Few among us will have the opportunity to travel to Qatar. Yet this useful volume, limited in its geographic approach, contains many plant species found throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. At least half of the plants in the book are not native to the Arabian peninsula, but hail from the Americas, Asia, Europe, and other areas of Africa. The native plants are of interest precisely for their geographic limitation. The constituents, uses, effects, and descriptions are given for 184 medicinal plants. In addition, details on flowering period, habitat, and distribution are included, though these are limited to the plants' occurrence in Qatar. Over 250 color photographs of varying quality and clarity are included. The use section in each entry provides good quick reference data on folk and traditional use from around the world, relying heavily on secondary regional compilations. The "effects" data enumerate pharmacological data with references to primary literature. Data on constituents usually lead one to primary literature. The bibliography includes over 500 references. In addition, the book features a medical and botanical glossary, and for Arabic readers a glossary of English technical terms cross-referenced to Arabic. Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Qatar is a useful and valuable addition to the medicinal plant literature, and it should be on the shelves of every well-rounded herbal library. Article copyright American Botanical Council. ~~~~~~~~ By Steven Foster">by A.M. Rizk and G.A. El-Ghazaly. Scientific and Applied Research Centre, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. 1995. 306 pp. Cloth. $40. (Shipping to U.S. and Canada $15.00) ISBN #C:InetpubwwwrootData 99921-21-44-0. ABC BookStore #B224.p#