Native and Non-Native Hedges, Borders, Hedgerows, Lawns and Carpet Beds for Prince Edward Island
Native and Non-Native Hedges, Borders, Hedgerows, Lawns and Carpet Beds for Prince Edward Island
Field Guide to the Orchids of Europe and the Mediterranean
An updated, comprehensive guide to the orchids of Europe and the Mediterranean region. Field Guide to the Orchids of Europe and the Mediterranean: Second Edition is a comprehensive photographic guide to the orchids of the region written by leading experts, who between them have decades of orchid field and research experience. The book covers orchids from Europe and the Mediterranean, extending to Turkey and the immediate near east of North Africa and Macaronesia. Many guides to orchids of this region exist, but in this completely revised second edition, the authors have drawn on the latest scientific research to bring clarity to orchid identification and names, with an emphasis on the natural variability that exists in many wild species. This edition incorporates the latest updates in taxonomy. With over 2000 color photographs and new images, the book provides the reader with an accessible and easy-to-use identification guide to the natural variability seen in these orchids. The book covers thirty genera and their species including Ophrys, Cypripedium, Orchis, Dactylorhiza, Epipactis, and Serapias, as well as seventy natural hybrids. Much of the confusion over identification is due to the morphological variation a species can have within a habitat and across its distribution, and therefore to simplify identification, several images accompany each species to illustrate this diversity, along with notes on distinguishing features and distribution maps. Each species is also accompanied by common names and important synonyms, as well as notes on habitat, flowering times, and distinguishing features.
Restoring the Wild
Drawing on the latest botanical science and opinion, and real-world practical knowledge, this richly illustrated practical guide is essential reading for anyone interested in creating and restoring species-rich meadows and wild vegetation, whether it is a garden, woodland, field, urban space or simply to gain a greater understanding of the history and renovation of Britain and Ireland's rich and diverse meadows - an intrinsic part of our natural and cultural heritage. In this book, the UK's leading wild meadow seed producer, Donald MacIntyre, provides expert advice on all areas of the creation, restoration and management of meadowland, including a directory with detailed accounts of the 220-plus species for habitat restoration and creation in the British Isles."Donald's generosity in sharing his knowledge through this inspiring and practical publication will enable wider production of good quality seed to support and enhance biodiversity whether in wild areas, meadows, farmland, urban parks and gardens, and along transport routes". -- Sara Oldfield OBE
The Lost Orchid
The forgotten story of a decades-long international quest for a rare and coveted orchid, chronicling the botanists, plant hunters, and collectors who relentlessly pursued it at great human and environmental cost. In 1818, a curious root arrived in a small English village, tucked--seemingly by accident--in a packing case mailed from Brazil. The amateur botanist who cultivated it soon realized that he had something remarkable on his hands: an exceptionally rare orchid never before seen on British shores. It arrived just as "orchid mania" was sweeping across Europe and North America, driving a vast plant trade that catered to wealthy private patrons as well as the fast-growing middle classes eager to display exotic flowers at home. Dubbed Cattleya labiata, the striking purple-and-crimson bloom quickly became one of the most coveted flowers on both continents. As tales of the flower's beauty spread through scientific journals and the popular press, orchid dealers and enthusiasts initiated a massive search to recover it in its natural habitat. Sarah Bilston illuminates the story of this international quest, introducing the collectors and nurserymen who funded expeditions, the working-class plant hunters who set out to find the flower, the South American laborers and specialists with whom they contracted, the botanists who used the latest science to study orchids in all their varieties, and the writers and artists who established the near-mythic status of the "lost orchid." The dark side of this global frenzy was the social and environmental harm it wrought, damaging fragile ecologies on which both humans and plants depended. Following the human ambitions and dramas that drove an international obsession, The Lost Orchid is a story of consumer desire, scientific curiosity, and the devastating power of colonial overreach.
