FLORAE CAPENSIS MEDICÆ PRODROMUS

Second edition with corrections and numerous additions

54 pages, bound in quarter green leather with gilt titling along the spine and marbled paper sides, a very good copy.

Beinart (William) The Rise of Conservation in South Africa: Settlers, Livestock and the Environment 1770-1950, page 74, Oxford University Press, 2003. ‘Ludwig Pappe arrived in 1831 to establish a medical practice in Cape Town. Born in Germany and qualified from Leipzig, he saw botany as he leading interest. He also worked in von Ludwig’s garden, formed close links with visiting botanists such as Harvey, published a list of Cape plants in 1833-34, and became a foundation member of the Literary and Scientific Institution. He helped to preserve and develop von Ludwig’s collection, and continued to chart the extraordinary range of plants at the Cape. A definitive publication of Cape plants remained a priority for him, and he sent materials to Kew, and to Harvey for the Flora Capensis. But, as Richard Grove has argued, Pappe was important not only as a botanist who stayed, but because of his understanding of environmental change. In 1847 Pappe published a small volume of the medicinal use of plants. He usually noted whether berries or fruit of a species was edible and sometimes mentioned Khoihkoi names and uses.’