Maurizio Sajeva and Mariangela Costanzo. Succulents II: The New Illustrated Dictionary. Timber Press. 2000.

The book begins with a brief introduction to the cultivation of succulent plants, a discussion of those which are endangered, and a listing of the plant families and genera to be illustrated in the remainder of the book.

Colored photographs, arranged alphabetically by genera, are annotated with the name of the person who discovered that plant, the family it belongs to, and a brief description. The country of origin is normally listed too. Some photographs are closeups of the entire plant, others show only the flower details, while still others show plants in habitat. The photographs are excellent.

Although I heartily recommend this book to any succulent collector, I do have a concern about it. It would be nearly impossible to accurately identify an unknown plant using these photographs. They do not highlight the flowering or fruiting structures of the plant which are normally used to distinguish between species. It is nice to have a book containing around 2000 photographs of succulent plants. The collector will no doubt find himself craving more of these wonderful plants just based on the photographs.