"The present authors have devoted a total of 50 years to the study of grasses, and present here the first complete reworking of the Gramineae at generic level since 1883 ..."--Preface.

Archaeobotanical studies constantly encounter the carbonized grains of grasses, cultivated and wild, but the vast diversity of wild species that are potentially present has made identification of archaeological material fraught with difficulties. This volume provides an invaluable tool for mastering these difficulties. Based on years of laboratory study of an extensive reference collection, this book gives expert guidance for the identification and interpretation of grass seeds, focusing on those species that occur in the Near East and Europe.

An examination of the domestication of grasses and cereals over the last ten thousand years.

2008 NOMINEE The Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Annual Award for a Significant Work in Botanical or Horticultural Literature now we have easier and better access to grass data than ever before in human history. That is a marked step forward. Congratulazioni Professor Quattrocchi!-Daniel F. Austin, writing in Economic Botany &n

Driven by the increasing necessity to define the biological diversity frame of widespread, endemic and threatened species, as well as by the stimulating chance to describe new species, the study of the evolutive and spatial dynamics is in constant execution. Systematic overviews, biogeographic and phylogenic backgrounds, species composition and distribution in restricted areas are focal topics of the 15 interesting independent chapters collected in this book, chosen to offer to the reader an overall view of the present condition in which our planet is.