The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs

by John Manning

The Cape Region, at the southern tip of Africa, is easily among the richest centers for bulbous plants and probably the most famous. Nearly 1200 species of bulbous plants find their home there and almost three-quarters of them occur nowhere else. This first complete account of all the bulbous plants of the Cape Floral Region is an essential aid to the identification of all species presently in cultivation as well as the many others that are potentially valuable horticultural subjects. The book is richly illustrated with high-quality color photographs of more than half the species of Cape bulbs, many of which have never been illustrated before.

Hardcover

First published December 31, 2002

About the author

Dr John Charles Manning (born 1962) is a South African botanist based in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch, South Africa.

The standard author abbreviation J.C.Manning is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.

Although primarily a plant taxonomist, his wide-ranging interests include pollination biology, anatomy, evolution and speciation, and popular botany. He has written or co-authored over 200 scientific papers and several southern African wild flower guides, mostly illustrated with his photographs. He has a particular interest in popularising southern Africa’s wild flowers.

Dr Manning’s contributions to botany have been impressive and extensive, including many popular as well as professional contributions. The contribution made by Dr Manning to systematics in Southern Africa has been of huge significance over many years, in terms of their scientific papers and curation of African herbarium collections in South Africa and North America.

Reviews

[Alison F]

If you're interested in unusual bulbs, prepare yourself for a serious case of plant envy when reading this classic book. Even at 486 pages & all 1200 species of bulbs & their allies, it covers only the south-western Cape of South Africa, i.e. the winter rainfall area, so many of the plants are suited to southern Australia. Sadly, few of them are available here. Despite southern Australia having a similar climate, we have very few native bulbs.

There are photos of over half of the plants described, many of which have never been illustrated before, & all were taken in the wild, so conditions would not have been easy. My only complaint is that there are harsh shadows in some of the photos, which makes discerning details difficult.

The text is knowledgeable & comprehensive, as one would expect from THE experts in the field, & includes descriptions, habitat & flowering time. The introduction has chapters on the ecology of the species in the wild & on cultivation. A keyed appendix permits identification of all species.