The Organ Mountain Range, Its History and Its Orchids

The Organ Mountain Range in the Rio de Janeiro region of Brazil, has been ravaged by man's coffee plantations and railway tracks during the last century. The authors have spent more than ten years exploring the area for remnants of natural forest.   What they found will fascinate orchid lovers and environmentalists alike. Small, inaccessible fragments - forest oases - still holding populations of plants that were abundant in pre-colonial time. From the comprehensive data that they have collected, the authors are able to reconstruct what the original pristine forest must have looked like when Darwin was there. 

But the book covers so much more than orchids. It delves into the geological and social history of the Range. Due to past and present human activities, this area is one of the most endangered, . The role of forest in water conservation and climate control, more relevant now than ever before, is also explored.

This book which uses orchids - so called 'flagship species' - to highlight the plight of this magical yet fragile environment. More than 600 species are photographed and described in their own habitats. The book is full of useful information for growers.  220 beautifully detailed watercolours of the miniature group of Pleurothallids have been reproduced making identification of these difficult species easier.

315 orchid photographs - 228 water colours - 602 species described