Showing 1–12 of 14 results
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Systematics and conservation of African plants: proceedings of the 18th AETFAT Congress, Yaounde, Cameroon.
Artist/Author: Van Der Burgt, Xander, Jos Van Der Maesen and Jean-Michel Onana.$185.00 Add to cartAn edited volume based on the proceedings of the eighteenth Association for the Taxonomic Study of the Flora of Tropical Africa Congress held in Yaounde, Cameroon, “Systematics and Conservation of African Plants “includes one hundred research papers in separate sections on taxonomy, phytogeography, ethnobotany, and the conservation and sustainable use of African plants. Topics covered include recent advances in reproductive biology, vegetation, and Podostometaceae in Africa. A separate section on African floras reflects the present state of knowledge and progress towards our understanding and documentation of the plants of Africa.
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Monograph of the genus Genlisea.
Artist/Author: Fleischmann, Andreas.$80.00 Add to cartA complete study of the genus Genlisea (also known as corkscrew plants) – arguably the least known, but most enigmatic, and extraordinary of all carnivorous plants.
This work examines the diversity, ecology, trapping processes and relationships of all Genlisea species known worldwide. Six years in the making, this definitive study provides the first ever overview of this spectacular and extraordinary group of carnivorous plants.
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Ferns of Southern Africa: a comprehensive guide.
Artist/Author: Crouch, Neil R. et al.$60.00 Add to cartThis comprehensive guide to the ferns of southern Africa (covering South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia) throws new light on a category of plants that’s little described or featured. User-friendly and accessible, it will enable quick and sure identification of all 315 ferns known to occur in the region. The book features: a double-page spread per species with a full plate of multiple; photographs, including close-ups; informative line drawings where necessary; detailed but clear descriptions; tables that highlight differences between similar-looking species; distribution maps based on years of intensive fieldwork; and, identification keys to families, genera and species. In compiling this unique and beautiful volume, the authors travelled extensively, even finding several new species of ferns. They are all treated in this guide – some described here for the first time. “Ferns of Southern Africa” will become the standard reference book on local ferns, and will likely become sought-after Africana.
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Bitter roots: the search for healing plants in Africa.
Artist/Author: Osseo-Asare, Abena Dove.$67.00 Add to cartFor over a century, plant specialists worldwide have sought to transform healing plants from African countries into pharmaceuticals, resulting in many long and enduring conflicts. In this book, Osseo-Asare draws on public records and extensive interviews with scientists and healers in Ghana, Madagascar, and South Africa to interpret how African scientists and healers, rural communities, and drug companies – including Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Unilever – have sought since the 1880s to develop drugs from Africa’s medicinal plants. Focuses on the efforts to transform six plants into pharmaceuticals: rosy periwinkle, Asiatic pennywort, grains of paradise, Strophanthus, Cryptolepis, and Hoodia. Through the stories of each plant, we see how herbal medicine and pharmaceutical chemistry have simultaneous and overlapping histories that cross geographic boundaries. At the same time, Osseo-Asare sheds new light on how various interests have tried to manage the rights to these healing plants and probes the challenges associated with assigning ownership to plants and their biochemical components. A fascinating examination of the history of medicine in colonial and post-colonial Africa, this book will be indispensable for scholars of Africa; historians interested in medicine, biochemistry, and society; and policy makers concerned with drug access and patent rights. Also available in hardcover [stock id 36084].
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Field guide to common trees and shrubs of East Africa.
Artist/Author: Dharani, Najma.$45.00 Add to cartEast Africa boasts a tremendous natural wealth of flora – indigenous, naturalized and exotic. This updated second edition features more than 400 of the trees and shrubs that are commonly found in the region. The book is divided into four parts – trees, shrubs, palms and mangroves – with each part arranged in alphabetical order according to scientific name. The book features: species accounts describing the plants’ habitat, bark, leaves, flowers and fruit; descriptions of the species’ general and commercial applications and uses in traditional medicine; more than 1,200 photographs depicting the species, its fruit, flowers and bark; glossaries of botanical and medical terms; and, an Illustrated glossary showing flower parts, leaf shapes and leaf arrangements to clarify the terms used in the book. This invaluable guide will help plant enthusiasts identify prominent species in gardens and parks, along roadsides and in easily accessible parts of the East Africa countryside.
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Orchids and wildflowers of the Kitulo Plateau.
Artist/Author: Salter, Rosalind F. and Tim R.B. Davenport.$30.00 Add to cartThis guidebook is the first to cover Kitulo’s exquisite wildflowers and orchids. In this illustrated guide, 112 species are described from Bustani ya Mungu in the Tanzanian Southern Highlands.
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Succulent flora of Southern Africa.
Artist/Author: Court, Doreen.$60.00 Add to cartFirst published in 1981, this title has long served as an authoritative guide for academics and lay enthusiasts alike. This long-awaited third edition takes into account intervening taxonomic advances and the discovery and naming of ever more species. All information has been fully revised, updated and supplemented in line with the latest thinking, and the book has been newly designed for clarity and ease of reference. Given the phenomenal extent and variety of our region’s succulent flora, this revised version is a timely addition to the botanical literature of southern Africa.
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Field guide to the mangrove trees of Africa and Madagascar.
Artist/Author: Beentje, Henk and Salomao Bandeira.$85.00 Add to cartAll species of mangrove trees are described and illustrated with line drawings, colour photographs and distribution maps in this easy to use and detailed guide.
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Field guide to the Rattan Palms of Africa.
Artist/Author: Sunderland, Terry.$60.00 Add to cartThe first identification aid for the rattan palms of the entire continent.
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How to identify trees in Southern Africa.
Artist/Author: van Wyk, Braam and Piet van Wyk.$40.00 Add to cartWith about 1800 native species of trees in southern Africa, plus several hundred more that have been introduced, the challenge of identifying even a small portion of these is a problem for botanists and laymen alike. Most tree identification guides require one to be familiar with the family from which a particular tree comes, but the authors have developed 43 groups into which trees can be categorised, according to easy-to-observe characters, such as leaf shape and form, presence or absence of thorns or prickles, or whether or not latex is present. By utilizing their simple and logical way of looking at trees, it is possible to arrive at a likely family and, from there, to move towards positive species identification. The title starts by defining key characters, such as leaf arrangement and venation pattern, before considering secondary identification characters such as bark, seeds, fruit and flowers. Once one has an understanding of what to look for when examining a new tree, it is possible to move on to the 43 groups for a more detailed breakdown of the defining characters.
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Poisonous plants of South Africa.
Artist/Author: van Wyk, Ben-Erik et al.$80.00 Add to cartA comprehensive guide to the most commonly occurring poisonous plants in South Africa. The book includes: Detailed species descriptions of 135 poisonous plants including a description of the plant, type of toxin, potential toxicity of the plant, importance in human or livestock poisoning and poisonous ingredients and pharmacological effects.
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Photographic guide to the wildflowers of South Africa.
Artist/Author: Manning, John.$65.00 Add to cartAn easy-to-use format divides the country into three main wildflower regions, Grassland and Savannah, Fynbos and Namaqualand, grouping the species into each region.
An ingenious quick guide helps the reader to narrow down the options at a glance.
Authored and illustrated by professionals with wide experience in producing guidebooks, Wildflowers of South Africa is the key to unlocking South Africa`s wildflower heritage.
Each of the almost 900 species is illustrated and described, with information on its common and scientific names, habitat, distribution map, flowering times and local uses.
Similar species are placed together to aid comparison and the concise text highlights their differences.
DUSTWRAPPER TEXT
South Africa has a rich flora of around 19 000 different wildflower species. Several of these, especially proteas, gerberas, agapanthus and clivias, are now internationally known, while the brightly coloured flowers of freesias, nerinas, sparaxis and chincherinchees have become favourites in gardens throughout the world. Each year thousands of visitors are drawn to the spring wildflower displays that transform the landscapes of Namaqualand and the Western Cape. For those who wish to know more about South Africa?s wildflowers this very richness poses its own problems. Most flower guides cover little more than small stretches of the country and the others include too few species to be of much use.Wildflowers of South Africa aims to overcome these deficiencies. Carefully conceived to cover those wildflowers that are most likely to attract attention, this countrywide guide includes nearly 900 of the most common and conspicuous wildflowers that occur in South Africa and the neighbouring countries of Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia. The authorJohn Manning is a research botanist at the National Botanical Institute in Cape Town and is a world authority on the iris and hyacinth families. He has written or co-authored over 100 popular and scientific papers as well as seven wildflower guides. He has a particular interest in popularising South Africa?s wildflowers and has become widely recognised as an illustrator and flower photographer in the process.
