78
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
It is no disparagement to either author or editor to say that the book is
made by the colour plates of Henning Anthon. These are beautiful ex-
amples of a craftsman's art which cannot be praised too highly and which
make the book a pleasure to use. All concerned in the production of this
book deserve the highest praise in giving us both a useful and a beautiful
book.
Poisonous Plants and Fungi in Colour. By Pamela M. North. Blandford
Press, 1967. 161 pages, including 80 coloured plates. 21/-.
Miss North's book is intended primarily to help people to recognise
plants or fungi which can be harmful when eaten by humans or animals.
No doubt the adept botanist or mycologist will hardly need it for identi-
fication purposes, but the illustrations and species descriptions will be of
use to the unskilled. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical information
will be of the greatest interest to everyone. Naturalists, school teachers,
farmers and countrymen will find it of considerable value in assessing the
potential danger to livestock or children from wild or cultivated flowers in
the vicinity. Undoubtedly the poisonous qualities of many very familiar
garden plants will be a surprise to many laymen.
Cases of human poisoning from eating fungi or the fruit of poisonous
flowers are relatively rare in this country, but are distinctly more common
in continental Europe, where habits of food gathering and preparation
differ from our own. It is possible that this book will prevent some cases
in the future, but it is to be greatly hoped that its publication will not
lead to a widespread "Poisonous plant scare" in the press, such as seems
to occur whenever a Thornapple is recognised.
This book, which is prepared with the co-operation of the Pharma-
ceutical Society of Great Britain is well illustrated with eighty colour
plates comprising some 250 colour photographs of plants and fungi.
The Flora of Hertfordshire. By John G. Dony. Hitchin Museum and Art
Gallery, 1967. 176 pages, 16 plates. 42/-.
Dr John Dony. already well known for his Flora of Bedfordshire
(1953), has now produced a definitive work on the flowers of Hertfordshire.
The flora of Hertfordshire has twice before been monographed, first by
Webb and Coleman (1848-9) and forty years later by Pryor. John Dony's
work, while relying on previous studies, is essentially a record of his
own painstaking field work, and that of his helpers. As such, it is a
monument to the labour of dedicated botanists, and a worthy one.
A short introduction to the history of botany of the county precedes a
quite fascinating and original series of habitat studies. The list of
recorded species occupies the major part of the book, but the listing is
restricted to the rarer or exotic species recorded. The distribution of
the common or widespread plants is presented by county maps, with
occurrences plotted on a 2 km square. This section of maps shows the
distribution of nearly 700 species.