Pteridologist' Volume 3 part 4, page 104, 1999.

NOTEWORTHY FERNS OF THAILAND. T. Boonkerd. Chulalongkorn University Press,Thailand, 1996. CD ROM. Recommended price 1,500 Thai Baht (approx. US$ 40)

Treat yourself to a dream of a fern holiday in Thailand with this multimedia presentation in English designed for a 486 (or higher) PC running Windows 3.1.

A nine minute animated demo introduces the potential of the first multimedia CD or electronic textbook to be produced by Chulalongkorn University, based on the author's 20 years experience of ferns. The team are to be congratulated on their work.

This work will introduce the student to the life cycle of ferns and the variety of form, the novice horticulturist to propagation techniques and the fernophile to the diversity of ferns to be found in Thailand. There is a map showing the choice ferny places to visit, and a brief introduction to the phytogeography of mainland SE Asia. A library of splendid colour plates of 120 species of ferns are accompanied by text of family, scientific name, common name, Thai name and a description. This library comprises all the genera, but only about one quarter of the species of the Thai fern flora, thus providing an excellent overview. Point-and-click word definitions link the text to the comprehensive glossary.

Conservation and uses of ferns are also covered, and a good bibliography is included.

There is not a key at any level to the different ferns, and fern allies are not included.

Those captivated by book publications on Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the Philippines will be equally enchanted by this offering and pressure will surely grow for a BPS Excursion to SE Asia.'

Josephine Camus
Department of Botany
Natural History Museum
UK