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Rating: 
Summary: short but 'tasty'
Review: A very nice to read and study text, with plenty of pictures and drawings, undertandable also by someone like me that reads english only from time to time... I think it is a must for all of us loving cycads and relateds, with a lot to learn. More than only an introduction to all that beauty..
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating journey to plants of yesteryear.
Review: Today's cycads are but relics of a worldwide population that flourished during the Mesozoic Era. Although superficially similar to palms, cycads are not flowering plants, and have a much more primitive structure. Many cycads have become inceasingly rare because of limited habitat and human encroachment. Only in recent years have people become aware of the great aesthetic value of cycads and incorporated them into gardens and lawns as useful, ornamental plants. This book covers the worldwide variety of cycads in encyclopedic fashion. Beginning with a distribution map, the first half of the book introduces the history of cycads, their conservation and propagation, and their biology, structure, cultivation, and economic importance. Pests and diseases are also addressed. The second half of the book addresses the different genera and species in turn, with an understandable, easily read text and good photos of each plant in its native state. The discussion covers plants in all areas of the tropics. Anyone deciding to select a different form, or forms, of cycad cannot let this book go unread. Even if the reader lives in a climate where cycad cultivation is difficult or impossible, the book is an extremely interesting read about plants the dinosaurs lived near every day. Any person with an interest in botany will treasure ths book. I recommend it very highly. NOTE: I am reviewing the 1993 edition. A revised edition is coming out in August, 2002. I will buy it immediately.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating journey to plants of yesteryear.
Review: Today's cycads are but relics of a worldwide population that flourished during the Mesozoic Era. Although superficially similar to palms, cycads are not flowering plants, and have a much more primitive structure. Many cycads have become inceasingly rare because of limited habitat and human encroachment. Only in recent years have people become aware of the great aesthetic value of cycads and incorporated them into gardens and lawns as useful, ornamental plants. This book covers the worldwide variety of cycads in encyclopedic fashion. Beginning with a distribution map, the first half of the book introduces the history of cycads, their conservation and propagation, and their biology, structure, cultivation, and economic importance. Pests and diseases are also addressed. The second half of the book addresses the different genera and species in turn, with an understandable, easily read text and good photos of each plant in its native state. The discussion covers plants in all areas of the tropics. Anyone deciding to select a different form, or forms, of cycad cannot let this book go unread. Even if the reader lives in a climate where cycad cultivation is difficult or impossible, the book is an extremely interesting read about plants the dinosaurs lived near every day. Any person with an interest in botany will treasure ths book. I recommend it very highly. NOTE: I am reviewing the 1993 edition. A revised edition is coming out in August, 2002. I will buy it immediately.
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