This lush pocketbook from Kew offers a snapshot of the prickly world of cacti, all the way from giants of the desert to smaller flowering splendors. Forty paintings of this popular group of plants are gorgeously reproduced from Kew's Library, Art and Archives, one of the most extensive botanical libraries in the world, and it illustrates the variety within each plant group, as well as the diversity of Kew's collection. An introductory chapter by Kew expert Olwen Grace provides an overview of this plant group, and extended captions accompany each painting, making this gift book a perfect keepsake for any cacti-crazed consumer.

For more than 250 years, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has fostered the study of plant diversity and economic botany.