Customer Reviews

Bulbophyllums and Their Allies: A Grower's Guide

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wasn't quite sure how to rate it, and decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, as it were. I'd be tempted to give it a 3.5 because while it's very good, it's faults are rather glaring, IMO.

Coverage of species is, overall, far better than any work I know of (and certainly better than anything easily available), but there are relatively few pictures, and not a single line drawing for any of the species not pictured -- out of 550 species and hybrids mentioned, there are only 77 photos! I don't know whether that was Ms. Siegerist's doing or Timber Press cutting back on production costs, but it's a glaring gap.

I've been waiting for this book for months, and while I'm not sorry I bought it and will refer to it often, I was expecting more.

The pictures are nice. On the other hand, relatively few of the plants are pictured, and the descriptions are often too general. There's usually some detail, such as petal length, etc., but few of the flowers are described in a manner that would allow you to know what it looks like.
Some of the cultural information includes a prescription to use "nice media" or other not-so-useful text.
Most of the descriptions are accompanied by some elevation information, or at least temperature guidelines, and watering information.
I think this book is best used if you have a plant in mind, have a pretty good idea of what the flower looks like, and want to find out if you have a good chance at making it happy. Since the book isn't all that expensive, this and the pictures probably provide enough value to warrant a purchase. If the descriptions were better, this book would be a must-have.

If you want this book as a reference to your bulbophyllum collection, Yes it's. Many species described. But if you want to know how the bulbophyllum looks like, sorry it is not an answer to your inquiry. Very few pictures.

As a keen grower of Bulbophyllums and their allies I was seriously disappointed by this book. It fails as both a survey for the amateur botanist (like myself), and as a cultural manual.

The primary failing of the work is in the nonsensical approach to taxonomy taken. Either one accepts the current model of the macrogenus Bulbophyllum (In which case genera such as Cirrhopetalum, Mastigion, Trias et al. are subsumed into it); or one seeks to establish a viable alternative generic structure. This work attempts to treas a self-contradictory middle line that is extremely unsatisfactory. As an example, the genus Mastigion is recognised, yet the differences between Mastigion and Cirrhopetalum appear arbitrary and unconvincing. A more rational approach would be the recognition of genera as Megaclinium (African flattened rhachis species); Sestochilus (Indo-Asiatic/Pacific single flowered species) and so on.

Most of the photographs are of good quality, however there appears to be some confusion regarding Plate 62 (Mastigion ornatissimum). Given that members of Mastigion are purported to bear single or dual flowers, it is bizarre to observe two umbellate inflorescences. I can only assume this Plate was mislabelled. It looks more like a hybrid of Cirrhopetalum rothschildianum.

Given the taxonomic shortcomings of the work, the best that can be said of it is that it does provide some useful cultural recommendations, and provides some information on plant habitat and micro-climates. The biggest failing for someone after a cultural guide is the poor quality of the discussion of the different plant forms and modes of growth within this group. The miniature species of the Oxysepalum genus (or Section, if you prefer) are morphologically very different to Cirrhopetalum longissimum, which is in turn distinct from Sestochilus lobbii.

I can only recommend this book only as a supplement to other material on the genus. Until a sensible review of the genera/genus is carried out, works like this will sadly increase the confusion amongst orchid growers.