Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. General    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Gardening / General    8. Succulents & cacti   

Reviews (10)

I CANNOT SAY ENOUGH GOOD ABOUT THIS WORK
I can start with the old line "I I had only one book on cacti....."Well, this would certainly be the one.I spend a great amount of time traveling and photographing flowering and interesting plants, cactus being among them.I also collect this type of plant.I have found this work to be almost absolutely necessary for identification purposes and it certainly enhances by hobby of collecting and attempting to raise.As one reviewer points out, this is not a simple book of pretty plants.This is the real thing.There is absolutely a wealth of information here.I never travel area where cacti grow without it.The text is quite readable.There are indeed many, many wonderful color plates.It makes by hobby much more interesting and enjoyable.Recommend this one highly.

Simply the Best
Where do you start with a book of this magnitude? (well I had to borrow a review copy from an editor friend of mine, unfortunately he wanted it back). The author a Senior Research Botanist spent most of his lifetime amassing the information that forms this book and then sadly died only two weeks after publication. This is a book for the serious hobbyist. If you are looking for nice photographs of plants in pots, this is probably not the book for you. Having said that there are enough photographs in this book to satisfy even the most avid plant spotter (1016 colour plates.) "Is this plant an Acanthocalycium or an Echinopsis?" This book will give you the answer. In one form or another the book covers most of the Cactaceae family. It is certainly one of the first books to use the nomenclature of the IOS Consensus group. This is a big book 776 pages, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested" Francis Bacon 1561-1625. This book certainly falls into the latter category and it is a great shame that the author is not with us to take the acclaim he surely deserved, but what a legacy he has left. I would love to own this book and it will be one of the first things I order from Amazon after I've sorted everyone elses Christmas presents out.

Excellent reference for those avid in the hobby of cacti
This book is a comprehensive reference of cacti. It contains desciptions of most all the species within each genus. It also has a fairly a good section in the front of the book about the origins and botany of cacti. There are pictures for about half of the listings, though because this is more of reference books they are relatively small. Also very helpful, each listing has the previous or other accepted botanical names for each species. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Gardening    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Life Sciences - Botany    5. Pictorial works    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Plants - General    8. Science    9. Techniques    10. Gardening / Ornamental Plants    11. Succulents & cacti   

Reviews (9)

GREAT ADDITION TO MY LIBRARY
I've been collecting these wonderful plants for a number of years now and am constantly adding not only plants to my collection, but books.I am glad I added this one!No one book can completely cover every aspect of cacti lore and this one certainly does not,But, this work, added with several others, help to round my research library out.Each new addition, i.e. books, helps and this was certainly a good addition.The text is well done as the author is abviously very knowledgeable and I did like the photographs.I did agree with another reviewer in that the shots from the top of the plant, looking down are indeed pleasing to the eye, but they fail, in some cases, to give a true picture of the plant.I photograph plants and find it is helpful to get side views of different subjects.That is not big deal though.This is a helpful book and I do recommend it highly.

Not Complete but still Very Good
The book is very well produced and the photography is very good. The author is well known and respected in Cacti circles and the book reflects his knowledge and status. The first section relates to the history and discovery of cacti and shows some amazing photographs of cacti in their habitat. It goes on to show how best to display your cacti in suitable containers and then a chapter on the differing shapes of the plants and their flowers The plant catalogue itself does not show too many of the different genera, but the popular ones are there and what it does do is show photographs of a number of species within a certain genera and this appeals to me. Too many books try to over-reach themselves and try to cram in as many genera as possible, showing a photograph of one species and very short descriptions of one or two other species. In this book the descriptions of each plant give the average height, flower colour etc. and also the min. temp. each plant will stand. The book shares space equally between true cacti and succulents and they are presented separately which makes the book layout clean and easily readable. At the end of the book are several pages on plant selection in sections, i.e. Plants for beginners; Plants for the Greenhouse; Free Flowering plants etc. This is another plus. One criticism I have is that many of the plants are photographed from directly overhead, this may be aesthetically pleasing, but does not give a true reflection of the size and shape of the plant and is not really my cup of tea. But this is a small moan about what is otherwise an excellent book. At this price the book is a good buy and there is something for everyone interested in the care of these unusual plants. I am happy to have this book in my collection.

Not the "Complete" Book without Yuccas!
This is a georgeous book, but it doesn't mention Yuccas at all! There is very little on Agavaceae in general.Read more

Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Reference    8. Succulent plants    9. Gardening / Reference   

Reviews (13)

Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary
Beautiful, colorful and descriptive photgraphs with text of a very inclusive group of succulents and family. Excellent help when used to identify succulents in my garden and help to decide which new succulents to purchase.

Good Book for Identification Purposes
This books is essentially a photographic encyclopaedia of succulent plants and while it covers an great number of genera and species it would be impossible to cover them all in one volume, hence a second one has been published.
Good beginning.
"Succulents: The Illustrated Dictionary", is the original work of these two partner authors. This concise original offers hundreds of succulents, beautiful and strange, in scientific names. The photographs are as beautiful as "Cacti: The Illustrated Dictionary", but more close up. However, for this guide to be complete, the sequel also needs to be bought along with the original. "Succulents 2" is almost identical to the original in photo and binding quality, which are fine. However, you may as well be purchasing half a book if you only buy one of the series. Both are needed for completion. Read more

Subjects:  1. Dictionaries    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. General    5. Nature    6. Pictorial works    7. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    8. Plants - General    9. Succulent Plants    10. Gardening / Ornamental Plants   

Reviews (1)

Pretty but not a good reference book
This book is an extensive collection of nice pictures of over 350 different succulents.They are arranged in scientific name order.However the descriptions for each entry are just text describing the plant.There is not even basic information like the hardiness zone so you will know if the one you like will survive your winter.The text does not directly reference the picture location so you have to find the picture key somewhere on each page ("This page, left to right ...").The index is really just a table of contents - common names are listed under the scientific name instead of having a separate entry ("Purple Emperor" is indexed as "Sedum, Purple Emperor").Get this for the pictures then get The American Horticultural Society "A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants" for the reference data. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Landscape    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Succulent plants    8. Gardening / Ornamental Plants    9. Succulents & cacti   

Reviews (3)

Better to buy Anderson's Book
I recently bought this book after purchasing a few Lophophora specimens, and was somewhat dissappointed. Much of the information is sparse or inaccurate, and overall you come away having learned little. It is vague in describing the effects and chemistry of the plant, and minimal effort is made to try and describe different species and varieties.
Not so impressed
This book is ok, if you want to learn about native use and things like that. It has good descriptions of lots of rare entheogenic cacti. If all you want to know how to do, is cultivate Lophophora and Tichocerous, the internet has better information.

PeYoTe
This book provides good information layed out in an easy to read format on the cultivation, consumption, legality, and history of peyote and other similar cacti. It also gives a breakdown of the alkaloids in peyote andgives detailed methods for mescaline extraction (you know...for resaerchpurposes). It also includes pictures and descriptions of other cacticontaining alkaloids similar to peyote. The only shortcoming I find in thisbook is the lack of any research reports on the harmful effects of peyote,but that could be because there has been very little research done on it. Iwould recommend this book to anyone interested in peyote for any purpose. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. General    3. Medical / Nursing    4. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    5. Sociology    6. Botany & plant sciences    7. Pharmacology    8. Social Science / Popular Culture   

Reviews (2)

WHAT A WELL DONE, DELIGHTFUL VOLUME!
I cannot remember when I have had so much enjoyment in reading a book about plants.This is not a simple "how to identify" work, but rather a story by and of three very knowledgeable men, scientists, traveling through the countries of Bolivia, Peru and Argentina, not as tourists, but rather than scientist.For a book which is primarily about plants, i.e. cactus, it is so much more.We get a wonderful and insightful travel story/book thrown in.As another reviewer pointed out, this could quite well have been a very boring read.This it was not!I have actually given this one three reads simply because it is fun!But, most importantly, this volume is simply packed with wonderful information about cacti, their history, their origins and environment.This work in not simply a field guide or a bunch of pretty, sterile pictures of cactus setting on a shelf photographed with a bunch of high tech gear, it actually gives information about these wonderful plants as they grow in their home environment, their natural state, the wild.The photographs are all field photographs and for field photos, quite well done.The text is very precise and easy to follow, not being over the head of the amature (such as my self) yet providing so much information to the advanced student.Discriptions are great.I did have trouble at first with the Latin names of course, but this forced be to pull out my old high school Latin books and do a bit of brushing up...this was good.All of the photographs are in color and well captioned.As an added note, Timber Press did a wonderful job on this book (I wonder if all their books are of this caliber).I wish all books were of this physical quality.Of even more importance than anything else, my knowledge of this particular plant family took a 100 percent jump in depth.For that I am grateful.I very much suggest you add this one to your library.Recommend highly.

Extremely entertaining knowledge!
Since I started growing my first cacti nearly 30 years ago, certain books have been of great importance for my knowledge and development, when it comes to growing and understanding cacti. But never has one single book put so many pieces together as this one! The book is just packed with knowledge and I really became overwhelmingly inspired!
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Subjects:  1. Argentina    2. Bolivia    3. Cactus    4. Essays    5. Life Sciences - Botany    6. Nature    7. Nature/Ecology    8. Peru    9. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    10. Plants - General    11. Other prose: from c 1900 -    12. Plant life: general    13. South America    14. Specialized gardening methods   

Reviews (5)

A VERY HELPFUL BOOK
I am quite glad I added this one to my collection.The photographs found in this volume are quite good, beautiful, as a matter of fact.I had to agree with another reviewer in that I do wish more of the actual plant was shown, rather than the flower.There are some very good growing tips in this small volume which I found very helpful.No one book can fill all of your needs is raising/growing any plants and I have found that it is very necessary to purchase a number of them.This is one I am glad to have added to the growing shelf.I did give this one five stars as the photographs alone are worth it.Recommend.

To the author 'beautiful'=flowers
This should be called Cactus Flowers because there is very little in this book other than pictures taken from above of cactus flowers, frequently obscuring the cacti themselves for page after page.There is hardly any discussion on form, spines, etc.just flowers, flowers, flowers.The actual photography of the flowers itself is very well done.There are some good tips on care, but it is very repetitive.This would be a good book for someone who likes pretty plant books or flowers, not necessarily someone interested in cacti.

The best book available for home cactus enthusiasts!
I've purchased over a dozen books on cacti, but none of them thoroughly discuss the proper care for cacti grown at home.I was amazed by author Elisabeth Manke's attention to detail as it pertains to information you actually need.For instance, one section of the book covers general cactus care on a month-by-month basis.For an Ohio cactus enthusiast, that kind of information is invaluable.Indeed, one of my cactus plants owes its life to this book!
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Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Flowers - General    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Life Sciences - Botany    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Reference    8. Science    9. Succulent Plants    10. Gardening / Ornamental Plants   

Reviews (2)

A modern revision of the genus; a major taxonomic work.
This is a beautiful book, almost a coffee table type, yet it is also a scholarly work which involved enormous amounts of botanical field work. It's one deficiency in my opinion is a lack of adequate illustrative photographs.The color plates are impressive and of art quality but do not show the amount of variation within the genus nor what some species really look like.Otherwise a commendable effort.

The first modern study of these South African succulents.
Mr. van Jaarsveld has done all succulent lovers a great service by doing the botanical study and work necessary to present this modern taxonomic understanding of Gasterias. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classification    2. Gardening    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. Gasteria    5. General    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    8. Reference    9. South Africa    10. Succulent Plants    11. Plant life: general    12. Republic of South Africa   

Reviews (5)

Worth a Place on the Shelf
This book basically follows the same format as the previous one. There are enough photographs to sink a battleship, but very little cultural information for the plants.
The best got even better
If you liked Maurizio Sajeva and Mariangela Costanzo's first book, Succulents, then you will really like their second edition titled Succulents II.The book's outline is basically the same with some new information provided.The photo's, like their first book are superior and serve as a great means of plant identification.The addition of having the book in hard cover form (the first is paperback), makes this book an excellent reference material without concern on wear and tear when carrying it around the garden.Amazon books has the best price on this book and I've shopped around before purchasing it.If you time it right, you can order it with a couple other things and take advantage of free shipping and handling.I think that's pretty good deal.

Succulents II: The New Illustrated Dictionary
For this subject, this is a "must-have" reference book.It is very visual.The images are great and the authors have gone beyond the commonplace.Do I recommend it?I give it 5 "Forget-about-it's". ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Dictionaries    2. Gardening    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Life Sciences - Botany    5. Ornamental Plants    6. Pictorial works    7. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    8. Reference    9. Science    10. Succulent plants    11. Gardening / Ornamental Plants   

Reviews (3)

Superbly illustrated and brimming over with valueable information!
More and more people are becoming interested in succulents due to their largely drought tolerant natures and their definite fire prevention advantages. If you are new to succulents and had only one book to choose this should be it. Even if you know quite a bit about succulents this book could still be of value. It's that good.
The culture notes and photographs are a gardener's treasure.
Plant growth habit and culture notes are all too rare in succulent andcacti volumes.This expertly assembled book captures the succulent plantsat their optimum phase and accurately records botanical names and growthrequirements. I also utilize to accurately identify plants that I use tocreate living succulent wreaths.The section of 'Bringing the DesertIndoors' is a welcome invitation to indoor gardeners every where to enjoythese sculptural beauties year around.

Best book in my library.
One of few books dealing with gardening in the dry southwestern climates. Most of the book is devoted to "Plant Selector" which describes the plants, hardiness, cultivation needs, etc.Other sections deal with "Garden Design","Techniques" (cultivation etc.), and, " Special Conditions."If you have one book on succulent gardening, this should be it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Canada    2. Flowers - General    3. Gardening    4. Gardening / Horticulture    5. Gardening/Plants    6. Pictorial works    7. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    8. Regional - General    9. Succulent plants    10. Techniques    11. United States    12. Xeriscaping    13. Gardening / Flowers / General   

Reviews (4)

Good reference work, good coffee-table book
This book is an excellent work for identification of cactus.It describes the proper growing conditions separately for each species, including sun vs. shade, kind of soil and hardiness to cold. Great tool to identify your cacti
I'm an avid cactus collector and I get most of my cacti from the local supermarkets and greenhouses. Most of these stores will sell you the plant but will not give you any information about it. This is the reason why I needed a book that would help me identify my cacti and give me care instructions specific to each species. Well, that is exactly what this book will do for you. A very precise and descriptive look at all cacti.
This is the most detailed source of cactus infomation that I have come across in the past eight years. The descriptions are very precise, especially; size, cultural habits,and all the basic growing necessities,with a great number of column cactus included. That's terrific! Most cactienthusiasts will be overwhelmed by the photos(over 1200), which cancaptivate anyone into the beauty of cacti. Details such as: number ofspines,ribs, and projected size can be a novelty for the ameteur collector.Also, there is added information about growing requirements,such as; light,temperature, water, and different soils mixes to be used for certaincituations. Mr. Innes and Mr. Glass have put together the best book oncacti that I had found,nevertheless, the price is very affordable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Encyclopedias    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. General    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Reference    8. Sale Books   

Reviews (13)

CACTI: THE ILLUSTRATED DICTIONARY
SUPERB COMPACT REVIEW OF A VERY BROAD SPECTRUM OF CACTI TO HELP ANY SERIOUS AFFICIONADO OF THESE CRITTERS.ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED, GOOD PICTURES OF EACH BASIC GROUP WITH CLEAR CONCISE DESCRIPTIONS.I WOULD SAY THIS IS A MUST IN THE LIBRARY OF ANY CACTUS LOVER.

in a few words
Very beautiful book, with as much colorfull pictures as you wish. The title should be "dictionary of globular cacti", because only such species are presented.
Family Album, but who is missing
It is very difficult to find fault in a book that is so comprehensive in what it sets out to achieve, and I have no wish to do so. However I would like to point out to potential purchasers, if your interest lies in columnar cacti (Cereus, Cleistocactus, Pilosocereus, I know I could go on forever), or anthing from the Opuntia genus, you will be disappointed because they are not included in the book. Of course many other species are not included but this would be virtually impossible to achieve. There is a very good selection of species for all of the more popular genera, many in flower, which obviously aids in the identification process. As a plant identifier this book would be very difficult to beat. Plant care is virtually non existent, but this is not what the book is about. Under most photographs you will get details of the distribution of the plant; flower colour; spination and some of the different synonyms the plant may be labelled under. if you have any serious interest in Cacti you need this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Dictionaries    3. Gardening / Horticulture    4. General    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Ornamental Plants    8. Pictorial works    9. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    10. Plants - General    11. Succulent Plants    12. Gardening / Ornamental Plants    13. Reference works    14. Succulents & cacti   

Reviews (12)

SIMON & SHUSTER'S GUIDE TO CACTI & SUCCULENTS
THIS IS A MUST HAVE FOR THE SERIOUS CACTUS COLLECTOR.SMALL, FAT, SUPER CLEAR AND CONCISE MODULARIZED ENTRIES WITH PICTURES, AND SPECIFICATIONS OF EACH CACTUS TYPE.THE ONLY THING I HAVE SEEN BETTER IS THE HUGE ANDERSON BOOK TITLED "THE CACTUS FAMILY", A BEHEMOUTH DEFINITIVE VOLUME.THIS LITTLE BOOK IS THE NEXT BEST THING I HAVE SEEN ANYWHERE.

Simon & Schuster's Guide to Catci & Succulents
I know that Cacti are succulents, but what about the other succulents??There is no mention of plants which are succulents but not cacti.I am going to return this book, as it certainly is not complete according to its title.

Simon & Schuster Guide to Cactus and Succulents
If I had looked through this book before buying it online I never would have wasted the money on it.Nomenclature is totally out-of-date, temperature guides are just plain wrong, pictures are okay for close up but useless as to identifying overall form and structure.Since so many cactus are mis-identified or misnamed the pics don't help in identification without a more accurate book to cross-reference the plant name with.In terms of coverage of the cactus family this book is woefully inadequate.Entire genuses are omitted and/or only have one plant covered when there are actually dozens of species. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Identification    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Pictorial works    6. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    7. Succulent plants    8. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    9. Nature / General   

Reviews (3)

Peyote: The Divine Cactus
This is a very informitive book that covers history, ceremonies,
As good a book as you will find on the Peyote Cactus
This book was a true classic, if you are looking for complete information on the Peyote Cactus, this is the book for you to buy. I cannot recommend it enough, it is one of my favorite books in my collection. It is professional, well written, and informative.

The authoritative study of peyote
The most complete authority on the peyote cactus, Lophophora williamsii.E. Anderson includes every aspects of peyote- history and religious uses to ethnobotanical, phytochemistry and pharmacology.For anyone interested in learning all aspects of this mystifying plant, Peyote: The Divine Cactus, will allow just that. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ethnic Studies - Native American Studies - Tribes    2. History    3. Indians of North America    4. Native American    5. Nature    6. Peyote    7. Peyotism    8. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    9. Religion    10. Rites and ceremonies    11. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Fruit    3. Gardening    4. Gardening/Plants    5. Juvenile literature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    8. Succulent plants   

Reviews (7)

A GOOD BOOK TO HAVE AROUND
I was glad I added this one to my collection.It is a great book for beginners and it is also a good book to prove you can teach an old dog new tricks.I have been collecting cacti for years (indoor) and though I have gain some modest knowledge of the subject, I did find questions addressed in this book that I simply did not know.Each book on the subject has helped me add to my knowledge and this one is included in that group.I would particuarly recommend this one to the beginning grower/collector.It is a job well done.

Great reference book for the a beginner
This is an excellent reference guide for those with little or no experience with cacti and succulents. If you are visually-oriented, you will apprecicate the vivid and colorful photos.This is a very simple and easy book to read....I would consider it to be a nice starter book.

A good supplementary reference
This book is an excellent companion to "Complete Book of Cacti and Succulents" by the same author (Terry Hewitt).Read more

Subjects:  1. Climatic - Desert    2. Gardening    3. Gardening/Plants    4. Nature    5. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    6. Gardening / Techniques   

Subjects:  1. Chihuahuan Desert    2. Flowers    3. Garden Design    4. Identification    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    8. Shrubs    9. Trees    10. Wild flowers    11. Travel / United States / West / General   

Reviews (1)

OK
This guide book devotes a page to each species treated, with half the page taken up by a color picture of a flowering or fruiting specimen of the species in question. On the same page some data are given. Arranged by family (look for Leguminosae under Fabaceae, Buddleja under Loganiaceae, etc). Picture quality varies from pretty decent to quite good, although it is noticeable that a curious grid tends to be visible in the background (a digital camera?). Some pictures are a little overexposed. Occasionally the composition could be better (sometimes a lot better). Text seems unremarkable, but the choice to include author citations in the botanical names has not been followed up by doing this properly (needs a lot of work). Synonyms are provided. The "Trees" in the title should be taken to include a palm; the "Shrubs" is meant in the widest possible sense (including subshrubs and smaller stuff) and this goes for "Cacti" too (= "succulents"). Printing quality is just short of excellent. All in all this is OK, but unremarkable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cactus    2. Identification    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    6. Shrubs    7. Texas, South    8. Trees    9. Trees & Forests - General   

Subjects:  1. Gardening    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. Gardening/Plants    4. General    5. Plants - Cacti/Succulents    6. Republic of South Africa    7. South America    8. Succulents & cacti    9. USA