Families and Genera of Climbing Plants in the Neotropics

<p dir="ltr">Climbing plants, being difficult to discern, collect, and describe, are among the most poorly studied groups of vascular plants. Descriptions and collections that do exist often lack details about field characters and biology. <i>Families and Genera of Climbing Plants in the Neotropics </i>provides a basic inventory of 111 families and 735 genera of “climbers” that occur in the Neotropics. Climbing mechanisms and macro-anatomical features of stems are defined and described, so they may be used to identify families and even genera. Together with vegetative features, these characters yield keys and descriptions of climbers, even when sterile. The authors, with numerous specialists who contributed to family treatments, use standardized terminology for anatomical and biological features based on recent revisions to foster better communication among climbing-plant enthusiasts, students, and specialists.</p><p dir="ltr">Contributors: Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, James D. Ackerman, Christiane Anderson, Daniel Austin, Leonardo Biral, Joel Calvo, Marcos A. Caraballo-Ortiz, John L. Clark, Piero G. Delprete, Stefan Dressler, Christian Feuillet, Sigrid Liede-Schumann, Júlio Antonio Lombardi, James L. Luteyn, Esteban Manuel Martínez Salas, Fabián A. Michelangeli, Gilberto Morillo, Rosa del C. Ortiz, Ramona Oviedo Prieto, Marcelo R. Pace, Juliana de Paula-Souza, Paola Pedraza-Peñalosa, Marco O. O. Pellegrini, Nádia Roque, Hanno Schaefer, Marie-Stéphanie Samain, Mark T. Strong, Greg Stull, Renata G. Udulutsch, Dieter C. Wasshausen, and Kenneth J. Wurdack</p>