WONDERS OF THE CACTUS WORLD

This catchall essay on cactus cultivation, classification and lore requires no little patience, for the combination of scientific nomenclature and Lavine's haphazard metaphors (""the kitchen in which most plants prepare their food is their foliage"") can be discouraging. Lavine attacks botanical structure, commercial applications and home cactus gardening with considerable energy, but those who, like him, enjoy collecting odd bits of information -- the story of Australia's ecological crisis with cacti (later solved by the Commonwealth Prickly Pear Board), the technique for the making of cochineal dye which turned the British army into ""redcoats,"" tales of the legendary ""cholla cat"" who lives among the ""jumping"" cholla cactus -- will be most likely to persevere.