Product Description

A visual reference to 500 cacti.

The cactus family includes more than 2,500 species of cacti, succulents, caudiciforms and euphorbs. Native to the Americas, they are at least 50 million years old and highly advanced in their evolution. Not all are desert plants. Some are found in the rainforest, where they enjoy the heavy rainfall and grow much more vigorously than their desert cousins. Many cacti are very popular with rock gardeners and houseplant enthusiasts.

This new book features 500 species representing all cactus groups. The cacti are arranged alphabetically by scientific genus, with an entire page devoted to each species. At-a-glance information includes size, distribution, spination, flower and flowering time, plus varieties and synonyms used. Detailed descriptions reveal the amazing adaptations cacti have made, such as:

• Stems with waterproof skin to store water
• Far-reaching, shallow root systems
• Leaves that are shed during a drought
• Spines toward off predators.

The author provides professional advice on growing these plants at home. Among the 500 color photographs that appear in the book are stunning shots of cacti in bloom.

500 Cacti is a useful reference for all who admire these long-living and distinctive plants.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103265 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 528 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781554072613
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
This book is a handy reference to bring when shopping for your landscape. (Phoenix Home and Garden 200707)

Colour photos are so attractive that even the fervent anti-cacti people may be won over. (Grand magazine (Waterloo) 20070614)

Absolutely stunning.... user-friendly. This handsome book is ideal for both the novice cacti lover as well as the seasoned pro. (Tucson Citizen 20071018)

The photographs are magnificent.... would be of value to anyone who grows any cacti. (Asbury Park Press )

Pleasingly displayed data...stunning photographs... will tempt collectors to add it to their personal libraries... An elegant little volume... Highly recommended. (Linda D. Tietjen American Reference Books Annual 2008 )

An encyclopedic look at this family of succulents. (Vivela Neveln The American Gardener )

About the Author

Ken Preston-Mafham is a naturalist, author and photographer. He lives in England, where he has grown cacti for more than 30 years. His previous books include Cacti and Succulents in Habitat and Cacti: The Illustrated Dictionary.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

500 cacti describes more than 500 species of cacti that we generally available for enthusiasts from specialist nurseries, Including some from more general garden stores. While is difficult to choose what to include or exclude from this large group of plants, it can be said that anyone obtaining all the plants in this book (or a reasonable selection) would end up with a well-balanced collection of diverse, interesting, and rewarding cacti.

The final list contains as many genera as reasonably possible even if they have only a single example. Popular genera, or those that seem to be gaining numerous new deem at present and that are not always covered well elsewhere (for example, the Opuntia group) have been dealt with rather more fully than some people might think they deserve. Genera that have few fans, such as some the long pendant epiphytes, or many large-growing, columnar kinds (cerei), or those whose members are difficult to grow on their own roots (such as Blossfeldia), have been omitted.

To assist the reader who is a complete beginner with cacti and is wrestling with a confusion of names on a mail order list, a selection of genera that are not included here, along with brief reasons why, is given on page 516.

The plants in this book are all members of a single family (the Cactaceae), most of which have succulent stems used for storing water. Numerous other kinds of plants are also succulent and are very popular with collectors, for example, living stones (Lithops) in the famlly Aizoaceae or Stapelia in the milkweed family (Asclepiadaceae). These and many other succulent plants do not belong to the family Cactaceae, and so are not included in the following pages.

Customer Reviews

A VERY HANDY BOOK TO HAVE AROUND.
This is quite an impressive little book. As the title tells us, it addresses 500 cacti. Now no book can cover them all. There are thousands of cacti genus out there. This work though goes along way in giving good information to the amature collector, grower, or in my case, photographer of these wonderful plants. The book is set up alphabetically by genus, but the wonderful photographs are just as valuable indentification. The book is filled with good growing and collecting tips. It is set up more like a field guide than a gardening book, something I find quite useful. The photographs are of good quality and when ever possible, show the plant in bloom. This is certainly one you will want to add to your collection.

Great photographs and cactus reference all in a great size!
I collect and grow cactus and feel this would be a great book to have in anyone's library of reference books. I cross checked some of this book's data with Edward Anderson's book, The Cactus Family "The Cactus Family" and found them to be accurate. "The Cactus Family" is considered by most to be THE definitive cactus resource.

Nearly all the photographs include a flower, but also have at least some of the body of the cactus which helps for identification purposes. The book is also laid out very nicely. Each page has a sidebar that includes anatomical data such as spine count, flowering time, and geographical distribution.

Very informative book
This book is a very good reference for cactus growers and also very good for identifying different species of cactus.