When Rolf Dahlgren and I embarked on preparing this book series, Rolf took prime responsibility for monocotyledons, which had interested him for a long time. After finishing his comparative study and family classification of the monocots, he devoted much energy to the acquisition and editing of family treatments for the present series. After his untimely death, Peter Goldblatt, who had worked with him, continued to handle further incoming monocot manuscripts until, in the early 1990s, his other obligations no longer allowed him to continue. At that time, some 30 manuscripts in various states of perfection had accumulated, which seemed to form a solid basis for a speedy completion of the FGVP monocots; with the exception of the grasses and orchids which would appear in separate volumes. I felt a strong obligation to do everything to help in publishing the manuscripts that had been put into our hands. I finally decided to take charge of them personally, although during my life as a botainst I had never seriously been interested in monocots.

When Rolf Dahlgren and I embarked on preparing this book series, Rolf took prime responsibility for monocotyledons, which had interested him for a long time. After finishing his comparative study and family classification of the mono cots, he devoted much energy to the acquisition and editing of family treatments for the present series. After his untimely death, Peter Goldblatt, who had worked with him, continued to handle further incoming monocot manuscripts until, in the early 1990s, his other obligations no longer allowed him to continue. At that time, some 30 manuscripts in various states of perfection had accumulated, which seemed to form a solid basis for a speedy completion of the FGVP monocots; with the exception of the grasses and orchids which would appear in separate volumes. I felt a strong obligation to do everything to help in publishing the manuscripts that had been put into our hands. I finally decided to take charge of them personally, although during my life as a botanist I had never seriously been interested in mono cots.

Volumes III and IV of this encyclopaedia provide a novel classification of the monocotyledons, a group encompassing plants of most diverse life-forms such as aquatics, terrestrial and epiphytic herbs, and tall trees. Of the 106 families now recognized 104 are treated in the two volumes, while the economically or horticulturally important grass and orchid families are relegated to two subsequent volumes. The classification followed here is based on recent molecular studies as well as on the vast body of information available on this plant group. The wealth and precision of information, but also the keys for the identification of genera and details on their properties, including distribution and diversification, make this work an important source for both the scholar and the practitioner in the fields of pure and applied plant sciences..

Volumes III and IV of this encyclopaedia provide a novel classification of the monocotyledons, a group encompassing plants of most diverse life-forms such as aquatics, terrestrial and epiphytic herbs, and tall trees. Of the 106 families now recognized 104 are treated in the two volumes, while the economically or horticulturally important grass and orchid families are relegated to two subsequent volumes. The classification followed here is based on recent molecular studies as well as on the vast body of information available on this plant group. The wealth and precision of information, but also the keys for the identification of genera and details on their properties, including distribution and diversification, make this work an important source for both the scholar and the practitioner in the fields of pure and applied plant sciences..

This two-volume set dedicated to Rolf Dahlgren (1932-1986), contains 31 papers presented at an international Monocotyledons conference: Systematics and Evolution symposium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1993. The conference addressed systematics, mainly at family level and above, with the aim of encouraging a new classification.