Mesembs of the World.

405 Seiten, durchgegehnd farbig illustriert, mit Verbreitungskarten.

Briza Publications, Pretoria. ISBN 1-875093-13-3.

Book Review:

Comprehensive books on the Mesembryanthemaceae have been unavailable for a long time, and this book certainly fills a need. The last book to treat all the genera in the family was Hans Herre's The Genera of the Mesembryanthemaceae, published in 1971 and out of print for many years.

The impressive list of authors reads like a Who's Who in Mesembs, and it is immediately obvious that a lot of work went into the book.

The introductory chapters include The Magic of Mesembs, Distribution and Ecology, Conservation, Uses of Mesembs and Cultivation, all very useful chapters. The real "meat" of the book begins with a chapter on How to Identify the Mesemb Groups, in which 14 groups are identified, beginning with the Weedy mesembs and continuing with Flat-leaved mesembs, Flowering Stones, Tongue-leaved mesembs, Rough-leaved mesembs, Tooth-leaved mesembs, Tufted mesembs, Bead-leaved mesembs, Mat-forming mesembs, Dwarf shrubby mesembs, Glittering shrubby mesembs, Lampranthus-like shrubby mesembs, Ruschia-like shrubby mesembs and Leipoldtia-like shrubby mesembs.

The fourteen groups are then treated consecutively, the genera within each group being listed alphabetically. For each genus is given the derivation of the name, common names, description, distinguishing characters, flowering time, distribution and ecology (with a map), cultivation, notes, number of species/subspecies/varieties, species list and conservation status and literature. One or more pages of colour illustrations of some of the species form an essential part of the description. There are 16 pictures for Conophytum, 19 for Ruschia, 24 for Lampranthus and 17 for Lithops, to name but a few.

Finally there is a list of publications for Further Reading, a Key to the Mesemb Genera, and an Index.

This book contains everything about Mesembs which most of us will ever want to know, although the specialist may have wanted to see more. This is a popular treatment, however, and it certainly the best source on the Mesemb family available at this time. The authors are to be congratulated on an immense effort resulting in a very useful book for the lover of succulent plants.
Francois Steffens