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Regions of Floristic Endemism
in Southern Africa

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	TITLE: Regions of Floristic Endemism in Southern Africa AUTHORS: Abraham E van Wyk, Gideon F Smith PUBLICATION DATE: September 2001 Standard edition This edition will be bound in fine cloth with a hardcover with laminated French fold dust cover. ISBN 1-919766-18-9 PRICE: R 350.- Postage and packing: South Africa: R35 All other countries: R130 Order this Book [For prices and postage in South Africa, please contact umdaus@succulents.net]
SPECIFICATIONS: Book size: 230 x 297 mm (portrait), approximately 160 pages, more than 250 colour photographs. THE BOOK The extraordinary floristic diversity in southern Africa is not only one of the region's greatest natural assets, but also one of the botanical wonders of the world. Here, south of the Cunene-Zambezi Rivers, more than 10% of all vascular plants (over 30 000 species), including more than 46% of all succulents, are found on about 2.5% of the world's land surface area. Moreover, at least 60% of these species are strictly confined (endemic) to the region. It is remarkable that most of southern Africa's endemic plants are concentrated in only a few relatively small and well demarcated areas, known as Regions or Centres of Endemism. Although the existence of these Centres has been known to field botanists for a long time, most of them remain comparatively little known outside scientific circles. Over many years, the authors have carefully documented the diversity of endemic plants and now for the first time, present the results of their efforts to recognise and define areas that warrant status as Centres of Endemism. Contrary to what would be expected from a botanically rich region, large parts of southern Africa are subjected to regular and almost predictable droughts, prolonged periods of below-average rainfall and a marked seasonality in precipitation. One consequence of the general aridity of the region has been the development of succulence as a survival strategy in many plants, including a significant proportion of endemics. In addition, many of these fat-bodied plants have acquired distinct defence mechanisms that enable them to survive in this rather harsh and often inhospitable climate. The resultant peculiar forms and behaviour patterns of these plants have fascinated botanists, plant explorers and the public for many years. Whereas the classification and mapping of southern Africa's vegetation types have been the subject of numerous publications, the classification and mapping of the distribution patterns of the region's plant species (or flora) have been neglected. This book brings together, for the first time in one work, all the relevant information on most of the principal Regions and local Centres of Plant Endemism in Southern Africa.
"As Braam van Wyk and Gideon Smith point out in this valuable synthesis of the floristic data, the arid habitats of southern Africa are not as barren as one might expect of desert and scrubland generally, but are biotically among the richest habitats on Earth. They contain, for example, an incredible 45 percent or more of the succulent plant species of the world. Moreover, multiple 'hot spots' exist in southern Africa where the concentration of endemic plants is even higher. The extensive listing of the species provided here, together with an evaluation of plant endemic centres in southern Africa, is a welcome addition to the basic literature of botany and biogeography. It will undoubtedly serve to stimulate and guide future conservation efforts in one of the floristically most important and interesting regions of the world." Prof Edward O. Wilson, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, USA
THE AUTHORS Professor Abraham E. (Braam) van Wyk of the University of Pretoria has a longstanding interest in the biogeography of southern Africa and the woody plants of the region. He has established a comprehensive database of especially the plants associated with the various Centres of Endemism in the region. Professor Van Wyk has published extensively on the botany of southern Africa. Professor Gideon E Smith is Research Director of the National Botanical Institute and holds a chair in Botany at the University of Pretoria. He has studied and cultivated succulents for most of his life. Professor Smith has written numerous papers and a number of books on the southern African succulent flora. CONTENTS an informative introduction explaining some of the principles and practices of plant geography; comprehensive overviews of each Centre of Endemism, including name, history, boundaries, topography climate, geology soils, flora, evolutionary history, floristic links and conservation status; detailed full-colour maps of all the Centres of Endemism; up-to-date lists of succulents endemic/ near-endemic to these Centres; numerous examples of non-succulent species endemic/near-endemic to each Centre; a discussion of the richness of the endemic flora; descriptions of past floristic research on the Centres and opportunities for further investigations; an extensive list of literature references; a complete taxonomic index to all scientific plant names mentioned in the text; a comprehensive index to all place names, vegetation types and geological formations referred to in the text; superb full-colour photographs illustrating various landscapes as well as a wide selection of succulents and other endemic plants, including numerous rare species and species not previously illustrated, especially stapeliads, mesembs, euphorbias, aloes and caudiciforms.

UMDAUS PRESS
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Tel: 27-11-6751477, Fax: 0865041348,
E-mail: umdaus@succulents.net