Customer Reviews

The Great Cacti: Ethnobotany and Biogeography (Southwest Center Series)

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Are you tired of reading about cacti for the kitchen counter or window sill? If so, then this is the book you want. Only true giants are represented here, and Dr. Yetman did a top-notch job. Wonderful photos of HUGE cacti throughout the book. He also gives maps showing which areas to find these wonderful giants if you ever decide to go for a cactus run. He talks much about the many uses of each cacti in the region by the locals, and it's pretty interesting. These cacti are used for food, shelter, medicines, building materials, etc. I have many cacti books and this is my favorite because I'm more interested in the type of cacti you can sink your teeth into. The book shows pretty much only columnar cactus, but a couple of others are briefly shown, and they are all from Mexico and South America. Many pics show people standing in front of them and when you notice the person you realize how big the cactus is... and some are just amazing (zoom in on the front cover to see the guy standing beneath the cactus). And yes, he sometimes gets technical about the cacti...number of ribs, color of flowers, etc., but he mostly is concerned with the area the plants are located, the "hot spots", and their uses. But even just the pics alone make this book worth while. If you want a book to identify all different kinds of cacti, big and small, this is not the book for you. But if you just want to read about and view some real big cacti, you won't regret buying this book.

I was a little apprehensive on the price for this coffee table book but it delivered with an immense number of species, location maps, local uses and abundant color photographs. The author's writing style was enjoyable to read and did not get bogged down with excessive botanical nomenclature. I was glad I purchased it and I would rate this a "must have" for any cactiphile's library.