Plant Collectors in Angola. Botany, Exploration, and History in South Tropical Africa. 2024. (Regnum Vegetabile). illus. 354 p. Hardcover.

For any region, cataloging, interpreting, and understanding the history of botanical exploration, plant collecting, and the preserved specimens that were amassed as a result are critically important for research and conservation. In this book, published in cooperation with the International Association for Plant Taxonomy, Estrela Figueiredo and Gideon F. Smith, both botanists with expertise in the taxonomy of African plants, provide the first comprehensive, contextualized account of plant collecting in Angola, a large country in south-tropical Africa. An essential book for anyone concerned with the biodiversity and history of Africa, this authoritative work offers insights into the lives, times, and endeavors of 358 collectors. In addition, the authors present analyses of the records that accompanied the collectors’ preserved specimens. Illustrated in color throughout, the result fills a serious void in the current knowledge of the botanical and exploration history of Africa.