by Christophe Wiart (University of Malaya, Malaysia)

This invaluable book provides a readable, introductory text to the fascinating subject of drug discovery from the medicinal plants of Asia-Pacific. A carefully designed layout presents more than 400 medicinal plants, and includes description of compound structure, molecular properties, pharmacology and clinical uses. With its broad scope and extensive compound listings, this is a premier reference source for natural products research using a pharmacological approach. Starting from a collection of plants in the rainforests of Asia-Pacific, Wiart shows how the present state of knowledge fosters a whole new way of looking at the discovery of drugs from medicinal plants.

Wiart uses his approach to deal with a remarkable array of fundamental problems: from the phylogeny of plants, to the molecular basis of activity, limitations of phytochemistry, and the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of ethnopharmacology.

Written with exceptional clarity, and illustrated by more than 300 original pictures and 400 chemical structures, this seminal book allows scientists and non-scientists alike to participate in what promises to be a major intellectual revolution.

• Class MAGNOLIOPSIDA Cronquist, Takhtajan & Zimmermann, 1966, the Dicotyledons:Subclass MAGNOLIIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass HAMAMELIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass CARYOPHYLLIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass DILLENIIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass ROSIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass ASTERIDAE Takhtajan 1966
• Class LILIOPSIDA Cronquist, Takhtajan & Zimmermann 1966, the Monocotyledons:
  • Subclass ARECIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass COMMELINIDAE Takhtajan 1966
  • Subclass ZINGIBERIDAE Cronquist 1978
  • Subclass LILIIDAE Takhtajan 1966