Books by Peter Goldblatt

Peter Goldblatt is a leading expert on the iris family, having spent his life studying its taxonomy, evolution, and biology. He is currently Senior Curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. A native of South Africa, Peter was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town in 1970. He spent forty years studying irises in South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, and Madagascar. In 1999 he was awarded the International Bulb Society's Herbert Medal. Author of many papers, Peter has written several books, including The Moraeas of Southern Africa (1996), The Genus Watsonia (1989), The Woody Iridaceae (1993), Gladiolus in Tropical Africa (1996), and Gladiolus in Southern Africa (1998). Goldblatt and John C. Manning are coauthors of The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs ( 2002) and Crocosmia and Chasmanthe (2004). In his spare time, Peter enjoys reading and traveling. John C. Manning is Senior Specialist Scientist in the Compton Herbarium, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch. Although he has studied the anatomy, embryology and seed development of plants in diverse families, including the Fabaceae, Proteaceae and Stilbaceae, he has focused his research more recently on the Iridaceae, collaborating on various research projects with Peter Goldblatt. Together they have investigated the evolution and pollination biology of the African genus Lapeirousia and the systematics, pollination systems and evolution of Gladiolus in southern Africa. John and Peter have coauthored several books, including Gladiolus in Southern Africa and various wildflower guides to the southern African flora, the most recent of which was Wildflowers of the Fairest Cape (Redroof Design and Timber Press, 2000). John is also an accomplished botanical artist and photographer; his drawings have been published in numerous books and scientific journals. Gary Dunlop is a practicing architect. He has an enthusiastic interest in a wide range of plants, with an emphasis on Asiatic, Southern Hemisphere, and woodland plants. He has put together significant collections of many unusual and neglected as well as common genera, ranging from South African sun lovers through antipodean alpines to moisture- and shade-loving plants, mostly from the Northern Hemisphere. The collections of plants provide year-round interest, with something in flower every day of the year. Gary received no formal training in botany or horticulture, other than from the most effective master, experience. His interest in gardening developed with making a previous half-acre garden from scratch, which soon become too small. He now gardens informally on a 3 -acre plot on an exposed hilltop that has relatively shallow, lightly acid soil, with intrusions of the underlying dolerite forming natural rock features. The garden is located in County Down, Northern Ireland, just above Newtownards at the northern end of Strangford Lough, where a surprising diversity of plants thrive despite, at times, the climate. His time is also spent actively researching many of the genera that he has collected, particularly those which are not well covered in horticultural or even botanical literature. He has had published a number of articles on a diverse range of plants.