Bromeliads Victoria Padilla Crown Publishers, Inc, New York ISBN 0-517-500450 Published 1973

The Colorful Bromeliads Their Infinite Variety Victoria Padilla Gary Ezzo, Kerr Printing Company, Arcadia, California Published 1981

Miss Padilla was a founding member of the organisation now called Bromeliad Society International or the BSI. She was an editor of that organisation's journal (The Journal of the Bromeliad Society) for many years until the mid 1980's.

Bromeliads has 134 pages, 63 colour photographs, and over 50 black and white photographs or illustrations. Over 280 plants (species, cultivars and hybrids) are described. All of the common genera, for example, Aechmeas, Billbergias, Guzmanias, and Tillandsias are discussed in some detail, with the lesser known genera, for example, Canistrum, Fernseea, being mentioned as well. However, most emphasis is placed on species' descriptions of the common genera. The book has a list of common botanical terms, and a comprehensive index.

As OVER 30 years have passed since Bromeliads was published, it is not surprising some species' names are now different from those in that publication. Nor does the publication deal with species described since that date. Further, hybrids are not discussed in any detail. Thus, there are a large number of plants grown today which are not covered in the book.

Having said that, this is still one of the best books to read if you wish to gain an appreciation, from a non-technical perspective, of what many species look like.

The Colourful Bromeliads: Their Infinite Variety has 112 pages and 42 colour photographs. It describes, in varying amounts of detail, over 120 plants (species, cultivars and hybrids). The emphasis is on describing some of the rarer species in selected genera, namely, Aechmea, Guzmania, Neoregelia, Tillandsia and Vriesea.

This publication can be used as a companion book for Bromeliads.

Year of Review: 2002