Customer Reviews

Guide to the aloes of South Africa

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

 

 

This is a truly outstanding book for South African Aloe enthusiasts of any level from beginner to expert. The authors recognized an obvious vacuum in the literature on growing, collecting, and conserving South African Aloes, and this work deftly bridges the gap between peer reviewed botanical journals and elementary field guides. The book brings together information on plant characteristics, distribution, habitat, cultivation, uses, name etymology, and endangered status. Each species description occupies 2 facing pages with textual content on the left and 1 or more excellent photos of plants in habitat on the right. The content, format, and style harmonize to make this book hard to lay down. It is well worth its modest ...price. Highly recommended.

A good book for both beginner and expert. It puts the aloes in 10 groups, from Tree Aloes to Grass Aloes with detailed desciptions of most aloes. It does not, however, have aloes from anywhere but South africa...but that is the only falt I can find with it.

The first thirty pages cover various aspects of the genre Aloe from cultivation, propagation, pest and diseases, to various uses under about ten different headings in all. The main part of the book covers the plants divided into categories according to growth habit or appearance. The book includes a list for Further Reading and an Index of Plants.

The main section devoted to the plants allocates a double page spread to each species, with a description on the left page which includes details of the plants distinguishing characteristics, habitat and distribution, conservation status, name derivation and any further notes; there is also a map showing its distribution. The right hand page offers colour photographs of the plant in habitat, usually three photographs, sometimes more, very occasionally less. In total there are over 400 colour photographs which show either the whole plant or details such as a close-up of flowers or leaf.

The Aloes of South Africa is a most comprehensive study, and seems to cover almost all the aloes one is likely to want to grow, in total 125 species.

This guide is very well written, complete, with very good illustrations.
Provides usefull informations.
Strongly suggested!!

If you like aloes, then this is your book! Well-written and illustrated. Unfortunately, you might want to find it used as it is fairly costly.