Rhynchospora (Cyperaceae) of South Carolina and the Eastern United States

Book excerpt: Clemson University has begun an ambitious undertaking in natural history as the series title?Biota of South Carolina? indicates. This volume is the fifth in the series and the first to deal with plants. The first four volumes all deal with different groups of beetles of South Carolina and if they represent the detail found in the fifth volume about Rhynchospora, the beetles are well documented for South Carolina. The author of this volume, Patrick McMillan, is recognized as a leading expert on the genus Rhynchospora, and he has very skillfully organized his encyclopedic knowledge of this genus into what will become the standard reference for the?beaksedges? of the South Carolina and the eastern United States. This book is essential for anyone that has occasion to key a beaksedge to species but it so much more that just a key to species. It is almost everything you ever wanted to know about the Rhynchospora but were afraid to ask. The book actually answers questions that I did not know that I should be asking. The author has recently developed a television series in conjunction with Clemson University and South Carolina ETV about natural history called?Expeditions? in which he brings natural history to the interested public in such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable way that I can't understand why everyone is not studying to become a biologist. So it is not surprising that his book addressing such a specific area of plant systematics is not only interesting but very readable. - from BioOne Complete Review in Castanea, June 2008.