Mesembs

In Little Sphaeroid Press's series Mesembs, every horticulturally desirable split-rock species will be illustrated in color and given a complete historical, ecological, and horticultural treatment, most for the first time. Eight planned volumes, penned by mesemb expert Steven Hammer, will appear on a 12 to 18-month schedule and be individually compact and affordable.

Titles are arranged by evolutionary relationships: similar plants are grouped together to allow the reader to gain insight into the dynamics of the family’s evolution by drawing comparisons and contrasts from both ecological and horticultural perspectives. Such an arrangement affords each volume a manageable number of species, with each taxon receiving a page or two of text and photos. Such an arrangement also makes the books affordable. Each new 120-160-page, full-color, hardback volume will appear on an 18-month schedule.

Other mesemb groups (the shrubs, the groundcovers, the few aspiring trees) would also benefit from a similar treatment, and many groups – indeed most – are still radically under-studied. Little Sphaeroid Press hopes that this project will spur further research and expand in scope to include all the mesembs – and a wider array of authors.

A brief description of each book’s horticultural highlights is presented on the following pages, including an outline the genera to be covered in each volume and a list of the genera from each proposed natural group that will not be covered, but which may appear in later offerings.