Book Review: The Genus Sclerocactus

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peterb
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Book Review: The Genus Sclerocactus

Post by peterb »

I've been reading a bunch of books regarding US cacti for the past couple of years, including Benson's magnum opus, Powell and Weedin's two recent books on the Trans Pecos and Texas and two relatively recent books from Fritz Hochstaetter, _The Genus Sclerocactus_ and _The Genera Pediocactus, Navajoa and Toumeya_.

I'm not sure how the last two books compare with Hochstaetter's other books on these plants from the 1990s, as I've never had a chance to look at those.

First, _The Genus Sclerocactus_. Published in 2005, Hochstaetter's book (despite its flaws) is indispensable for anyone interested in Sclerocactus sensu stricto, without the addition of Echinomastus, Toumeya, Ancistrocactus and Glandulicactus.
While acknowledging "The systematic and taxonomic status of the genus Sclerocactus is hotly disputed," Hochstaetter makes a case for the old confines of the genus.

Technical details: On the plus side, copies of the original publications of all the taxa, interesting if slightly mysterious isoenzyme analysis by Monika Konnert purporting to support Hochstaetter's classification system, a section of seed morphology and thorough descriptions of each taxon.

On the down side: A few idiosyncratic classification decisions that are not clearly explained. In particular, Hochstaetter consistently refuses to reconcile his ideas with those of other workers, most notably Ken Heil et al, the leading US expert in Sclerocactus. There's no way to disentangle the various threads of prior work in the genus. Hochstaetter's "Sclerocactus wetlandicus," for example, has been viewed several different ways by other authors, and there's no real explanation of his basis for establishing a new name. One of the names in Hochstaetter's book was redacted by him within a year after the book was published (Sclerocactus whipplei "subvariety (!!) aztecia.") This sort of inconsistency has only served to reduce his credibility, which is a shame and unnecessary, given the tremendous amount of work, really a life's work, he's put into the study of the plants.

A few more flaws, in my opinion: The "Cultivation" section of the book, a single perfunctory page, doesn't seem like it would help a newcomer actually grow the plants. The Distribution Maps are interesting in a general way, but Hochstaetter's emphasis on protecting populations from collectors (a noble and futile goal, IMO) gives the maps limited usefulness.

The main strength of the book: more than 150 pages of awesome photographs, most of plants in habitat and in flower, with excellent color reproduction. These seemingly endless photos of beautiful and unusual, often rare, plants in their full glory offer a priceless insight into the great variety among these plants.

In general, the book attempts a generally successful balance between technical monograph and popular treatment for a "layman." It's expensive, about $150 new, but this is no doubt a result of the high production values.

peterb
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daiv
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Post by daiv »

Thanks for the review Peter! Yeah, one could buy the NCL for that price. Contrary to popular belief, when demand goes up, price goes down... cuz somebody will increase the supply! At least with books. :roll:
All Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are Cacti
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