The 128 orchids illustrated in this work were collected from the wild in
many localities by the late John S. Ball, mainly during the early 1950s
when he worked as a forester in the Melsetter area close to the
Chimanimani Mountains in Zimbabwe. Many of the species from this area
are recorded to the North in the Flora of Tropical East Africa floristic
region and to the South in the Republic of South Africa, particularly in
KwaZulu-Natal. In 1978 John Ball's work on epiphytic orchids from this
region was published in the book Southern African Epiphytic Orchids. The
present work is edited by Jane Browning (John Ball's sister) assisted by
Esmé Hennessy.
