Flora of Australia: Volume 16: Elaeagnaceae, Proteaceae

Volume 16 is the first of two volumes describing the family Proteaceae. It also includes the Elaeagnaceae, a predominantly Northern Hemisphere family represented in Australia by a single species.
The Proteaceae are a mainly Southern Hemisphere family of ancient origin, found from Africa, through India and South East Asia to Australia, the southern Pacific and the Americas from Mexico to Central and South America. The family's two major centres of diversity are in southern Africa and south-western Australia; the most unusual members of the family are concentrated in the rainforests of north-eastern Queensland. There are 79 genera and approximately 1700 species world-wide, of which 46 genera and about 1100 species occur in Australia (37 genera and almost all the species are endemic).
The family is a major component of the Australian vegetation, found in all but the most arid areas. In economic terms, some of the tree species provide timber; the spectacular inflorescences make many species valuable to the cut flower trade and in horticulture; and Macadamia is the source of Macadamia Nuts, one of the few commercial food crops developed from native Australian plants.
Volume 16 provides an introduction to the Proteaceae in Australia and a synoptic classification of the family worldwide as well as discussion of the affinities of Proteaceae with other plant families and within the family, morphological features, the fossil record, pollination biology and human utilisation.
Twenty authors, fifteen artists and twenty-one photographers have contributed to this volume which contains descriptions of 488 taxa in 2 families and 7 subfamilies. All taxa are keyed out and more than half are illustrated.
The remainder of the Proteaceae, about 665 species in the tribes Grevilleeae and Banksieae of subfamily Grevilleoideae, are published in Volumes 17A and 17B.