Description
The first new handbook of seed testing and taxonomy in more than 50 years, Seed Purity and Taxonomy replaces The Handbook of Seed Testing as the most complete and up-to-date resource of information available on seed identification and seed taxonomy. Seed Purity and Taxonomy contains a comprehensive listing of seeds along with approximately 3,000 black-and-white drawings, photographs, and computer-scanned images of species most likely to be encountered in seed testing laboratories in North America. Internal morphological features of different family groups are also included. These images are complemented with detailed descriptions and numerous dichotomous keys that will help in making definitive identifications.
The book also presents a useful how-to approach to many seed testing procedures, and purity testing of each species is discussed in a way that is intended to provide useful information about purity testing issues. The material is arranged in order of nongrassy monocotyledons, grassy monocotyledons, and dicotyledons, which are arranged alphabetically by family, genus, and species. It also includes identification features of the seed itself, and a general background about the species—its origin, distribution, culture, production, and use—which are intended to help seed laboratories efficiently serve their customers. Cited symbols are provided in all of the seed lists, indicating whether the species are considered to be crops, vegetables, herbs, or weeds in North America.
This book is an indispensable resource for beginning and experienced seed analysts, seed industry personnel, students, and others interested in seed testing and seed identification. While it provides the most comprehensive resource available for seed analysts, Seed Purity and Taxonomy will also be of value for botanists, taxonomists, agronomists, and anyone interested in seed taxonomy and identification.
About the Author
Doris Baxter retired in 1982 as Officer-In-Charge of the USDA Federal Seed Laboratory in Sacramento, California. Throughout her long career she was active in all aspects of seed testing, but specialized in purity testing and taxonomy associated with seed testing. After many years of conducting federal seed testing workshops for purity analysts across the United States, she wanted to pass on her expertise in purity testing to successive generations of analysts, thus, the origin of this book. Doris earned her Master of Arts degree in botany from the University of Michigan.
Lawrence O. Copeland is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University.