A Disa Companion

About the Book

Disas are a genus of African orchids which are not well known even to orchid enthusiasts in Africa. However, not only are many of the species colourful and/or spectacular but they have given great scope to breeders wishing to hybridise and market ever more colourful varieties. They have specific cultural requirements, but, like most things -'they are easy when you know how'. This book has a variety of aims: it provides an introduction to the fascination and diversity of Disa species; it provides information on how to grow them in the garden or greenhouse, helped by a description of weather and other aspects of their how they grow in the wild; and a section on genetics assists in understanding the basics of colour variation in species and hybrids. Finally, a section on hybridisation demonstrates the remarkable diversity of form, colour and patterns that can be achieved by within- and between-species crosses, with numerous illustrations to back up the claim that Disas are one of the most fascinating and visually appealing of orchids to study, admire, and, with a minimum of skill, grow.

About the Author

" Sid Cywes is a retired Paediatric Surgeon, having worked for several decades at the Red Cross Children's Hospital and University of Cape Town , but has devoted his spare time energies to the cultivation and hybridisation of Disas, creating and publishing, with his wife, Marlene, many of the outstanding cultivars illustrated here." "Eric Harley worked from 1973 to 2004 at the University of Cape Town as a Chemical Pathologist with a particular interest in human, animal, and plant Molecular Genetics. He is also a grower of Disas with an especial interest in the cliff-face Disas." “Peter Linder completed a PhD on the taxonomy of Disa and its relatives at the Bolus Herbarium at the University of Cape Town. Continuing research on southern African orchids, focusing on the terrestrial groups, culminated in the publication, with Hubert Kurzweil, of the “Orchids of Southern Africa”. From 2001 he has held a teaching position at the University of Zurich.”