Title: The southern African Plectranthus and the Art of Turning Shade to Glade, by Ernst van Jaarsveld
Author: Ernst van Jaarsveld
Illustrator: Vicki Thomas
Publisher: Fernwood Press
Cape Town, South Africa 2006
ISBN 1874950806 / ISBN 1-874950-80-6
ISBN 9781874950806 / ISBN 978-1-874950-80-6
Hardcover, dustjacket, 24 x 31 cm, 176 pages, throughout colour photos and illustrations
Good. Marginal traces of usage.
The indigenous Plectranthus genus from the Southern African forests and savannahs are among the gems of our local flora that are commonly known as spurflowers. Closely related to the sages, mints and basils of the Mediterranean, spurflowers have undergone extraordinary evolution in South Africa, where their numbers have exploded. The majority are forest dwellers, but a good many have developed ways of coping with conditions ranging from cold and wet to extremely hot and arid. This, the first major work on these beautiful plants, surveys the discovery and naming of Plectranthus and includes an account of the author's own travels in search of them. Their cultivation is discussed in detail, and the chapter on indigenous shade gardening contains a wealth of ideas for companion plantings. A section on distribution and ecology highlights their adaptability and their mechanisms for survival. The main part of the book deals with the 55 known species within Southern Africa (plus two from outside), all of which have been illustrated by Vicki Thomas from live specimens.
Foreword by Dr. L. E. Codd
Aknowledgements
Intrtoduction
The history of Plectranthus
Searching for Plectranthus
Plectranthus in the garden
The indigenous shade garden
Plectranthus cultivars and their breeding potential
Distribution and ecology
The genus Plectranthus in Southern Africa
Key to the Southern African Plectranthus species
Distribution maps
Bibliography
List of synonyms
Glossary
Index