Compiled over 20 years, the first-ever botanical guide for the Baviaanskloof portrays the rich diversity of plant life found here.
Struik Nature publishes Douglas Euston-Brown and Magriet Kruger’s Plants of the Baviaanskloof – an insightful guide about this narrow valley of just under 200km.
The Baviaanskloof is independent botanical consultant Douglas Euston-Brown’s second home. He focuses on vegetation monitoring and conservation of natural ecosystems in wild, remote areas.
Co-owner of Zandvlakte Private Nature Reserve, Magriet Kruger, has lived in the Baviaanskloof since 1979. She loves photographing flowers and is committed to conserving the region’s natural beauty and cultural heritage.
The Baviaanskloof forms part of the Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site. Several different ecosystems meet here, with almost all of South Africa’s biomes represented. Plants of the Baviaanskloof features over 1 000 plant species. It includes detailed descriptions of each plant species with full-colour photographs, family and genus descriptions, and species counts for the area, as well as an introduction of the geology, climate and vegetation types.
Euston-Brown and Kruger hope that their field guide will stimulate readers’ appreciation of the plants that are found here, and the ecosystems in which they live. It is their dream that this book will also be used by the farmers in Baviaanskloof as a management tool for conserving and restoring natural areas.
“Knowledge of what grows on the land can only enhance our collective stewardship of the area.”
Plants of the Baviaanskloo f retails for R450 and can be purchased at any good bookstore, or online on Loot.
