The bellflower Family Campanulaceae is found throughout the world, and includes a large number of species important in ornamental horticulture. For the past quarter century, Dr. Thomas Lammers has devoted his professional career to a better understanding of its relationships, classification, distribution, and evolution. In this volume, he provides a thorough accounting of the family, the first to be published since 1839. Eighty-four genera are recognized, encompassing 2319 species, 391 subspecies, and 27 named hybrids; another 8135 names are treated as synonyms. For each recognized species, subspecies, or hybrid, information is provided on its geographic distribution, life-form, and chromosome number. All this is fully documented by an encyclopaedic bibliography. As such, it is the ultimate resource from which to begin any inquiry into the family and its members.

The sedge family, Cyperaceae, is the third largest family of monocotyledonous plants. They are of significant economic importance, especially among rural communities in the tropics, where sedges are intensively used. The World Checklist of Cyperaceae is a unique resource that lists all validly published names of sedges, providing the source of their publication and indication of which names are currently accepted and which are synonyms. It will be a standard nomenclatural reference for further research into this important family.

Dioscoreales are a small but systematically and economically significant order of monocotyledons. The most diverse and important member is the yam genus, Dioscorea L., a source of dietary starch at macroeconomic to rural community levels. Other species of Dioscorea provided the chemical basis of corticosteroid drugs and oral contraceptives. Ally families comprise the unusual, largely achlorophyllous (heteromycotrophic) Burmanniaceae and the relatively unspecialised Nartheciaceae.

The World Checklist of Dioscoreales lists all validly published names of yams and their allies, providing the source of their publication and indication of which names are currently accepted and which are synonyms, making it a standard nomenclatural reference for further research into this important family.

Myrtaceae is the ninth largest flowering plant family; it is economically important in the production of timber, gums, essential oils, fruits and spices, and contains many commonly cultivated ornamentals. The family is particularly rich in large genera, often found in some of the world's most threatened ecosystems, where their fruits comprise an important part of the diet of primates and birds. The similarity of Myrtaceae species is high, and its taxonomic and nomenclatural history is complex, resulting in notorious difficulties in basic identification, inventory compilation and floristic treatment.

The World Checklist of Myrtaceae is a much needed work that lists all validly published names in the family, providing the source of their publication and indicating which names are currently accepted and which are synonyms. It will be respected as the standard nomenclatural reference for further research into this important family.