Book List:   Webmaster's Choice

Adromischus by John Pilbeam, Chris Rodgerson and D. Tribble (1998)
Publisher: Cirio Publishing Services Ltd., Southampton. United Kingdom. ISBN: 0-9520382-3-X

Left: Agaves of Continental North America by Howard Scott Gentry (1988)
Publisher: University of Arizona Press.     ISBN: 0-8165-0775-9
this is an indispensable guide to agaves. The uses of agaves are as many as the arts of man have found it convenient to devise. A "must have" classic, often available secondhand or new as a paperback.
 
Right: Agaves, Yuccas and Related Plants: a Gardener's Guide
by Mary Irish & Gary Irish (2000)
Publisher: Timber Press Inc. Portland, Oregon, USA.     ISBN: 0-88192-442-3
Architectural and striking, these drought-tolerant plants provide excellent contrast to flowering perennial plantings. All the necessary tips to achieve success can be found in this helpful and expert text.
Mary Irish is the former director of public horticulture at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. She has written extensively on dry-climate gardening.

Guide to the Aloes of South Africa by Ben-Erik van Wyk and Gideon Smith (1996)
Publisher: Briza Publications, Pretoria. South Africa. ISBN: 1-875093-04-4
 
Cacti for the Connoisseur by John Pilbeam (1987)
Publisher: Timber Press, Incorporated. ISBN: 0881920436

The Native Cacti of California by Lyman Benson
Paperback     ISBN-13: 9780804715263     Pub. Date: 09/01/1988
An essential classic field guide. Numerous habitat photographs and distribution maps.

Cacti of the Southwest by W. Hubert Earle (1963, Revised 1980)
Publisher: Rancho Arroyo Book Distributor, Arizona. USA. ISBN: 0-9358-10-31-05
 
Cacti of Texas and Neighboring States by Del Weniger (1988)
Publisher: University of Texas Press, USA. ISBN: 0-292-71063-1
 
Cactus Handbookby Erik Haustein (1988)
Publisher: Octopus Books Ltd. London. United Kingdom. ISBN: 0-7064-2582-0

The Color Encyclopedia of Cape Bulbs
by John Manning, Peter Goldblatt & Dee Snijman
Hardcover     ISBN-13: 9780881925470     Pub. Date: 12/31/2002
This first complete account of all the bulbous plants of the Cape Floral Region
is an essential aid to the identification of all species presently in cultivation.

Caudiciform and Pachycaul Succulents: Fat Plants
by Gordon D. Rowley (1987)
Publisher: Strawberry Press, California, USA.
ISBN:0-912647-03-5
Many descriptions and illustrations of extraordinary choice caudiciform plants.

The Genus Conophytum by Steven Hammer (1993)
Publisher: Succulent Plant Publications, Pretoria, Republic of South Africa. ISBN: 0-620-17633-4
 
The Genus Echinocereus by Nigel P. Taylor (1985)
Publisher: Collingridge Books, Twickenham. United Kingdom. ISBN: 0-600-35885-2

Gasterias of South Africa: A New Revision of a Major Succulent Group
by E.J. van Jaarsveld (1994)
Publisher: Fernwood Press (Pty) Ltd., Vlaeberg, South Africa. ISBN: 1-874950-01-6
A beautifully illustrated classic.

Gymnocalycium: A Collector's Guide
by John Pilbeam and Bill Weightman (Photographer) (1995)
Publisher: A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. The Netherlands. ISBN: 90-5410-192-X
An indispensable guide to these beautiful free-flowering cacti.

Haworthia and Astroloba: A Collector's Guide by John Pilbeam (1983)
Publisher: B.T. Batsford Ltd., London. United Kingdom. ISBN: 0-7134-0534-1

Hoya Handbook: A Guide for the Grower and Collector
by Dale Kloppenburg Ann Wayman (1993)
Publisher: Orca Publishing. ISBN: 0963048910
- some people have criticised the naming of particular species,
but this is one of the few books on Hoyas.

Lexicon of Succulent Plants by Hermann Jacobsen (1970) Publisher: Offizin Andersen Nexo, Leipzig. German Democratic Republic. ISBN: 07137-0652-X
- a little out of date as many species names have been revised, but still useful.
 
Lithops Flowering Stones by Desmond T. Cole (1988) Publisher: Acorn Books CC, South Africa. ISBN: 0-620-09678-0
- a classic that has kept its value.
 
Lithops Treasures of the Veld by Steven A. Hammer (1999) Publisher: East Anglian Engraving Co. Ltd., Norwich. United Kingdom. ISBN: 0-902-099-59-0
 
Mammillaria by John Pilbeam (1999) Publisher: Cirio Publishing Services, Southampton. United Kingdom. ISBN: 0-9528302-8-0
 
Medicinal Plants of South Africa by Ben-Eric van Wyk, Bosch van Oudtshoorn and Nigel Gericke (1997)
Publisher: Briza Publications, Pretoria. South Africa. ISBN: 1-875093-09-5
 
Mesembs of the World by Gideon F. Smith, Pascale Chesselet, Ernst J. van Jaarsveld, Heidi Hartmann, Steven Hammer, Ben-Erik van Wyk, Priscilla Burgoyne, Cornelia Flak and Hubert Kurzweil (1998)
Publisher: Briza Publications, Pretoria. South Africa. ISBN: 1-875093-13-3
 
Plants of Arizona by Anne Orth Epple and Lewis E. Epple (Photographer) (1997)
Publisher: Falcon Press Publishing Co. Inc., Montana. USA. ISBN: 1-56044-563-7

Native American Ethnobotany
by Daniel Moerman
Publisher: Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.
Hardcover     ISBN-13: 9780881924534     Pub. Date: 08/15/1998
An extraordinary compilation of the plants used by North American native peoples for medicine, food, fiber, dye, and a host of other things. More than 44,000 uses for some 4000 plants by various tribes are documented here.
Daniel E. Moerman is the William E. Stirton Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan - Dearborn, so recognized for his distinguished scholarship, teaching, and professional accomplishments. He lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Sedum
by Ray Stephenson
Paperback     ISBN-13: 9781604691009     Pub. Date: 05/22/2009
Provides complete information on these versatile succulents.
 
Ray Stephenson is the Founder and Chairman of the Sedum Society in England, and his Northumberland garden with its 800 different stonecrops, probably the most diverse collection in the world, has been officially designated as The National Collection of Sedum. Stephenson is also the editor of the Sedum Society Newsletter.

Texas Wildflowers: A Field Guide
by Campbell Loughmiller and Lynn Loughmiller (revised 2006)
Publisher: University of Texas Press, USA.   ISBN: 0292712863
Texas Wildflowers identifies the common and rare flowers we see along the roadsides and in the pastures, fields, and forests of Texas. Compiled by naturalists Campbell and Lynn Loughmiller, with the technical assistance of Lynn Sherrod, Texas Wildflowers is an authoritative field guide with a personal touch in the many notes the Loughmillers included about the plants they described and photographed.
381 full-color, close-up photos that show every wildflower in the book. 370 species accounts that include the plant's scientific and common names, a description of its appearance, and its range, habitat, and blooming season. Descriptions of 73 wildflower families, from Acanthaceae to Zygophyllaceae.

Naturalist's Big Bend : An Introduction to the Trees and Shrubs, Wildflowers, Cacti, Mammals, Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians, Fish, and Insects
by Roland Wauer & Carl Fleming
Hardcover     ISBN-13: 9781585441556     Pub. Date: 01/28/2002
In southwest Texas, where the Rio Grande arcs southward into Mexico, lies Big Bend National Park, 708,221 acres of river floodplain, desert, grasslands, and majestic moutains. Naturalist's Big Bend highlights the distinctive plants and animals of the region, such as the century plant, candelilla from which wax is made, the giant dagger yucca, the javelina, the rare Texas lyre snake, the tarantula, and the Big Bend quonker katydid. This comprehensive field guide, revised and completely updated in a new edition, recounts the area's archaeology and history, describes the characteristics and habitats of Big Bend's remarkable variety of plants and animals, and outlines walking and driving tours of the most likely spots for sighting these natural wonders.