Khomentovsky integrates his own field studies into reports of others into the ecology in northeast Asia and the peninsula of the tree that was recognized as a separate species about 140 years ago but has been of little interest to foresters until the past few decades. He looks at taxonomic position, range, and relations in the boreal forests of the northern hemisphere; its place in the plant cover of the target region; its formation in Kamchatka in the Late Cenozoic; morphology and seasonal development, and the development of communities. He has not prepared an index. Distributed by Enfield. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)