A Fragile Eden

by Wise, Rosemary

• ISBN13: 9780691048178
• ISBN10: 0691048177
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-04-01
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

This is an extraordinary book, filled with beautiful full-color illustrations of some of the world's most unusual plants. It transports readers to a band of ancient and remote islands located a thousand miles off the coast of Africa. These islands, the Seychelles, have been geologically isolated for more than seventy million years. They include the only islands in the world that are formed of granite. In their long isolation, the native flora of these thirty-two granitic islands remained untouched until the late eighteenth century. Since then, however, inroads have been made in their natural environment by human settlement, by the introduction of cinnamon and its rapid spread over many of the islands, and by present-day tourism. Slowly these fragile plants have been overrun and many are now endangered.Most of the plants first described one hundred years ago are still found today, but many are becoming increasingly rare. Some cling to existence with only a few specimens to be found, often in remote locations. In 1985 the Oxford University Biological Expedition to the Seychelles studied the vegetation on several of the islands. Rosemary Wise, the department's artist, was asked to accompany the expedition. She became alarmed that the rapidly disappearing species might go unrecorded and made it her mission for the next ten years to paint all of the endemic flora in their natural habitat. She has written an accompanying text (with a contribution by Malcolm Coe) to describe this unique flora.The Seychelles are home to plant species found nowhere else. Perhaps the most famous is the "double coconut" (Lodoicea maldivica), a photogenic tree that has become synonymous with the islands. The illustration of this unique palm, like all of the illustrations contained in the book, was painted from firsthand observation. The large format, superb printing, and informative descriptions of A Fragile Eden allow the reader to appreciate the author's obvious passion for these plants. The book will appeal to a wide audience, including professional botanists, ecologically-minded travelers, and anyone who enjoys tropical plants or botanical art.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD	xi	(2)
SIR GHILLEAN PRANCE, F.R.S.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS	xiii
Introduction	3	(5)
The Biogeography of the Seychelles Islands	8	(8)
Malcolm Coe
A Brief Account of the History of Seychelles	16	(6)
Selected Collecting Sites	22	(5)
The Three Main Habitats of the Granitic Islands	27	(3)
The National Parks	30	(2)
Collecting and Painting the Endemic Flowering Plants	32	(2)
Arrangement of the Plates	34	(165)
Illustrations and Descriptions of the Endemic Plants
THE DICOTYLEDONS
ACANTHACEAE
Plate 1. Pseuderanthemum sp.
ANACARDIACEAE
Plate 2. Campnosperma seychellarum
APOCYNACEAE
Plate 3. Carissa edulis var. sechellensis
ARALIACEAE
Plate 4. Gastonia crassa
Plate 5. G. lionnetii
Plate 6. G. sechellarum var. contracta
G. sechellarum var. curiosae
Plate 7. G. sechellarum var. sechellarum
Plate 8. Schefflera procumbens
ASCLEPIADACEAE
Plate 9. Secamone schimperianus
BALSAMINACEAE
Plate 10. Impatiens gordonii
BEGONIACEAE
Plate 11. Begonia seychellensis
BIGNONIACEAE
Plate 12. Colea seychellarum
COMPOSITAE
Plate 13. Gynura sechellensis
CUCURBITACEAE
Plate 14. Peponium vogelii
DILLENIACEAE
Plate 15. Dillenia ferruginea
DIPTEROCARPACEAE
Plate 16. Vateriopsis seychellarum
EBENACEAE
Plate 17. Diospyros seychellarum
ERYTHROXYLACEAE
Plate 18. Erythroxylum sechellarum
EUPHORBIACEAE
Plate 19. Drypetes riseleyi
Plate 20. Excoecaria benthamiana
FLACOURTIACEAE
Plate 21. Aphloia theiformis subsp. madagascariensis var. seychellensis
Plate 22. Ludia mauritiana var. sechellensis
GROSSULARIACEAE
Plate 23. Brexia madagascariensis subsp. microcarpa
ICACINACEAE
Plate 24. Grisollea thomassetii
LABIATAE
Plate 25. Achyrospermum seychellarum
LEGUMINOSAE
Plate 26. Acacia pennata
MEDUSAGYNACEAE
Plate 27. Medusagyne oppositifolia
MELASTOMATACEAE
Plate 28. Memecylon eleagni
MORACEAE
Plate 29. Ficus bojeri
Plate 30. F. reflexa subsp. seychellensis
MYRSINACEAE
Plate 31. Rapanea seychellarum
MYRTACEAE
Plate 32. Syzygium wrightii
NEPENTHACEAE
Plate 33. Nepenthes pervillei
NYCTAGINACEAE
Plate 34. Pisonia sechellarum
PIPERACEAE
Plate 35. Piper sp.
PITTOSPORACEAE
Plate 36. Pittosporum senacia subsp. wrightii
RUBIACEAE
Plate 37. Canthium carinatum
Plate 38. C. sechellense
Plate 39. Craterispermum microdon
Plate 40. Glionnetia sericea
Plate 41. Ixora pudica
Plate 42. Paragenipa wrightii
Plate 43. Psathura sechellarum
Plate 44. Psychotria pervillei
Plate 45. P. silhouettae
Plate 46. Rothmannia annae
Plate 47. Tarenna sechellensis
Plate 48. Timonius sechellensis
SAPINDACEAE
Plate 49. Allophylus sechellensis
SAPOTACEAE
Plate 50. Mimusops sechellarum
Plate 51. Northia seychellana
SIMAROUBACEAE
Plate 52. Soulamea terminalioides
URTICACEAE
Plate 53. Procris insularis
THE MONOCOTYLEDONS
ARACEAE
Plate 54. Protarum sechellarum
CYPERACEAE
Plate 55. Lophoschoenus hornei
Plate 56. Mapania floribundum
Plate 57. M. seychellaria
GRAMINEAE
Plate 58. Garnotia sechellensis
HYPOXIDACEAE
Plate 59. Curculigo sechellensis
Plate 60. Hypoxidia maheensis
Plate 61. H. rhizophylla
ORCHIDACEAE
Plate 62. Agrostophyllum occidentale
Plate 63. Angraecum eburneum subsp. brongniartianum
Plate 64. Hederorkis seychellensis
Plate 65. Malaxis seychellarum
Plate 66. Platylepsis sechellarum
Plate 67. Vanilla phalaenopsis
PALMAE
Plate 68. Deckenia nobilis
Plate 69. Lodoicea maldivica
Plate 70. Nephrosperma vanhoutteana
Plate 71. Phoenicophorium borsigianum
Plate 72. Roscheria melanochaetes
Plate 73. Verschaffeltia splendida
PANDANACEAE
Plate 74. Pandanus balfourii
Plate 75. P. hornei
Plate 76. P. multispicatus
Plate 77. P. sechellarum
TRIURIDACEAE
Plate 78. Seychellaria thomassetii
GLOSSARY	199	(10)
REFERENCES	209	(2)
INDEX TO COMMON AND CREOLE PLANT NAMES	211	(2)
GENERAL INDEX	213