Lithops. Treasures of the Veld. (Observations on the genus Lithops N.E.Br.). With photographs by Ch. Barnhill. 2nd ed. 2010. 238 col. photogr. 156 p. gr8vo. Paper bd.

Key to this new edition with eight extra pages contains descriptions and pictures of all new taxa and cultivars since the first edition published in 1999. Also included are further pictures of those described in the first edition, 27 extra full-colour pictures at all. There are 156 pagesin this new edition, 238 pictures, mostly in full colour,and two maps. As in the first edition, the author with his usual mindstretching vocabulary and graphic writing style, unfolds the history of these little treasures; shows us the plants in habitat, a necessary step if we are to be able to understand their requirements in cultivation; illustrates their distribution; introduces us to their powers of self-hiding and enlightens us about the precipitation they receive in the wild. He also takes us in the greenhouse and advises how best to cultivate lithops, from pollinating the plants to seed-raising, from light requirements to resting the plants. With excellent photographs the reader is then treated to a profusion of lithops mugshots. The photographs are mostly taken without flowers, to have included them would have hidden the plant in many cases, but a separate section shows many of these stones richly in flower. Accompanying the photographs are descriptions, distributions and other notes for each species, including observations on any cultivars for that species.