Saunders’ Field Guide to Gladioli of South Africa, by Rod and Rachel Saunders and Fiona C. Ross

Saunders’ Field Guide to Gladioli of South Africa, by Rod and Rachel Saunders and Fiona C. Ross. Penguin Random House South Africa. Imprint: Struik Nature. Cape Town, South Africa 2021. ISBN 9781775847618 / ISBN 978-1-77-584761-8

Saunders’ Field Guide to Gladioli of South Africa, by Rod and Rachel Saunders and Fiona C. Ross. In about 2012, Rod and Rachel Saunders began what was to be the last project of their extraordinary botanical lives - a quest to find and photograph every known species of Gladiolus in South Africa.

The search took them to archives and books; to experts, gardeners, guides and researchers; and to mountains and plains throughout the sub-region. Sometimes the plants were easy to find, well known, prolific and easy to identify. Other times, they were more elusive. Occasionally they had to wait long periods - until after a fire perhaps, or until they happened to be in a place when conditions were just right. At times, plants were no longer to be found in the locations in which they had previously been recorded. Owing to human impacts such as agriculture, mining, grazing and urbanisation, some locations had changed beyond recognition. Extracts from some of the emails we found in Rachel's notes are telling. In one emailed exchange she comments: The problem with these plants is not only do we have to find them, but then they need to be in flower. And of course, the flowering time depends on rain, weather, fires etc. But I don't need to tell you all this as you know! Last year we went to Mpumalanga and Limpopo province about six times and still missed some of them. With fuel at R12 a litre, it becomes rather expensive as well as time-consuming.' More than time-consuming, the Saunders' passion fuelled expeditions and enthusiasms, a wide web of fellowship and a deep commitment to further recording this elegant genus of plants. In February 2018, returning from a film-making trip in KwaZulu-Natal, Rod and Rachel were abducted and murdered. By then, they had found and photographed all but one of the known Gladiolus species they had been seeking. Although their laptop and notes have never been recovered, there is a partial record of their search, including a photographic collection, email correspondence, handwritten notes, jotted notes about locations or the right person to consult about specific species, scrawled directions and phone numbers. Offering these remnants, the Saunders' family asked close friends of the couple to complete their field guide project. Matt Wolfe compiled an archive from various electronic back-ups; John Manning and Peter Goldblatt generously answered my questions and those of the editorial team, as they had done for Rod and Rachel; Pippa Parker of Struik Nature enthusiastically supported publication; and Natalie Bell and the design team at Struik carefully crafted this book. Drawing from the Saunders' archive, Goldblatt and Manning's magisterial and exquisite monograph Gladiolus in Southern Africa, and subsequent publications, and through monies raised from donations across the world, we have completed the work Rod and Rachel began. The book you hold is the result. Rod and Rachel's passion for southern Africa's wild spaces, for botany, and for the Gladiolus genus in particular, has left the world with an extraordinary legacy. This book is part of it, but by no means all of it. Their expeditions generated thousands of photographs of gladioli alone, including species that had not been seen in generations. Some of the images help to fill the gaps in published knowledge and to demonstrate the extraordinary diversity of this beautiful genus. Their work may assist scientists to figure out the relationships between gladioli and their environments - other plants, soils, climatic conditions and pollinators, and the ways that these have interacted with human incursions. [...]

Fiona C. Ross is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cape Town. She established the Saunders Guide Trust to ensure the completion of the Saunders' project. Drawing on their extensive archive of botanical writings and photographs, she compiled this comprehensive guide.

Saunders’ Field Guide to Gladioli of South Africa, by Rod and Rachel Saunders and Fiona C. Ross

Title: Saunders’ Field Guide to Gladioli of South Africa
Authors: Rod Saunders; Rachel Saunders; Fiona C Ross
Editors: John Manning; Peter Goldblatt
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Imprint: Struik Nature
Cape Town, South Africa 2021
ISBN 9781775847618 / ISBN 978-1-77-584761-8
Softcover, 15 x 21 cm, 383 pages, throughout colour photos