Mesembs of the World

I grow mesembs and this book is a great addition to my library. The book provides excellent botanical information, discusses conservation status, and includes great images of the plants and their habitats.

This book includes of detail and vibrant, sharp pictures of each mesemb in flowering and dormant states. As a novice, I can't speak to the validity of the contents. However, there is a great chart and introductory section for identifying mesembs, and the information on the climate and flowering times of each species will be useful for growing my own.

The book is very proffessional, covers a lot and have the practical tools for identification of the planes. The pictures are very good quality. When taking pictures of plants it is important to put in the picture a reference for the size (i.e. a Coin) to enable evaluation of the plant/flower size. The titles of the pictures are too small.In general it is a very good books for these plants lovers and collectors of seculants.

If I should choose one book on the group of succulent plants called mesembs, this book would probably be it! The books more than 400 pages are packed with high quality color photos of all known genera of mesembs! Not all species of course, but a good and representative number of the most attractive and interesting species.The accompaning information given on genera and species are just perfectly compact, precise and highly valuable. Whether the species are wintergrowers, grow on limestone and so on is easily aquired from the text.Read the book and be amazed by this large and diverse genus of mostly southern African plants. This book is an important source of knowledge whatever is your level of experience.

'Mesembs of the World' by Gideon Smith and others, 1998, Briza Publications, Pretoria, South Africa, is hardback and measures 17.5 x 25 x 2.8 cm and weighs 1200 grams, so is not taken lightly into the field. Nor is it a coffee-table book. It contains 405 pages: 25 of introductory sections, 354 of descriptive text opposite colour plates on right hand pages, and 25 pages of appendices including a frustrating attempt at a key to genera, and a good index.The word 'Mesembs' includes the succulent members of the plant family Aizoaceae, which include the Hottentot Fig or Carpobrotus beloved of urban garden designers because it grows no higher than ankles, smothers other plants, can be cheaply trimmed and has garish purple or yellow flowers in profusion. It is also an infernal pest when it invades delicate dune or cliff ecosystems where it has been introduced. But in its native home, South Africa, it is one of a vast array of fascinating semi-desert plants that richly reward those who take the trouble to give them more than a cursory glance.Mesembs' strange combination of diversity and conformity make them notoriously difficult to categorise and, therefore, identify. 'Mesembs of the World' admits this, and makes a brave attempt with an artificial classification that includes such terms as 'weedy', 'flat-leaved', 'tongue-leaved' (aren't tongues usually flat?) and others that obviously overlap, so keys just don't work. The attempt at a key among the appendices frequently uses words such as 'often', 'usually', 'mostly', 'rarely', 'sometimes' so is practically useless.Yet, what is the alternative to keys? This book has the courage to accept the difficulties and try to deal with them. I found that the best way to use it in the field was to read up what to look at: plant habit, shape of fruit, texture and form of leaf, detail of flower, photograph these features and then compare my images with the text and photographs in comfort back at hotel or home. Inevitably the search becomes a bit of 'flip-and-jam' (flip through the pictures and hope that you are jammy (=lucky) enough to recognise something) but it is better than not doing so. A little persistence with living plants and this book and you will be rewarded with insight into a brilliant and enthralling world that includes the famous 'flowering stones'. And you don't have to go to South Africa to enjoy mesembs -- growing them in the northern hemisphere is a major hobby.

A great addition to my growing mesembs book collection, full of information that I have already found to be invaluable.

The best small, comprehensive book I've seen. Has cultural tips as well as botanical detail. Invaluable

Brilliant book on a very specialist subject. Can't be beaten for price and detailed information

Bien ilustrado, muy completo. Las ilustraciones también están muy bien. Un buen resumen exhaustivo sobre esta familia tan extensa. Totalmente recomendable.