Book Review: Allen Lowrie: Magnum Opus

Allen Lowrie's Magnum Opus is a comprehensive, three volume series on Australia's carnivorous plants. Published late last year, it has been on my wish list for quite a while, and I was finally able to get it recently. (Unfortunately, due to low printing volumes and resale, it probably won't be available for much of a discount on full-price except through special discounts, which sellers like Amazon run sometimes).

Volume 1 is probably the most interesting in the series. Much of the introduction goes into Lowrie's adventures around Australia over the years and contains a number of important tips on cultivation and Australian habitat types. This - and a technical breakdown of gemmae - take up about half of Volume 1. The remainder of Volume 1 comprises a breakdown of Aldrovanda, Cephalotus, the genus Byblis (to which a new species is added from prior account), and a third to half of the genus Drosera. This breakdown is a page of description, a page of photographs, followed by a page with a map and descriptions for the following page's photographs.

Volume 2 consists of the remainder of the genus Drosera. Several dozen new species are described. Some of these are entirely new, while others were previously classified as varieties, forms, or subspecies of other species previously. Alas, before anyone goes thinking that these are all the species of Drosera Australia has to offer, Lowrie adds a disclaimer to Volume 1 that he has since identified a handful of new species (mostly tuberous Drosera) which were not included in these volumes, and that he does not doubt more are waiting to be discovered by science.

Volume 3 consists of the genus Nepenthes, the genus Utricularia, and a biography of the botanists, explorers, and enthusiasts who discovered many of these carnivorous plants. The biography section comprises about half of this volume.

In all, I liked Lowrie's Magnum Opus, and it is most definitely the authority on carnivorous plants in Australia. Many readers, however, may find the total price, around $200 plus shipping, too steep. On the plus side, each volume is around 400 pages on about 8.5" x 11" paper and weighs in at about 8 pounds. While I think some areas could have been trimmed (such as the biography section) in order to save money, it's nice to know that these books were constructed the way Lowrie wanted them, and that is appropriate for a Magnum Opus.

Also, I'll add that, although these are published by Redfern Natural History, which was a concern for me given my past experience with them (see this article and this one), Lowrie is a good writer and there are no noticeable repetitions in text or content. As with other Redfern books, however, these three volumes would have benefited from a proofreader, however, as, occasionally, Lowrie starts a sentence and ends it slightly nonsensically, although the instances of this are few and far between.

Overall, I would highly recommend Lowrie's Magnum Opus, as it will be an essential guide to Australian carnivorous plants for years to come. (And hopefully clear up some of the naming conventions of pygmy Drosera in cultivation, which can be very confusing).