FLORA OF THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC VOL. I - AN INTERESTING ANACHRONISM
From: Adolf Ceska I bought the first volume (Pteridophytes to Butomaceae) of the Arctic Flora USSR when I was a graduate student at the Charles University in Prague in 1960. I was thrilled by the fresh taxonomic treatment of the Russian North and I immediately subscribed the series in the "Soviet Book" bookstore in Prague. My excitement did not last too long. Somebody pinched my copy of the Pteridophytes and the "Soviet Book" ignored my subscription. Nevertheless, with the help of my friends and booksellers like Koeltz and Scientia I managed to gather at least the most important volumes of the Arctic Flora. Some taxonomic treatments, especially those by Yurtzev and Tzvelev, are still useful and interesting. The University of Alberta Press started to publish the English translation of the Arctic Flora of the USSR and the first volume appeared last year. It contains Polypodiaceae - Butomaceae (originally published in 1960), and Gramineae (originally published in 1964). The treatment of pteridophytes is rather stale and that of grasses was superceded by Tzvelev's "Grasses of the USSR." In spite of this, the translation of the Arctic Flora should be praised since it makes this important work accessible to the broad English-speaking audience. The translation will have six volumes, the last one will appear in 1998.