Following a lifetime of field and laboratory study of the several thousand species of Hepaticae (liverworts) of the world, Dr. Rudolf Schuster will synthesize the morphological, ecologi- cal, and geographical data in a comprehensive classification of these primitive land plants. A projected two-volume treatment will be encyclopedic in scope, providing detailed descriptions of all recognized genera, identification keys, notes on ecology and breeding systems, and superb illustrations of vegetative and reproductive structures. Dr. Schuster's unparalleled field experience with these plants, in tropical and temperate regions of the world, provides him a unique vantage to survey the natural history and evolutionary biology of hepatics. A compre- hensive and consistent taxonomic treatment of the group will open the way for future detailed investigations of evolutionary processes and ecological specializations.
