Description

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"For persons with a special interest in succulents, and cacti in particular, this book is a must. Others will find the volume of value not only as a means of naming these highly specialized plants but as a source of information on the structure and distribution of the various species."—American Scientist

"Of tremendous value to the professional botanist and ecologist, and with layman English and careful instructions, the work provides the amateur botanist insight into a fascinating family."—Garden Journal

"For the general desert lover as well as the botanist."—Books of the Southwest

 

About the Author

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Lyman Benson has devoted his professional life to teaching and to research on the plant life of the southwestern deserts and of North America north of Mexico. As Emeritus Professor and Chairman of the Department of Botany and Director of the Herbarium of Pomona College, he has to his credit more than seventy published works on the flora of North America and especially of the Southwest. Among his books are Trees and Shrubs of the Southwestern Deserts, with Robert A. Darrow (University of Arizona Press), Plant Taxonomy: Methods and Principles, and The Native Cacti of California.