With about 2500 species distributed all around the world, the tropical family Annonaceae is among the largest families of Angiosperms, and one of the largest ones with woody species. It is well represented in the three Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana), with 140 species distributed in 19 genera. This geographic perimeter is part of the larger and more important biogeographic region of the Guiana Shield, whose floristic composition has close affinities with the Amazonian Basin. Annona, Duguetia, Guatteria and Xylopia are the most diversified in the area as well as in the whole South American continent. This volume contains an authentic and thorough taxonomic treatment of the species present in the area, according to the usual methods of taxonomy, nomenclature and classification. Not only a book for the use of specialists, it is also a user-friendly tool for all scientific purposes, thanks to a detailed general introduction including informations about the biology of the studied species, detailed identification keys in english and in french, rich illustrations such as line drawings and photographs of living plants, distributions maps and, last but not least, easy access to information hosted by botanical databases for specimens and literature. The authors are all specialists of the family or part of it, the book presents an updated synthesis of their various researches and publications.
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