Braam & Piet van Wyk, Field Guide to Trees of South Africa, Ed. Struik Publishers, 1997

T

he southern African subcontinent is mantled by a wide range of vegetation types which, between them, embrace a truly astonishing variety of tree species – an estimated 1700 altogether, with another 100 or so introduced from other parts of the world and now naturalized.

The Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa describes, in clear and concise fashion, more than 1000 of the more common and accessible ones. The book has been written and designed with the non-specialist reader in mind. Species accounts are logically arranged in 43 groups based on easy-to-observe leaf and stem characters, and each species account is illustrated by at least one full-colour photograph of the plant’s most readily identifiable part or parts.

The text also touches on the practical uses of plants; supplementary features include useful notes on tree identification and an extensive illustrated glossary.

Braam van Wyk‘s early interest in the natural sciences led him to the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, where he gained a master’s degree in botany. He later joined the teaching staff of, and was awarded a doctorate by, the University of Pretoria, where he is currently Professor of Botanv and Curator of the H.G.W.J. Schweickerdt Herbarium. He has authored numerous scientific articles and papers, and the popular work Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Witwatersrand & Pretoria Region (Struik, 1988).

Piet van Wyk, no relation but also a graduate of Potchefstroom University, worked as a biologist with the Kruger National Park’s research team for three decades prior to his retirement in 1991. In that year he was awarded a Chancellor’s medal by the University of Pretoria, together with an honorary doctorate from Unisa, in recognition of his contribution to botany, nature conservation and environmental education in southern Africa. Among his published works are Field Guide to the Trees of the Kruger National Park (Struik, 1984) and Southern African Trees: A Photogruphic Guide (Struik, 1993)

Pubblicazione nella sua prima edizione stampata nel 1997 in lingua inglese, a copertina morbida lucida a colori; legatura a filo; pagine stampate su carta semi-lucida di buona qualità, con buone marginature ai paragrafi; ricchissima di  fotografie e disegni a colori.

Nuovo [il volume – probabilmente mai consultato – non mostra alcun tipi di danni, consunzioni o segni del tempo o dell’uso]