Product Description

The Cape Region, at the southern tip of Africa, is easily among the richest centers for bulbous plants and probably the most famous. Nearly 1200 species of bulbous plants find their home there and almost three-quarters of them occur nowhere else. This first complete account of all the bulbous plants of the Cape Floral Region is an essential aid to the identification of all species presently in cultivation as well as the many others that are potentially valuable horticultural subjects. The book is richly illustrated with high-quality color photographs of more than half the species of Cape bulbs, many of which have never before been illustrated.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #720030 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 486 pages

Review
"Just before leaving for South Africa, I asked a botanist there if I should bring this book. Too late. He considered this such an important volume that he had purchased his copy as soon as it was published. After seeing the book I understood why. It is the definitive volume for anyone interested in this incredibly diverse group of South African geophytes."—Lytton John Musselman, Plant Science Bulletin, Spring 2004 (Lytton John Musselman Plant Science Bulletin )

"The authors have largely succeeded in making accessible this rich flora to the interested horticulturalist in terms that are not too complex or techinical. Highly recommended."—Paul I. Forster, Plant Systematics and Evolution, November 2003 (Paul I. Forster Plant Systematics and Evolution )

"The horticultural world owes the authors — and the publishers — a great debt of gratitude for this exceptional work."—Pacific Horticulture, Spring 2003 (Pacific Horticulture )

Just before leaving for South Africa, I asked a botanist there if I should bring this book. Too late. He considered this such an important volume that he had purchased his copy as soon as it was published. After seeing the book I understood why. It is the definitive volume for anyone interested in this incredibly diverse group of South African geophytes.Lytton John Musselman, Plant Science Bulletin, Spring 2004 (Plant Science Bulletin )

The authors have largely succeeded in making accessible this rich flora to the interested horticulturalist in terms that are not too complex or techinical. Highly recommended.Paul I. Forster, Plant Systematics and Evolution, November 2003 (Plant Systematics and Evolution )

The horticultural world owes the authors and the publishers a great debt of gratitude for this exceptional work.Pacific Horticulture, Spring 2003 (Pacific Horticulture )

From the Author
Dee Snijman is a research scientist at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town.

About the Author
John Manning was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, and has been a research scientist in the Compton Herbarium at the National Botanical Institute, South Africa, since 1989. He works at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town, one of the world's great botanical gardens and an important center for research on the African flora. Although he has studied the anatomy, embryology and seed development of plants in diverse families, including the Fabaceae, Proteaceae and Stilbaceae, he has focused his research more recently on the Iridaceae, collaborating on various research projects with Peter Goldblatt. Together they have investigated the evolution and pollination biology of the African genus Lapeirousia and the systematics, pollination systems and evolution of Gladiolus in southern Africa. John and Peter have coauthored several books, including Gladiolus in Southern Africa and various wildflower guides to the southern African flora, the most recent of which was Wildflowers of the Fairest Cape (Redroof Design and Timber Press, 2000). John is also an accomplished botanical artist and photographer; his drawings have been published in numerous books and scientific journals.

Peter Goldblatt is the B.A. Krukoff Curator of African Botany at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. Throughout his botanical career he has concentrated his attention on the Iridaceae and has shown particular interest in its African members.

Customer Reviews

Great refference book.
An excellent reference book on cape bulbs. A wealth of photo's and information. Aspects of the book are on the technical side for a layman. But worth having.Highly recomended.

A GEM OF A BOOK
As an amateur grower of Cape Bulbs I can say that this book has brought me more joy than any other on my book shelves. The 500 pages are crammed with detailed text on every bulb found in the Cape region right up to the Sundays River and the quality of the color photography is outstanding. Of course anyone who recognises the three authors names will not be surprised at the quality of this publication.

Each genus is given an overview and then all the species falling into the region is detailed, usually with a photograph. That is a total of 1 200 species - about 75% of them unique to the region!

A magnificent guide to a magnificent group of plants
The flora of South Africa is a stunning example of bio-diversity in the world. Due to a large variety of habitats many plant families have developed a wide range of species, a lot of them endemic to this region. While botanical enthusiasts worldwide focus on succulent and caudiciform plants the unbelievably rich geophytic flora of the Cape (including the orchids) is not fully discovered for cultivation yet.

The Color Encylopedia of Cape Bulbs is a wonderful approach to overcome this situation. The authors present essential information about everything concerning this topic. Their book provides a general survey of the physical and biological features of the habitats. The topics cultivation and gardening are included as well. The information given is concise and precise and a very helpful background for botanists and cultivators, too. A glossary, a key to the species, a table of synonyms and a suppliers list at the end of the book finish the bulk of basic information.

The encyclopedic part of the book offers detailed descriptions of a wide range of bulbous plants of different monocot families. It is built up following an alphabetical order of the genera which allows to quickly find a species without expert knowledge about botanical taxonomy. Specified information about habitat and cultivation is given in the genus description.The species descriptions include all necessary items and are accompanied by wonderful photographs of many of these impressingly beautiful plants. It is astonishing to see what a variety of different looking species some genera have produced, for instance Gladiolus and Moraea from the Iridaceae family.

In summary, I highly recommend this book for botanists, for travellers to the Cape region with botanical interests and for gardeners as well. When I opened the encyclopedia for the first time I was fascinated for hours. The species descriptions and pictures alone are worth the prize of this book, in my opinion! Along with Karsten Wodrich's books about the South African orchids, the Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs gives an impression of the geophytic plant treasures this region offers to all enthusiasts. And, last but not least, these books are an indispensable help to successfully cultivate them.