Excerpt from Plants and Their Ways in South Africa For several reasons it has seemed desirable to extend the first edition of this book into a second, and in doing so additions have been made, in some cases with considerable reluctance. Not that the first edition was by any means regarded as complete. The book was first written with a view of attracting young eyes to objects of interest in the plant world that could be enjoyed without the use of a compound microscope. In a measure the object was attained, at least sufficiently to show that a microscope was by no means indispensable for students beginning to observe plant life. When contemplating revision, suggestions were asked of young teachers, and some of them seemed to find the lack of a lesson on internal anatomy-one of the disadvantages of the former edition. In order to meet their needs a short lesson on this subject has been added, together with a more extended synopsis of the Natural Orders of South African plants. While these additions appear somewhat as excrescences to the more elementary chapters of the book, the hope is entertained that their usefulness to those for whom they have been written will justify their insertion. It is a pleasure to acknowledge gratefully my indebtedness to those who have aided me in the work of revision. Miss Alette Hugo and Miss Avrylle Bottomley have given valued assistance in pen-and-ink drawings. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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This publication provides a comprehensive and scientifically accurate guide to the best-known and most important medicinal plants, including those of special commercial or historical interest. It includes descriptions of more than 300 medicinal plants and their close relatives, with each entry summarising botanical background, geographical origin, therapeutic category, historical and modern uses, active ingredients, and pharmacological effects. Over 500 full-color photographs are included to assist in the identification of the plants.

This comprehensively updated and expanded edition of the region’s best-selling field guide to trees offers much, much more than the highly successful first edition. Fully updated text (including additional species entries) and distribution maps, numerous new photographs and a new 87-page section of full-tree photographs makes this well-loved guide even more indispensable in the field. Southern Africa has a rich variety of tree species, with an estimated 2 100 indigenous species and more than 100 naturalised aliens. Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa describes and illustrates more than 1 000 of these, focusing on trees that are the most common and most likely to be encountered. Species are logically arranged in 43 groups based on easy-to-observe leaf and stem features, and each account is illustrated by full-colour photographs of the plant’s diagnostic parts. The text also touches on the practical uses of the plants.