Cacti: An illustrated guide to over 150 representative species

There are many books of this type currently on the market, I think this one is as good as any of them. As a plant identifier it is excellent, with a strong emphasis on flowering plants, always a plus, but the book goes much further than just being a "photo album". The descriptions of plants are clear and concise, including the origin of the plant, its flowering period and average size. Also included is the spination pattern of the plant and a small synopsis on cultivation for each one, (I am not sure I always agree with the author on minimum temperatures, but so many other factors come into determining this). There are articles on obtaining seed, sowing the seed, taking cuttings and grafting. This is another book that has decided to use symbols to denote flowering, amount of sun required, watering etc. All in all the books is very good and I recommend it to the cactus grower.

I never was so sure about cacti, but after reading this book, I've learned to love them!