Redfern Natural History Productions Limited

Pitcher Plants of the Americas - Paperback

by Stewart McPherson
ISBN: 978-0-939923-74-8
Pages: 316
Images: 244

Pitcher plants are the largest and most beautiful of the world's carnivorous plants and are viewed with fascination as objects of natural history and natural beauty by people of all ages, nationalities, and vocational callings. Pitcher Plants of the Americas is intended for a broad audience, and accordingly has been written in substantive yet accessible language, that is enhanced through the use of spectacular, high-quality color images and diagrams. The result is a visually beautiful yet informative study that provides the first complete, detailed overview of the systematics, biology, ecology, biogeography, conservation, and horticulture of the five genera of American pitcher plants (s.l.) , including three genera of true pitcher plants (Darlingtonia, Heliamphora, and Sarracenia) and two genera of carnivorous tank bromeliads (Brocchinia and Catopsis) .

The introductory chapters of this work outline the taxonomic content and groupings (by trapping methods) of carnivorous plants and briefly review the taxonomy, biology, evolutionary history, and biogeography of the American pitcher plants. The following five chapters are devoted to individual genera of the American pitcher plants and examine in detail the anatomy, habitat, ecology, trapping process, and distribution of each genus and each member species as well as many naturally occurring hybrids and selected cultivars.

The concluding chapters of Pitcher Plants of the Americas summarize the current conservational status of each family of American pitcher plants in terms of the nature and extent of habitat loss and the resulting threat of extinction, and the study closes by considering the various successful conservation approaches and initiatives which are helping to secure a bright future for these rare plants.

The strengths of this book include (1) its uniquely detailed systematic coverage of the five genera and their member species, hybrids, and cultivars; (2) the first and only comprehensive, systematic coverage of the genus Heliamphora; (3) the full-color format and 200+ spectacular photographs used to document each taxon and cultivar covered; (4) the very first published images of several species and varieties in their natural habitat; and (5) descriptions and photographs of thirty currently unnamed and largely undocumented phenotypic variants of Sarracenia.

Pitcher Plants of the Americas is up-to-date, comprehensive, focused, well illustrated, and visually beautiful. It is technically written yet is accessible to specialist and non-specialist audiences and will be a valued source of information, reference book, and spectacular overview of the group that will appeal to botanists, naturalists, ecologists, biogeographers, resource managers, conservationists, horticulturists, and gardeners-among others!
 

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