A clear, visually attractive introduction by the author of several fine nature titles. Carefully describing the special features that help the cacti survive dry environments (e.g., accordion-pleated skin that expands without splitting), Lerner makes a strong plea for conservation and notes that there is at least one species native to every state except Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Her illustrations are detailed and carefully drawn, though scale is not given; scientific names appear in the back. Useful and unusually well written. Glossary; limited index (omitting some species, e.g., night-blooming cereus, described at length in the text). (Nonfiction. 10-12)
