Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia of Cacti and Succulents CD-ROM

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

... I must say that you won't need this in your collection. Regardless of what it said on the CD cover, it doesn't contain any practical information on how to grow, maintain&propagate cacti&succulents. The more I browse through this CD, the more I become very upset. What this CD offers are just collections of names and pictures of cacti and succulents. You'll see tons of names-common and scientific. Once you click on those, you'll see pictures with some 2-4 sentences mentioned about that particular plant. In the end, there is a section containing articles devoted to nurseries, propagation, temperature zones and the desert garden. Those articles are just really short and non-descriptive. There's small article verbally mentioning how to propagate succulents. Give 1 reference for further study. There're some pictures of baby cacti just grown from the seeds. But there're no pictures of how to perform such procedure step-wise. Why didn't the author just summarize in details what's relevant and important message in that reference so the readers won't have to be left in the dark and need to hunt or buy more books??? I just couldn't agree more with one of the reviewers of how bad the quality of the pictures is. They are just plain collection of bad, bad pictures! I didn't learn anything new more than what I know before. Sometimes, `quality' is what I'm looking for. Not the `quantity'. If you try to identify one of your cacti or succulents you have at home using this CD, chances are you will end up browsing thru tons and tons of pictures before you find the exact match.

I would recommend readers to buy books on cacti and succulents. ...

This is the best encyclpedia of succulent plants on CD. It's very complete, with more than 1000 different plants. I recomend it for everyone, it's excelent for botanists, gardeners, or anyone who is interested and don't have any experience.
The format is very frienly so you can find quickly what you're looking for or just look aroud. Every plant page includes: scientific name with synonyms, common name (if there's one), one or more pictures (there are great pictures), Recommended Temperature Zone, Frost Protection, Heat Tolerance, Sun Exposure, Origin, Growth Habits, Watering Needs, Propagation, and Blooming Habits.
I really recomend it to own, but I think that it is perfect as a gift.

This cd-rom covered all the subjects that I wanted and more it is very user friendly and list all the common names that often plants get stuck with the photos make it easy to identify seed grown plants in your collection in general a good purchase

This is a real encyclopedia, with the clear purpose of offering quick acces to organized information.Of course that in this huge process of gathering, selection, organizing and editing such amount of data,small imperfections can occur. Not all the pictures are "laboratory-type" ones, this is mostly because they have been taken in field, thus offering a real view of these plants in the wild.
I found many beautiful pictures perfectly suitable to be used as wallpapers or screensavers!
It also offers an excellent ratio : cost/amount of information compared with a book, even if the quality of the pictures in a book could be better.
So, i find it an excellent tool for identification, classification and guideing.
A work to be appreciated !

I had not high expectations on this CD and
after having scanned through the cacti it is clear
that this in NOT a CD to recommend to any serious
collector of succulent plants.

Most of the photos are out of focus (how is this
possible with the high-tech digital cameras of today!?),
and TOO MANY plants are misidentified or are having
a cultivar name (not scientific name); what is Rebutia
bolivia and Rebutia epizanaensis?

The selection of species is very strange and it seems
that the only purpose was to collect as many photos as
possible without considering the quality!

You can get much better photos and information by searching
the internet OR buying books like Preston-Mafhams Cacti, the
illustrated dictionary" and Sajevas "Succulents, the illustrated dictionary" (Part I and II).

I was thrilled with Philippe Faucon's CD : Encyclopedia of Cacti And Succulents. The vast amount of material on this CD would fill a huge amount of books.
I am a transplanted Master Gardener from Wisconsin. I found this to be an invaluable resource to learn about gardening in
the southwest desert.
I would buy it again in a heartbeat and highly recommend it to any other "plant person".

Must admit I got this CD for the sake of curiosity (just surfed in Philippe Faucon's WebSite by chance) than I have to thank Mr. Faucon itself in helping me to buy this CD (I happen to live in Italy and, in the beginnig, I missed some details on shipping which led me quite close to refrain from buying; then I wrote Mr Faucon an E-Mail and everythin got clear).

This said I'll carry on adding I'm neither a scientist not a taxonomist, but all the same I happen to have books like Rowley's "bible" on succulents on my bookshelf, and I'll finish admitting I've enjoyed this CD.

There are lot of pics in the layout, but I found interesting all information on watering, temp range, propagation and alike.

Often plants freely available in the hobby are sold "as is" (aka: without any information on "field numbers" and alike, and possibly hybridized either on purpose or not! hence I feel no need to go that deep in taxonomic detail) and my interest in taxonomy stops once I get, hopefully clear, what is (genus) that given plant (I'm aware there are species, cultivar, colour morph and ... many many more step to go further) belong to.

Furthermore the, continuously, changing taxonomy of these plants is NOT - to me - the main goal of this CD.

Much more important, to me, is the well being of the plants (and of cichlids (fishes), carnivore plants and many more I happen to have) I keep.

I found, on the matter, usefull info/tips/hints on this CD. I feel the above points should urge anyone who is interested in a sort of "quick reference tool" on Cacti and succulents to buy this CD.

I found this work to be useful and easy to navigate. As a collector of Cacti and Succulents, I try to learn as much as possible about the plants that I love. This work is a big help.

It is obvious that the author loves his work, and his knowledge of the subject shines through in the organization of the material and the editorial comments.

Most of the pictures are clear and many species also include a second or third picture detail of the flower or other interesting feature of the plant. Often times, there are several plants pictured.

I can fully recommend this book to anyone interested in Cacti and Succulents, from beginner to professional.