Coming soon: groundbreaking agave book by Jeremy Spath and Jeff Moore

Last May I showed you a selection of agave photos I submitted for a new book project. Now I can reveal for what they were for. More than that, I can show you some sample spreads from the actual book:

Agaves: Species, Cultivars & Hybrids is a new book co-authored by Jeremy Spath and Jeff Moore. Jeremy Spath is a passionate agave grower and hybridizer; I visited him at his Hidden Agave Ranch last September. Jeff Moore, as you may remember, is the owner of Solana Succulents, a specialty nursery in San Diego County, and has self-published four beautifully illustrated books on succulents. 

In addition to contributing photos to the book, I've been doing the copy editing so I've seen several iterations of the book. The spreads you see here are pretty close to what the final version will look like. This promises to be a groundbreaking book that bridges the divide between the dry scholarship of Howard Scott Gentry's The Agaves of Continental North America and the photo-centricity of Jim Pilbeam's A Gallery of Agaves (I reviewed these books here). With many hundreds of photographs of plants in habitat and in cultivation, it will set the standard for years to come.

Agave vilmoriniana in habitat (photo by Michael Bechtold)

In addition, the book feature's specially commissioned art by Luis Omar Smith:

One of several illustrations by Luis Omar Smith

The book delves into things like history and distribution of agaves, morphology, taxonomy; how to tell them apart from aloes, yuccas, nolinas, and furcraeas; physical features like variegation, teeth, bud imprinting, and monstrose growth; cultivation and pests; agaves in the landscape and in containers; and propagation. These topics are covered in the first 100 pages.

The next 200 pages are dedicated to species profiles, including the latest newly described species.

Species profiles ranging from the common...

...to the sublime...

...to the newly described...

...to the as yet undescribed

The species profiles are followed by a section on hybrids, both established and commercially available crosses...

...and cutting-edge hybrids currently in the works (many by Jeremy):

The final chapter is on mangaves, intergeneric crosses between the genera Agave and Manfreda:

The images in the book were contributed by number of photographers, myself included, but the bulk of them were taken by Jeremy and Jeff themselves. This includes many spectacular closeups:

The book is expected to go the printers later in the spring and should be available for sale in the summer. You'll be able to buy it from the authors, and I'll have a giveaway on my blog. Stay tuned for updates!

RELATED LINKS:

• Jeremy Spath (Hidden Agave)
• Jeff Moore (Solana Succulents)

NOTE: All images in the spreads above are © by their respective owners and may not be reproduced without written permission. All rights reserved.

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