Vojtĕch Holubec and Pavel Křivka, The Caucasus and its flowers, Ed. Loxia, 2006

T

he Caucasus and its Flowers by Vojtĕch Holubec and Pavel Křivka, published in the Czech Republic, is a comprehensive and lavishly illustrated rendering of the spectacular flora in one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots. It is a revelation, something we have never seen before. The Caucasus mountain range is over 900 miles long and up to 85 miles wide as it stretches across Iberia from the Black to the Caspian seas, separating Georgia and Azerbaijan from Russia.

For the first time we can admire the unique wildflowers of the Caucasus in all their glory and diversity in their dramatic natural settings. Produced by two talented and committed field botanists during their vacations over more than a decade, this masterwork is not only filled with prizewinning photographs of the mountains and their flowers (that have never been accessible before), but it also devotes some 73 of its 390 pages to concise “historical, geographical, ethnological, ecological and climatological” information on the Caucasus “not found in any other book in English, nor on the world wide web”.

«The Caucasus and its Flowers reflects years of devotion by its authors to exploring this most striking of mountain ranges in its entirety and capturing its wildflowers at the height of their bloom. Their achievement enables those of us unlikely to follow in their footsteps to enjoy these natural wonders for the first time and to the fullest extent.

The book is directed mainly at lovers of mountain flora and growers of rock garden plants. There are cultivation notes, therefore, at the end of descriptions of relevant species. This horticultural viewpoint played a very important role in the selection of species for inclusion.
Some genera, which can be considered typical alpines or which are often cultivated in (alpine) gardens, are represented by an almost complete set of their Caucasian species (Saxifraga, Primula, Crocus, Draba, Daphne, Rhododendron, Pedicularis). Less decorative and taller 6 stemmed genera and families are represented by a lower proportion of species or are not included at all (Crambe, Heracleum, Chenopodiaceae, Polygonaceae, Juncaceae, Cyperaceae etc.). The main limitation factor was naturally availability of photographic material. In spite of a large number of friends and colleagues who cooperated by providing us with a lot of pictures from their visits to the Caucasus and Transcaucasia, we have not succeeded in getting pictures of all the selected species taken in the wild. Pictures of plants from botanical gardens and private collections were used in several cases, therefore. At the same time we discovered what a large number of species of the Caucasian flora is in cultivation as ornamental plants! We did not find pictures of several species we wished to include for their uniqueness or importance.
In these cases, we have included a drawing or a photo of the herbarium sheet (Epigaea gaultherioides, Iris atropatana, Muehlbergia oweriniana etc.)»

Prima Edizione, pubblicata da Loxia [Repubblica Ceca] nel 2006, a copertina rigida in tela verde scuro, con titoli dorati al piatto e al dorso; rilegata a filo; stampata su carta patinata di buona qualità; corredata da numerosissime fotografie e disegni a colori anche a tutta pagina; dotata di sovracoperta lucida fotografica a colori.

Come Nuovo [il volume non mostra danni strutturali, strappi, segni, mancanze o usure gravi che vadano evidenziate; legatura snodata e robusta; copertine rigide pressoché intatte; sovracoperta in ottimo stato, con minimi segni di vissuto e leggerissime opacità da sfregamento; coste ancora luminose; ingiallimento delle pagine ridottissimo].