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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Beautiful pictures, but the text is rather superficial, 21 Dec 2001
By A Customer
Proteas are the national flower of south Africa, and with good reason. Their beauty is legendary, and they are becoming increasingly popular as cut flowers. However, many species are threatened in the wild because of the combined effects of agricultural pressure and specialised habitat requirements.This book has an ambitious title, for not only does it aim to cover the 80 odd Protea species, but also related - and equally beautiful - genera such as Leucadendron, Leucospermum and Serruria. The first thing that strikes you is the photographs. I can honestly say that these are breathtaking - there is not one duff picture in the whole book (well, OK, maybe one, but this is of a species that has been extinct for 30 years). They made me want to jump straight on a plane to South Africa. Accompanying this is a text that describes the origins of the Proteaceae, the different habitats in which they live, and their interaction with fire, animals and man. What drags this book down is the text. These are such a fascinating and poorly known group of plants, that I wanted to know more. Time after time I found the text leading me down an interesting path, only to move on to a different subject over the page. I suppose it's unreasonable to expect such high quality images and a detailed text onn such a large subject for [this price], but it's frustrating nonetheless, especially when more detailed references are so scarce. Overall though, this is quite a minor gripe. If you love Proteas, or just love beautiful pictures of plants, this is a fine book. It will certainly make you want to learn more / grow Proteas / emigrate to South Africa (depending on your personality).
***** for the images, *** for the text.
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