A WORD OF APPRECIATION

The English text of the book was read and edited line by line by Dr. Charles Jeffrey, and it was a significant progress in completing this book. Many thanks to Dr. Jeffrey for editing and for his numerous constractive comments. I owe a special word of appreciation to Dr. Ihsan Al-Shehbaz for his thorough review of the first draft of the manuscript. Victoria Hollowell has also helped me with the text. I would like to express special thanks to the Academician Rudolf Kamelin, for review the m.s., valuable comments and writing a preface.

Finally I thank my colleagues, Drs. James Solomon, Robert Magill, Peter Hoch from the Missouri Botanical Garden; Dr. Mark Widrlechner from USDA North Central Regional Plant Introduction Sta.; Boyce Tankersley from the Chicago Botanic Garden, for their support and advices. I am grateful to Dr. Peter Raven thanks whom this publication became possible.

Many other people have helped me in one way or another during the preparation of the manuscript and selecting illustrations. A partial list of them follows Drs. Zurab Adzinba, Lamara Asieshvili, Leonid Averianov, Andrey Bobrov, Olga Cherneva, Tatyana Egorova, Vladimir Evglenevsky, Rostislav and Tatiana Ionov, Galina Katenina, Ivan Krasnoborov, Jennifer Lyman, Helen Mordak, Boris Shapkov, Marina Sidamon-Eristoff, Vasily Vainagyi, Olimpiada Zakharieva. I thank them all. I am also grateful to Myriam Fica (Information Technology), Fred Keusenkothen and Peter George (Research Imaging Lab) for help with online publication as well as the volunteers, Peggy McCalpin and Robin Mayo.

Tatyana Shulkina