First Field Guide to Succulents of Southern Africa

Information at a glance through superb photographs, maps and easy-to-read text
Manning, John
22028
In stock
new
€9.95 *
First Field Guide to Succulents of Southern Africa

Author: John Manning
Struik Publishers
Cape Town, 2001
ISBN: 1868726010
Soft cover, 11x16 cm, 56 pages, may colour photos


Publisher’s note:

These natural history guides have been developed in the hope that young people and anyone with a budding interest in natural history will take up the challenge to learn the secrets of southern Africa's fascinating fauna and flora.

They are an invaluable resource for the beginner, providing information at a glance through superb photographs, maps and easy-to-read text. It comes in a handy pocket size and is easy-to-read - suitable for the beginner naturalist. Each species is photographed.

John Manning is a research botanist at the National Botanical Institute in Cape Town and is a world authority on the Iris and Hyacinth families. His diverse research interests include the evolution and pollination biology of South African plants.

Dr Manning has written or co-authored over 100 popular and scientific papers and is a regular contributor to diverse natural history magazines.

He has a particular interest in popularizing southern Africa's wild flowers and has become widely recognized as an illustrator and flower photographer. He is the author of nine southern African wild flower guides, many of them illustrated with his photographs. He is also co-author of Gladiolus in southern Africa (1998), Cape Plants: a conspectus of the Cape flora of South Africa (2000) and the Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs (2002).


Example:

Stoneplant
Lithops ruschiorum
Mesemb Family
African names: Beeskloutjie (Afr)

Identification: Dwarf succulents up to 5 cm high, usually forming clumps. The leaves are reduced to a single pair that are joined together for most of their length, flattened on top and separated by a slit.

The body is cone-shaped, firm and highly succulent, and the tops of the leaves are beautifully mottled. The daisy-like flowers are produced from the gap between the leaves and are 20-25 mm in diameter. Numerous narrow petals are bright yellow. The numerous stamens are clustered in the centre. The fruits are five-sided.

Succulent type: Leaf succulent.

Where found: On gravelly patches along the coast of southern Namibia.

Flowering time: July to August.

Notes: Very difficult to detect in the wild when not in flower. Most of the plant body is buried and only the tops of the leaves protrude above the surface. Well-camouflaged by their mottled markings, which often match the colours of the surrounding pebbles. Each pair of leaves lasts only a single season, and the withered remains of the old leaves form a protective skin around the replacement pair, which burst out at the start of the next growing season. Stone-plants are widely cultivated by succulent specialists throughout the world.

Status: Local. Endemic.


Index:

Baboon's Toes 27U
Baines' Cyphostemma 38D
Bitter Aloe 16D
Buckbay Vygie 26D
Butterbush 36D
Candelabra Tree 54D
Cape Carrion Flower 47D
Cape Speckled Aloe 14D
Cobweb Haworthia 11D
Collared Ruschia 23D
Common Candlebush 40D
Coneflower 20D
Coral Senecio 29D
Devil's Trumpet 45D
Dog's Ears 33D
Elephant Bush 30D
Elephant's Foot 9D
Giant Carrion Flower 46D
Halfmens 43D
Hoodia 44D
Ice Plant 18D
Impala Lily 42D
Kalanchoe 35D
Krans Aloe 15D
Lesser Candelabra Tree 53
Medusa's Head 51
Partridge Aloe 13
Prickly Pear 55
Prickly Pelargonium 41
Quiver Tree 17
Red Treasure 31
Scarlet Dew Flower 24
Scentbottle 32
Showy Lampranthus 22
Shrubby Bulbine 10
Silver Stoneflower 19
Sjambokbush 28
Sour Fig 25
Stoneplant 21
Striped Carrion Flower 49
Tongue-Leaved Gasteria 12
Vegetable Football 50
White Lady 34
Wineskin Cyphostemma 39
Yellow Butterbush 37
Yellow Carrion Flower 48
Yellow Milkbush 52