Author Description

The tribe Antirrhineae includes the Snapdragons and Toadflaxes and belongs to the Figwort family. It is the most distinctive tribe of the Scrophulariaceae and is treated in some classifications as an independent family. This volume is the first worldwide treatment of this plant group for almost 150 years. It draws on a database of about 4,000 plant names and more than 1,300 publications on the taxonomy of the Antirrhineae. The descriptions cover 27 genera representing 328 species, including 27 new taxa that are detailed here for the first time. Also for the first time, scanning electron microscopy has made it possible to accurately survey the highly variable seed morphology for the group, which provides a rich source of characters for testing existing classifications. In addition, new methods have been devised by the author for describing the complex morphology of the seeds. Major areas of taxonomic controversy discussed in this volume include the generic limitation and supraspecific classification of Linaria. Nearly 900 photomicrographs and line drawings of new species and subspecies illustrate the text.