of plant anatomy, such as the Jodrell Laboratory in Kew, UK, used very similar techniques when I was trained there in the nineteen sixties. I have only two critical notes: in the very useful sections on sampling and collecting the authors fail to recommend the collecting of herbarium vouchers, and the use of a unique iden- tifier of the samples (i.e. collector plus collector’s number). These are essential for future reference and for revisiting species identifications which can be notoriously unreliable. Another comment is that for the prevention of bloodshed among beginners, I would never recommend two-sided Gilette razorblades (as pictured on p. 21), but the much safer single- edged GEM scientific razor blades. Far from being only useful for beginners, this new manual deserves pride of place in all laboratories where plant anatomy is pursued in botany, forestry, archaeology, dendro- chronology or wood science. The hard copy is well worth its modest price, and an electronic version is even freely available on the web. References: Schweingruber FH. 2012a. Microtome sections of charcoal. IAWA J. 33: 327–328. Schweingruber FH. 2012b. Microtome sectioning of small plant stems without embedding. IAWA J. 33: 457–460. Pieter Baas

Atlas of the Gymnosperms Woods of China (in Chinese and English). Jiang Xiaomei, Cheng Yeming, Yafang Yin et al., 490 pp., illus., 2010. Science Press China (www. lifescience.com.cn). ISBN 978-7-03-026138-0. Price: EUR 120.00, USD 171.60 (hardback). This atlas of the gymnosperm woods occurring in the wild or cultivated in parts of China describes and pictures the wood anatomy of c. 120 species and some varieties in 38 genera belonging to 9 families. Apart from the preface and integral Chinese translation of the IAWA Softwood List (2004) at the end of the book, the other text is both in Chinese and English, which makes this atlas a very welcome source of detailed microscopic information on numerous gymnosperms (Ginkgo and Conifers) that are poorly known outside China. The book starts with two introductory chapters, one on gymnosperms in general, and a second one on wood anatomical attributes and their diagnostic value. The main body of the atlas comprises treatments of individual genera and species, each illustrated with a plate of six micrographs – usually of very high quality – of TS, RLS and TLS at two different magnifications each, and a distribution map of the species’ occur- rence in China. For each species an anatomical description following the codes of the IAWA Soft- wood List is given, in addition to information on the tree and its distribution, general wood characteristics, minute anatomy, physical and mechanical properties (often separately for several provenances), machining properties, and uses. In their taxonomic treatment the authors follow a conservative classification, probably identical to that of the Flora of China. Thus Taxodiaceae are recognized although the case for their inclusion in Cupressaceae is now generally accepted, and the genus Sabina Mill. (part of Juniperus) is upheld, but this does not detract from the value of the book. I compared the coded descriptions of the “Taxodiaceae” with some information from other literature sources, and found several discrepancies, which probably indicates greater infraspecific variation rather than errors of observation. The only real criticism I have is that the English translation is rather poor here and there. However, on the whole the authors should be commended for this excellent and very useful book. Pieter Baas

Wood Anatomy News and Association Affairs Readers are referred to IAWA Newsletter no. 2 (communicated by e-mail and posted on the IAWA Web page) for important information on IAWA Meetings, possibilities to change IAWA membership packages, the I.W. Bailey Award, and other news items of interest to wood anatomists.