by Adrian E. Hoffman J. and Helmut E. Walter M.

There used to be a bookstore in “Mercado Drugstore” (an upscale shopping mall) in Santiago Chile called “Baobab.”  It is here that I found the Flora of Chile series, which includes this title on Cactaceae. In recent years, I have found it more difficult to locate copies in Santiago bookstores.

This book on the cacti of Chile, has become one of my favorite handbooks on the general treatment of Chilean cacti.  Of course, there are specialty books on various genera like Copiapoa and Eriosyce, but I would highly recommend this to the explorer wanting to have a broad and convenient coverage of the Chilean cacti. 

The book is a paperback with a glossy cover, so it is reasonably durable.  Because it has a longer vertical format it cannot truly be called a pocket book guide, but it is close.

I few things make this book easily useful for field use, including location generalities and type localities.

The price is close to $40.00 - $50.00 which may seem high for an elongated pocket book, but completely worth it if you want to find great general information on the Cacti of Chile.

(Ediciones FUNDACION CLAUDIO GAY)

Language: Spanish,  307 pages