Customer Reviews

Cacti: Biology and Uses

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This is an advanced book, with plenty of black and white photos, but no color photos. This book consists of fifteen review chapters written by established experts and new contributors. The book description states that Cacti: Biology and Uses is the first book of its kind to compile information on cactus biology, ecology and uses.

Because this book covers a wide variety of topics, such as biology, morphology, conservation, pollination, and pest control, the writing is quite advanced in several different subject areas. For example, a physiologist may totally understand the chapter on shoot anatomy and morphology (Chapter 2), but may have less understanding of the chapter about breeding and biotechnology (Chapter 15). In Chapter 10 alone (Cactus Pear Fruit Production) a reader finds economic content with a supply and demand analysis and agronomic content with fertilizer and irrigation information. This seems to validate the book's description as a compilation of cacti information.
As previously mentioned, Cacti: Biology and Uses does not have any color photos, but it does have many, quality black and white photos, as well as many tables and figures. A basic table of contents is printed in the front, and then, each chapter begins with a more detailed table of contents. Each chapter ends with a conclusion and an extensive list of literature cited. An index, with some "See" and "See also" references, is provided in the back.

This is a high quality book who are interested in the biology, ecology or uses of a unique family of plants.

It's a good book. Great information of cacti, how they grow, ect. Also has a great practical uses section. Some of the language in the first seven chapters or so is a bit technical for non-botanist folk (like me!)- but with a little bit of work the book is very understandable. Overall the book provides a great view of where Cacti stand as an edible food crop on both local and world wide scales, and presents some of the difficulties with marketing this drought resistant (yet tasty) crop. For anyone interested in sustainable agriculture in the Southwest or desert countries it is a great source of background information.