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Members of the iceplant family, Aizoaceae, are appreciated by many people and disliked by some. Farmers value the plants for their browsing stock, hobbyists like to grow and flower mainly the "stone plants" of the family, and tourists enjoy the mass flowering of millions of annuals after good rains in the south western part of South Africa. Only taxonomists show some reservation against members of the Aizoaceae because of the size of the family and the confused and entangled systematics of many groups. For all groups of users, this book will offer some improvements. A worldwide web has been knitted among hundreds of interested people resulting in the pro duction of this lexicon. As a consequence of the expanded collaboration over five continents, innumerable new results can be presented here, including many new delimitations of genera as well as new combinations and names of species. All conclusions are based on thousands of days spent on field work, thousands of original literature references inspected, thousands of herbarium sheets studied, thousands of scanning electron microscopic pictures compared, thousands of photographs taken, and thousands of taxonomic decisions made. As a result of all united efforts, an up-to-date survey of the state of the art can be presented, forming the basis for further research in the family and providing a challenge to every reader to add his special knowledge towards an improved second edition.
List of contents
Aizoaceae.- References.- Colour Plates.
Summary
Members of the iceplant family, Aizoaceae, are appreciated by many people and disliked by some. Farmers value the plants for their browsing stock, hobbyists like to grow and flower mainly the "stone plants" of the family, and tourists enjoy the mass flowering of millions of annuals after good rains in the south western part of South Africa. Only taxonomists show some reservation against members of the Aizoaceae because of the size of the family and the confused and entangled systematics of many groups. For all groups of users, this book will offer some improvements. A worldwide web has been knitted among hundreds of interested people resulting in the pro duction of this lexicon. As a consequence of the expanded collaboration over five continents, innumerable new results can be presented here, including many new delimitations of genera as well as new combinations and names of species. All conclusions are based on thousands of days spent on field work, thousands of original literature references inspected, thousands of herbarium sheets studied, thousands of scanning electron microscopic pictures compared, thousands of photographs taken, and thousands of taxonomic decisions made. As a result of all united efforts, an up-to-date survey of the state of the art can be presented, forming the basis for further research in the family and providing a challenge to every reader to add his special knowledge towards an improved second edition.
Additional text
From the reviews of the first edition:
"This series is a reference manual for taxonomists and horticultural cognoscenti. It compiles up-to-date information not readily available from other sources … . This series is invaluable to identify succulents, by either picture keying … or by formal text keying. … The volumes are well produced. … this is an excellent series, a significant contribution to the literature, and a superb production. … This fine series is a boon to all aficionados of succulents … ." (Rudolf Schmid, Taxon, Vol. 52, 2003)
"Current studies of Aizoaceae … collectively amount to several thousand pages of insight, prescience, hard-won data, and metaphor. Condensing this rich and troublesome legacy into a handbook was a massive task, which could only have been marshaled by Dr. Heidi Hartmann. … the black and white graphics … are beautifully done. The books are well-bound … . The work as a whole will become an indispensable reference for anyone with a serious interest in these seriously and wonderfully peculiar plants." (Steven Hammer, Plant Systematics and Evolution, Vol. 232 (3-4), 2002)
"The Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants, published under the supervision of the IOS (International Organisation for Succulent Plant Study), aims to provide a comprehensive up-to-date lexicon of all succulent plants … . two ponderous volumes dealing with the family Aizoaceae have now appeared. … we can only confirm the positive judgement expressed on the first volume of the series. An enormous mass of knowledge is packed and organised in the Handbook, producing an impressive data bank and undoubtedly a standard reference for future research." (Lino Di Martino, Cactus & Co., Vol. 6 (2), 2002)
Report
From the reviews of the first edition:
"This series is a reference manual for taxonomists and horticultural cognoscenti. It compiles up-to-date information not readily available from other sources ... . This series is invaluable to identify succulents, by either picture keying ... or by formal text keying. ... The volumes are well produced. ... this is an excellent series, a significant contribution to the literature, and a superb production. ... This fine series is a boon to all aficionados of succulents ... ." (Rudolf Schmid, Taxon, Vol. 52, 2003)
"Current studies of Aizoaceae ... collectively amount to several thousand pages of insight, prescience, hard-won data, and metaphor. Condensing this rich and troublesome legacy into a handbook was a massive task, which could only have been marshaled by Dr. Heidi Hartmann. ... the black and white graphics ... are beautifully done. The books are well-bound ... . The work as a whole will become an indispensable reference for anyone with a serious interest in these seriously and wonderfully peculiar plants." (Steven Hammer, Plant Systematics and Evolution, Vol. 232 (3-4), 2002)
"The Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants, published under the supervision of the IOS (International Organisation for Succulent Plant Study), aims to provide a comprehensive up-to-date lexicon of all succulent plants ... . two ponderous volumes dealing with the family Aizoaceae have now appeared. ... we can only confirm the positive judgement expressed on the first volume of the series. An enormous mass of knowledge is packed and organised in the Handbook, producing an impressive data bank and undoubtedly a standard reference for future research." (Lino Di Martino, Cactus & Co., Vol. 6 (2), 2002)
