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Become a Member! - online application form
Membership provides the following privileges:

• Four issues of the Society's journal ALOE annually.
  Articles in the journal range from popular information on the cultivation of the succulents to scientific descriptions of new succulent species. Colour photos of plants in habitat are included in each issue. The illustrations are helpful in the identification of plants, both in collections and in the veld. The journal has already attained international status and is highly esteemed among succulent enthusiasts all over the world. Being an international journal the language used is English. More info & free copies...
• Four or more issues of the newsletter KAMBROO annually.
  In this newsletter activities of the Society and its branches as well as other matters which are of interest to members are made known. Members have, for instance, the opportunity to swop plants and seed.
• Regular information on outings, meetings, shows, visits and plant rescue expeditions.
• The opportunity to meet members with similar interests and to make friends, both locally and all over the world.
• The opportunity to make a contribution towards the improvement of the knowledge of succulents and towards their conservation.

How to join the Society?
Apply to the address below, or fill in our online application form.
Membership fees

• South Africa SAR 160.-;
• All other Countries $48 or 40 Euro

are payable in advance and membership is for a calendar year. Members joining during the year receive all issues of the journal ALOE and tbe newsletter KAMBROO published during the year of joining.
The council of the Succulent Society invites you to become a member of the Society.

OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Society are to promote knowledge, the cultivation and conservation of succulents and to make a contribution to the protection and conservation of all indigenous flora and their habitat by:

• Co-operating with authorities and other bodies with the same objectives.
• Supporting research on succulents financially and otherwise.
• Providing information and issuing publications.
• Establishing a reference library.
• Establishing and developing a botanical garden
• Re-establishing flora in its natural habitat.
• Participating in conservation of plants and their habitat.
• Making available cultivated seed and plant material.
• Donating indigenous flora for cultivation in public gardens, parks and spaces.
• Organising excursions, exhibitions and lectures.

In general, performing any function or activity on a discerning and organised basis towards observing and promoting the objects of the Society.

The Society publishes the journal ALOE that appears quarterly. Articles in the journal range from popular information on the cultivation of the succulents to scientific descriptions of new succulent species. Colour photos of plants in habitat are included in each issue. The illustrations are helpful in the identification of plants, both in collections and in the veld. In the journal emphasis is placed on plants from Southern Africa, the rest of Africa and Madagascar, although succulents from the rest of the world also feature regularly. The journal has already attained international status and is highly esteemed among succulent enthusiasts the world over. Being an international journal the language used is English.

Information is also distributed amongst members by way of the regular newsletter called KAMBROO (a vernacular name of a number of succulents like Fockea and Raphionacme). In this newsletter activities of the Society and its branches as well as other matters which are of interest to members are made known. Members have, for instance, the opportunity to swop plants and seed. An established reference library, specialising in publications on succulents and related plants and named in honor of Dr. G W Reynolds, famous for his pioneering work on Aloes, is available in Johannesburg.

To give members an opportunity to build up plant collections without endangering plants in nature, pure seed is made available to members. Expeditions are also undertaken to areas where plants are being destroyed due to development. These plants are then re-established in gardens or other suitable areas. The collections are carried out under the supervision of Nature Conservation departments who issue the necessary permits.

A number of branches in various cities and towns in South Africa take care of the interests of local members and attend locally to matters such as conservation. Regular slide shows, plant exhibitions, visits to members' gardens and collections, outings to the veld and other meetings are organized by the branches. Information and advice on cultivation of succulents plays an important role at meetings at which there is also ample opportunity to socialize and make friends.

Every three years the SSSA holds it congress, these have always been very popular and a great success.

INTRODUCTION
Succulents may be described as plants which are adapted to store water in their leaves, branches or stem bases in order to be able to survive long periods without water. These succulent storage organs led to their descriptive name in Afrikaans: vetplant (fat plant). As can be expected, most succulents are found in arid parts of the world, although some are also adapted to grow in areas with a high rainfall.

Southern Africa is one of the most succulent rich areas in the world. Of the world's approximately 10,000 succulent species, nearly half originate from Southern Africa. World-wide there is a tremendous active interest in the succulents of the region.

There are a number of reasons for the interest succulents enjoy among plant- and nature lovers, gardeners and botanists. The ability to survive in the most hostile environment, the fascinating growth forms and spectacular flowers which occur amongst these plants, the fact that the plants can be transplanted fairly easily and can in the most instances grow happily for weeks and even months almost care free, all lead to the special interest succulents enjoy.

From the viewpoint of conservation there is also enough reason to devote special attention to succulents. A delicate balance exists in the habitat of most of these plants. A slight disturbance of this balance may seriously endanger their survival. Many succulents are also endangered because they are much sought after collectors' items, which leads to the illegal removal of plants from the veld.

The South African Aloe and Succulent Society was founded in 1963 when a few succulent enthusiasts realised that Southern Africa's succulent richness and the wide interest in the plants necessitated a society having as its aims the conservation of these plants and the making available of both information on succulents and the plants themselves. In 1988 the name was shortened to the Succulent Society of South Africa.