Book Review: Carnivorous Plants of New Zealand

Bruce Salmon's Carnivorous Plants of New Zealand

Bruce Salmon's Carnivorous Plants of New Zealand is an out-of-print book that is the best guide for carnivorous plants in or from New Zealand. Bruce clearly modeled his book after Allen Lowrie's first iteration of his Magnum Opus, but with some obvious differences. For one, Salmon takes great pains to discuss the various habitats and climates of New Zealand. The level of detail here is extraordinary. One can almost determine whether it should be raining on, e.g., Drosera arcturi on June 3. It's very detailed.

An Excerpt

Despite not being updated since publication and several species being renamed and, I believe several discovered, since that time, this remains the ultimate in both field and cultivating guides to New Zealand's carnivores. It's a shockingly thick book for a little more than a dozen species, but it is done incredibly well. Were someone to take the time and put in the effort to create such a tome for North American species, I would hope that it were modeled after this book. At present, the best we have for our plants is Donald Schnell's 2nd edition from 2002, and that does little to discuss the cultivating requirements of our carnivores.