Flowers of Verloren Valei Field Guide
Field Guide to the orchids and selected flowers of the Verloren Valei Nature Reserve
A Field guide to the wonderful floral diversity of the Verloren Valei Nature Reserve in Mpumalanga - A RAMSAR Wetland Site. Compiled by Gerrit van Ede whose intimate knowledge of Verloren Valei and its botanical treasures makes this a must have for all lovers of indigenous wild flowers.
- 180 Plants, including 66 orchids comprehensively described with fine colour photographs of each
- Pages colour coded for easy identification
- Order now to ensure that you secure one of these Limited Edition copies
- Available from selected Dullstroom destinations
PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THIS GUIDE WILL GO TO FRIENDS OF VERLOREN VALEI TO DEVELOP THE RESERVE
Field Guide Order
Flowers of Verloren Valei Field Guide Order Form
Please make payment by EFT
Bank: Nedbank
Account: Friends of Verloren Valei
Account Number: 1122836902
Branch: Melrose Arch
Branch Code: 19660500
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The Cost per Field Guide is R200.00
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Book Review
by Elsa Pooley
Field guide to the orchids and selected flowers of Verloren Valei Nature Reserve
by Gerrit van Ede
What a great little book! I visited Verloren Valei with Frans Krige and some visiting French orchid enthusiasts last year. We spend the most amazing day with someone who knows the area and its plants intimately. We walked, paddled and drove a full day over the breadth of this amazing Ramsar site. I can attest to the success of this field guide because it illustrates and describes just about everything we saw during our intensive 1-day exploration. Calling it ‘little’ is a compliment. It means that it is easy to take along in one’s pocket or backpack and yet provides all the information you could want.
I must congratulate Gerrit van Ede for the beautifully illustrated guide with all the information one wants. The Wild Orchids Southern Africa must also be congratulated for recognising the need for such a book, for raising the money and producing a real ‘pocket’ guide which is so easy to use. To produce it within a year is also a great success story. Birds and animals are generally well served with identification guides. Verloren Valei now has a guide to enthral wild flower enthusiasts and to help open up the world of orchids for those who are just starting out.
The map is very useful, but I would recommend that anyone who wishes to explore the area, take along a guide. The only thing the book doesn’t do is to provide enough photographs of the habitats, something that a second edition might include. A vast area such as this Ramsar site, at first glance just rolling low hills and marshes, actually has a great variety of vegetation types. A first time visitor might miss the subtle changes.
I suggest that any orchid and wild flower enthusiast buy this book, whether or not you have been to Verloren Valei – and then start planning your visit. I hope to get to know the area more intimately in the years to come and to put the book to good use.out
About
Elsa Pooley
Elsa Pooley is a practical botanist whose wide ranging experience over 45 years has led her into fields as diverse as research, landscape and garden design, rehabilitation, training, botanical art and publishing. The author of best selling field guides on wild flowers and trees, she conducts specialist botanical tours in southern Africa and runs an indigenous landscaping and rehabilitation company in KwaZulu-Natal.