Frutas Silvestres Comestibles de Santa Cruz

by Roberto Vásquez Ch & Germán Coimbra S.

The first time I held a copy of this book it was thanks to my dear friend Carlos Alberto Suarez of Orán, Salta, Argentina. He came to meet me for dinner and he presented me with a copy of this delightful book, I borrowed it and true to the tradition, have not yet returned it!

Carlos predicted that I could not find copies of it anywhere, but, he underestimated my mania for books and just how stubborn my pursuit would be. I eventually tracked down a copy via Abe Books, and then found out that a German Botanical Book Company had two copies, I immediately bought them! (I post here the link of that company for interested book searchers because they have great books including my Japanese Edition of “ Bizarre Edible Plants- Unknown Delicacies, https://www.koeltz.com/en/bizarre-edible-plants-unknown-delicacies-2019-many-col-photogr-135-p-paper-bd-in-japanese-with-latin-nomnclature )

This year in 2020 I finally made it to Santa Cruz Bolivia and I met and became friends with the son of Germán Coimbra S. (one of the authors) D. Javier Coimbra Molina. Javier carries on his father’s love of nature and he himself has produced an additional work on the edible fruits of the Chiquitania Region of Bolivia.

Thanks to this encounter, I was able to get several more copies of this rarest of books. It is an absolute pleasure to peruse the pages, finding fruits that are not mentioned in any other work. I have dreamed for some time of getting to Santa Cruz, and finally getting there and having this book in hand was a special combo.

The book is in my opinion is almost impossible to find. It is my hope that in the near future. Javier Coimbra Molina succeeds in accomplishing a revision of his father’s work.

As I have noted it covers many very obscure species that are not likely known to the reader. Overall a great book for an obscure subject matter.