Plants of the Lost World

Over the last sixty years, legendary explorer Charles Brewer-Carías has led more than 200 expeditions to the Lost Worlds (Venezuela’s Tepuy mountains), during which he has been accompanied by more than 250 specialists representing various scientific disciplines.

Known as the “Humboldt of the twentieth century”, no one in history has explored more of the Tepuys than Charles. He has discovered and named dozens of new species of plants and animals (and additionally, around 27 species from the Tepuys are named in his honour). His discoveries also include the sink holes of Cerro Sarisariñama and the world’s largest known quartzite cave, Cueva Charles Brewer.

The culmination of a lifetime of exploration and study, this breath-taking book explores the plant life of one of the most biologically rich, geologically ancient parts of the world.

Featuring over 464 spectacular images of the diverse plant life of the Tepuys – including many species depicted in print for the first time – this colossal work is a seminal botanical study.

Plants of the Lost Worlds opens with a detailed overview of the biogeography, distribution and history of discovery of the Tepuy mountains.

A whole chapter is dedicated to the extraordinary biodiversity and endemics of plant life of the Lost Worlds, followed by profiles of key botanical explorers and naturalists. Extensive selections of breath-taking aerial images showcase the amazing landscapes and geological formations of these unique gigantic plateaus.

The rest of the book is broken into chapters dedicated to exploring the most interesting and spectacular plants of the lost worlds. These are:

Heliamphora (marsh pitcher plants) – Charles included many spectacular photos of little know species of Heliamphora from the western tepuis including H. tatei, H. neblinae and others! 94 pages are dedicated to this amazing genus!

Utricularia (bladderworts) 18 pages including photos of little known species!

Drosera (sundews) 16 pages showcasing many rarities!

Bromeliads 82 pages

Rapateaceas (Stegolepis) 44 pages

Chimantaeas 32 pages
Orchids 44 pages

Ferns (including iridescent species) 38 pages

Lichens and algae (22 pages)

Mosses (14 pages)

Orectanthe (12 pages)