The web pages were originally created to make available to a wider audience the article entitled "Pollination of the Stapeliads" originally published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal (U.S.) 1990, Vol 62 130-140.

A picture gallery was started on the 15th July 1999 and was last updated 6th February 2000. It has seventeen pages with over 150 pictures:

The pictures in this gallery of stapeliad portraits were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 950 Digital Camera. Most of them are taken by natural daylight but as the day comes to a close, a few are taken with flash. This is a whole new way to take pictures! I have been into Nikon photography for more than forty years but this is a real eye-opener. Since no film is used, one can take as many images as one needs to get the exposure just right and the composition in a pleasing form. The images are recorded as JPG files on a chip that can hold several hundred images at one time. After a shooting session, they are downloaded to the computer and stored on a Jazz drive. The chip is then cleared and can be used over and over again.

There are times when the pot gets in the way and bits of dirt distract from the photograph. The image is taken into PhotoShop and these little defects are removed very easily. I questioned whether I should divulge this camera trickery, but in the interests of science, I felt it was better to do so!!! All of the portraits were taken since mid-July 1999 using plants grown in our greenhouse here in Flemington, NJ, USA

In late December 1999, I acquired a new Nikon D1 Digital camera. It took many weeks of waiting before it became available and I am extremely happy to have it now. This is an expensive piece of equipment, but it is fully compatible with all of the Nikon close-up lenses and extension rings that I have been using with my film cameras in the past. It is much easier to get extreme close-ups as it does not force you to use the pre-programmed settings that come with the Coolpix. I have not yet reached a point where I have really mastered this new tool but I have put up a number of new images taken with it. These will all be marked with the identification [D1] in blue. - GSB

(Note some image compression has been used on the jpg files for use on the www to minimise download times - the original images obtained by this technology are if anything even higher quality than you see here - AWM)

I am deeply indebted to the many people who have been kind enough to provide the cuttings over the years. I am particularly grateful to John Lavranos and Darrel Plowes who have furnished the bulk of the propagating stock. In addition, a large part of the collection has been obtained on our many trips into the field during the past forty years. - GSB