ILLUS ENCY OF SUCCULENTS

Rating:
Summary: Not Dumbed Down
Review: For someone interested in succulents beyond growing an aloe in your kitchen window,this book is invaluable. It's absolutely important for fanciers of plants to be able to understand the scientific naming method to keep proper categorization straight for the gardener's sake, as well as for nature's sake in preservation and conservation goals. There are so many succulents in the world. Many of them are losing their natural environment to various forms of environmental degradation. A book like this goes a long way to help preserve what remains of many endangered succulent flora. I welcome and appreciate the lucid, clearheaded and NOT dumbed down way this book is written. The illustrations are truly amazing, inspirational and telling about cultural requirements extrapolated from a little knowledge of climatology and basic world geography. I'm glad that Amazon.com carries this relatively rare book and hope more are available soon. I would recommend without reservation this important work to any student of botanical science interested in learning more about succulents. With even moderate effort, even the non-botanist will find this book, with it's amazing color plates, quite inspirational.

Sincerely and enthusiastically,

Frank Snapp

Rating:
Summary: Great but complicated
Review: It is a great book for those who are looking for more scientific information on succulents families. It has many great pictures, but mostly of the plants in natural habitat, which is very differen from the "house plants" look. There is a lot of technical terminology and explanation of photosynthesis, plants and flowers structure, few propagation tips and very little information on plants care and requirements, like watering, lighting, etc. If you looking for a plant science book - this is it. But if you are looking for plants identification and basic care tips(like I am), look for some other book.