Splendour of Succulents & Cacti

Ball, Caroline
Splendour of Succulents & Cacti

Splendour of Succulents & Cacti

Ball, Caroline

$34.99

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Succulents, especially cacti, are the current focus of serious ecological studies but also the darlings of designers and style influencers. Their endearing, characterful looks have given them the status of trendy 'plant pets'.

But succulentomania is not new. While these plants have always been part of the landscape in the dry vastnesses of the Americas, Australia and Africa, curiosities such as furry-flowered stapeliads and serpentine euphorbias were a source of fascination for early European plant collectors - and in eighteenth-century Bavaria a prosperous apothecary grew an 'American aloe' that astounded all who saw it.

This apothecary, Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, was the mastermind behind a groundbreaking book in which he aimed to include thousands of plants from all over the world, describing their individual characteristics and commissioning magnificent colour illustrations of each specimen. The succulents he featured are reproduced here in all their splendour. We may no longer look to them to treat gangrene, manufacture glass or disperse kidney stones, but succulents are proving of great interest to modern medicine and agriculture, and we can marvel at them afresh not only as wonders of nature but also as works of art.

Author:   Ball, Caroline
Publisher:   Bodleian Library
ISBN:  

9781851245970


Pages:   144
Publication Date:   15 March 2023
Bind Format:   Hardback
Availability:  
This item is in stock and will be dispatched immediately.

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Succulents, especially cacti, are the current focus of serious ecological studies but also the darlings of designers and style influencers. Their endearing, characterful looks have given them the status of trendy 'plant pets'.

But succulentomania is not new. While these plants have always been part of the landscape in the dry vastnesses of the Americas, Australia and Africa, curiosities such as furry-flowered stapeliads and serpentine euphorbias were a source of fascination for early European plant collectors - and in eighteenth-century Bavaria a prosperous apothecary grew an 'American aloe' that astounded all who saw it.

This apothecary, Johann Wilhelm Weinmann, was the mastermind behind a groundbreaking book in which he aimed to include thousands of plants from all over the world, describing their individual characteristics and commissioning magnificent colour illustrations of each specimen. The succulents he featured are reproduced here in all their splendour. We may no longer look to them to treat gangrene, manufacture glass or disperse kidney stones, but succulents are proving of great interest to modern medicine and agriculture, and we can marvel at them afresh not only as wonders of nature but also as works of art.

Product Details
Author:   Ball, Caroline
Publisher:   Bodleian Library
ISBN:  

9781851245970


Pages:   144
Publication Date:   15 March 2023
Bind Format:   Hardback
Availability:  
This item is in stock and will be dispatched immediately.
Reviews

Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!