Guide des Characées de France méditerranéenne

The reference monograph of French Characeae by Corillion (1957) was followed by several publications by the botanist canon successors, M. Guerlesquin and E. Lambert, but this group of evolved algae has since remained relatively unknown in French botany. Over the last few years, a renewed knowledge is being elaborated, initiating originally with the botanists of the French National Botanical Conservatory (thereafter CBN, Conservatoire botanique national) of Franche-Comté. The CBN produced a very interesting monograph (Bailly and Schaefer 2010), Guide illustré des Characées du nord-est de la France, which has no doubt played a significant role among some other CBN, especially those whose Angiosperm inventories were almost completed. Inventories of “cryptogams” – bryophytes, fungi and lichens (the latter now part of the mandate of the CBN, although not strictly plants) –, are now being developed within this network, and are now followed by evolved algae.

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Hence, the recent (2015) edition of Guide des Characées de France méditerranéenne needs to be acknowledged. It was prepared by J.-B. Mouronval, S. Baudouin, N. Borel, I. Soulié-Märsche, M. Klesczewski and P. Grillas. This is a very interesting team of both independent authors and botanists belonging to the Tour du Valat Foundation, the Syndicat mixte pour la gestion et la protection de la Camargue gardoise (Mixed Syndicate for the management and the conservation of Gard Camargue) and the Conservatoire d'espaces naturels du Languedoc-Roussillon (Conservatory of Natural Landscapes of Languedoc-Roussillon), edited by the Office national de la chasse et de la faune sauvage (ONCFS, National Office of Hunting and Wild Fauna). The 211 pages, in a 21 × 29.7 cm format, are endorsed with a solid spiral binding, which facilitates keeping the book open for easy consultation. This guide, in its first section, covers generalities on Characeae: morphology (with all the vocabulary necessary for determination), life cycle, ecology (fundamentally the water quality), role and functions, threats and conservation. This is followed by determination dichotomous keys for the French Mediterranean taxa, which are declined in five genera: Chara (the most extensive with 18 species and, for some, varieties), Nitella (10 species), Tolypella (six species), Lamprothamnium (one species) and Nitellopsis (one species), giving a total of 42 taxa. The photographs of the plants in their environment and of the morphological details are of excellent quality and facilitate significantly the use of the keys. This iconographic quality is in direct line with that of the Franche-Comté monographs, and needs to be acknowledged. The Characeae are, indeed, very photogenic green plants and the two books can convince any botanist to explore that family!

The annexes offer 38 repartition maps of the taxa in the continental Mediterranean area (excluding Corsica), distinguishing old (prior to 1980) and recent (post-1980) data, a synonymic index and a bibliography of 157 references, which will be a source of complementary openings for the users. One will regret that the references are organized by citation order in the guide rather than by alphabetic order. These two guides, one rather focused on the continental domain, the second, on the Mediterranean, should allow us to determine most of the French Characeae, with the exception, maybe, of more strictly Atlantic taxa. The guides are aimed at, and can be used by amateurs and professionals alike, CBN, consultants, naturalist associations, etc. and should help to improve rapidly the knowledge of this group in the national territory.

The Mediterranean guide can be purchased from ONCFS, Service Documentation, Auffargis, Saint-Benoît, BP 20, F-78612 Le Perray-en-Yvelines Cedex, for the very reasonable price of 12 € (plus postage fees).

Bruno de Foucault
4 chemin de Preixan, F-11290 Roullens, France
[email protected]
© 2016 Bruno de Foucault
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23818107.2016.1179589