Language: English
The intent of Echinocereus is to provide readers with more than just a glimpse of what occurs in nature of this beautiful and fascinating assemblage of plants. The inclusion of more than 850 photos is intended to provide an expanded knowledge of the realm of variation within the genus.
Echinocereus contains some of the authors notes about the genus and cultivation, an alphabetical listing of species and varieties, followed by an index of taxa. The species listing includes a botanical description of each with habitat information and various notes by the author. Nearly the entire book consists of photographs, many full page. The photos are primarily that of flowers set on a black background like the cover of the book. The number of photos varies widely from species to species, due to the amount of variation within the species as well as the authors exposure to each. While E. schereri includes two photographs, E. reichenbachii is represented by 57 pages.
Duke Benadom has been involved with several cactus & succulent clubs and is a life member of three. He became a Director for the Cactus & Succulent Society of America (CSSA) in 1990, served as the CSSA's Show Chairman for more than a decade, and as Convention Chairman for six conventions. He served as Vice President and then President for a total of almost ten years, and as Editor of the Cactus & Succulent Journal (CSJ) for just over a year. He has been the author of the long-running CSJ column, Superb Succulents, since its inception; that column remains popular today. He enjoys flora and fauna, traveling, exploring, photography, and sharing these experiences with others of similar interests.