Gladiolus in Tropical Africa.1996. 41 col.photogr. 321 p.gr8vo.Hardcover.

Covers all 82 species, including 26 species renamed and introduced to science by the author.

Gladiolus is one of the largest genera of the horticulturally important plant family Iridaceae. Despite the horticultural importance of Gladiolus, the species in tropical Africa have received little attention and have remained poorly known until now. This book is a comprehensive, well-illustrated account of the 82 species - one third of the species in the genus - that occur in tropical Africa. Of these 82 species, 26 have been described as new to science and named by the author.

Peter Goldblatt's Gladiolus in Tropical Africa is the result of more than five years of field, laboratory, and historical research. This research, conducted in the course of a lifelong study of the genera of the iris family, brings order to the heretofore fragmentary and confused state of knowledge about members of the genus in the heart of its geographical range.

The book includes detailed information about the discovery of tropical African Gladiolus species, the etymology of their names and a complete account of their synonyms, the morphology and anatomy of the plants, their geographical distributions and habitats, their relationships, and other aspects of their biology, including ecology and ethno-botany.