About

The Journal – Alsterworthia International
ISSN 1474-4635

This site is for archive purposes only and is being maintained by the Haworthia Society.

The journal is published in March, July and November each year and printed on A4 gloss art paper (for comparison – one A4 page is the equivalent of two A5). The entire journal is devoted to plant articles, new publications, reviews etc and is liberally illustrated in colour.

Scope

Primarily the succulent genera of the Asphodelacea. The Asphodelacea family R.M.T. Dahlgren, H.F. Clifford and P.F. Yeo is defined in “The families of the Monocotyledons: Structure, Evolution and Taxonomy” published in 1985 by Springer-Verlag, Berlin. Circa 17 genera were included in the family, but, in subsequent years, some have been amalgamated with varying degrees of acceptance by botanical authorities.

The Asphodelaceae family is divided into two subfamilies, the Alooideae and the Asphodeloideae.

Subfamily Alooideae

The genera are Aloe, Astroloba, Chamaealoe, Gasteria, Haworthia, Lomatophyllum and Poelnitzia. They range in size from small, succulent-leaved rosettes (haworthias, some aloes and some gasterias etc) very suitable for glasshouse cultivation, to large shrubs/trees (some aloes, some gasterias) suitable for cultivation in gardens and larger glasshouses, though young plants can be kept in pots in a smaller glasshouse for many years before they out-grow their welcome. As these genera are highly succulent and popular with collectors, they are covered regularly in Alsterworthia International.

Subfamily Asphodeloideae

The genera include Asphodelus, Asphodeline, Bulbine, Bulbinella, Eremurus, Jodriella, Kniphofia, Simethis and Trachyandra. They are quite diverse in form ranging from succulent through mesomorphic to xeromorphic. They feature much less prominently in collections, but some, such as the “caudiciform” Bulbine, do have a following and a number of Kniphofiaare popular and quite hardy garden plants. Occasional articles are devoted to the genera of this subfamily as the need and opportunity arises.

Subjects covered

Alsterworthia International is a journal comprehensive in scope. All relevant subjects are covered including habitat, laboratory and glasshouse studies; cultivation and propagation; taxonomy; pure species, hybrids and cultivars; pests and diseases; important information published in journals and books not readily available; history; personalities and more.

A Note for Authors

When authors publish with Alsterworthia International they incur no expenses. Alsterworthia International bears the full cost of publication.

Authors receive an agreed number of copies of his/her published material.

An author does not have to be an Alsterworthia International member to publish with Alsterworthia International. Both member’s and non-member’s material is welcome for publication.

Books are card covered in order to keep costs down and allow many colour photographs to be published. There is almost no limit to the number of colour photographs we can publish. We do not publish hard cover books.

All photographs are published at a size which shows plant detail. We do not publish small photos which are no more than colourful pictures lacking detail.

Publications are not limited to an initial and expensive large print run. Additional copies can be printed at any time at the same cost to meet demand.

If your first language is not English please do not let this put you off publishing with us. If you send brief notes in English with colour photographs, possibly supplemented with brief French, German or Spanish, we will write the article for you and submit it for your approval before it is published.

All book and special issues we publish normally have an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) – we meet the cost of this.

Web pages are now being used widely for displaying information and photographs. These perform a valuable service, but they do not have the permanency of the printed word and, because of this, they cannot be quoted as references for scientific and horticultural purposes. If you are publishing illustrated field trips, propagation details, plant identification information etc on the web please consider also publishing it in writing in order to give it permanency and to allow it to be quoted as a reference when necessary.

Publishing new cultivars

Alsterworthia International is happy to publish new cultivars which comply with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plant. Please supply as many good quality photographs as you wish. We deposit copies of the descriptions with photos for all new cultivars with the Herbarium, Royal Horticultural Society Garden Wisley, Woking, UK for recording as Nomenclatural Standards.

Alsterworthia International

(Haworthia, Gasteria, Aloe, related smaller genera & their nothogenera)

Editor: Lawrence Loucka
17 Parkway, Lady’s Island, Beaufort, South Carolina, 29907 USA
lloucka@asphodelaceae.com

Editor Emeritus: Harry Mays BSc, BA. (Hons).
(Member International Organisation for Succulent Plant Study, IOS)
Woodsleigh, Moss Lane, St Michaels on Wyre, Preston, PR3 0TY, UK.
hmays@freenetname.co.uk

Alsterworthia International came into operation at the beginning of 2001, not only to foster the study, propagation, cultivation and conservation of the above genera, but also to promote and facilitate the publication of relevant information without favour. Haworthia, Gasteria, Aloe and their nothogenera (hybrid genera) are featured regularly; Astroloba, Bulbine, Bulbinella, Chortolirion, Poelnitzia etc (related genera) from time to time. Both species and cultivars are comprehensively covered.

This venture has been remarkably successful, no doubt because we are different and fill an obvious need. To aid further dispersal of the information we publish, there is no copyright on articles published by Alsterworthia International, provided authors have not reserved copyright to themselves, always provided that Alsterworthia International is acknowledged as the original publisher.

Benefits of Alsterworthia International membership

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Alsterworthia International publications

Three journals a year – March, July and November, free to members. Each journal is currently a minimum of 28 A4 pages which are equivalent to a 56 page A5 publication. The entire journal is devoted to informative articles on a wide range of subjects fully illustrated with colour photographs. Cover page of issue 9:2 depicts Aloe arborescens ’Gold Rush’.

Annual journal index – is normally published in the last journal for the year.

Ten year index – published every 10 years at a nominal price.

Journal back issues – are always available as original printed copies – no photocopies, no second hand.

Special Issues – longer articles, frequently with many detailed colour photographs, on specific subjects. Discounted prices for members only.

Books – comprehensive coverage of specific subjects well illustrated with colour photographs which show details. Discounted prices for members only.

Other publishers’ publications – Selected books by other publishers are stocked and available to members at discount prices. Please see the Book List.

Seed list – By Joel Lodé – normally issued with the March journal or earlier by e-mail if e-mail addresses have been supplied.

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Haworthia Study – Harry Mays is the World Agent for Haworthia Study, the Journal of the Japanese Haworthia Society – 16 A4 pages, two issues per year. Japanese with English summaries or complete English articles. Discount for members. Cover page of issue No. 21 depicts Haworthia ‘Lombard Star’.

Honorary Alsterworthia International Representatives – Alsterworthia International has 16 representatives in 14 countries. (See Subscriptions page for Subscription Fees, Methods of Payment and List of Representatives.)

The Cultivar Project

Designed to rationalise cultivar names in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). This involves recording cultivar names, tracing the original publications for these names, checking that they are published in accordance with ICNCP, eliminate duplicate names and establishing names not validly published. This is time consuming work involving many people (members and non-members) world wide. The end products will be:

Lists of established cultivar names with references to the original publications.

Lists of cultivar names for which the original publications have not so far been traced.

A series of books illustrating cultivars with names established under the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. Volume 1 is available – photographs show the cover and page 44 with cultivars of Bulbine frutescens. Alsterworthia International members and non-members assisting with the project will be entitled to Alsterworthia International cultivar books at cost price and to cultivar lists free of charge by file attached to e-mail.An official of the I.U.B.S. Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants became aware of this project. Following correspondence, during which it was established that we are doing much of what an International Cultivar Registration Authority (ICRA) would have to do, arrangements have been made for all documentation to be deposited with the Royal Horticultural Society for safe keeping, so that it will be available as a starter pack for any International Cultivar Registration Authority appointed in the future by the Commission. There are no ICRAs for the genera we embrace. There was one for Aloe but it failed. All who support this project can, therefore, be assured that their efforts will not be wasted.

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