Field Guide to the Palms in Papua New Guinea

by Anders S. Barfod, Roy Banka, John L. Dowe

Within Southeast Asia there are over 1000 species of palms and two centers of diversity. Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula constitute one such center. The other is the world’s second largest island, New Guinea, which is estimated to have over 300 species. Palms are generally poorly represented in herbaria mainly because they are avoided by non-specialists. Collecting palms is hard work and unless it is correctly done, the specimens will contain little information. This applies particularly to the large tree palms. The aim of the book is to stimulate interest in Papua New Guinea palms. The guide contains a multi-access key which is very flexible and easy to use even though information is sparse. It is based on 42 simple characters. All technical terms are explained in a glossary. For each of the 31 palm genera in Papua New Guinea the book contains notes on variation in form, distribution and use.

79 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2001