Mammillaria Handbook by R.T.Craig

The Mammillaria Handbook by R.T.Craig- I have found an old second hand copy of this book and am very tempted to buy it, but would like to know if anyone who may already have it could give some information, i.e. does he give the minimum temps. or precise description of habitats of the plants, as this is one of the things that I am looking for as well as being able to identify (or at least trying) some of my plants. Thank you for any information or advice.

                 Susi

Photos in Craig's book are B/W and not always of very good quality. The book lists numerous species, many of which have been synonymized in later years. For each species the characteristics of the plant body, tubercles, areoles, spines, flowers, fruits, etc. are given. Other features given are the distribution and the type locality.
There is no information about minimum temperatures or type of habitat in the book.
I would not consider the Craig book very useful for identifying unknown Mammillarias.

Wolter ten Hoeve, Assen, The Netherlands.

Thank you for that Wolter, I'll probably give it a miss then. How about Cactus and Succulents by Graham Charles?

Susi

Hello, Susi

It seems like the book you are looking for is John Pilbeam's Mammillaria. Not cheap but well worth the money, you can find it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mammillaria-John-Pilbeam/dp/0952830280/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1380621861&sr=8-2&keywords=pilbeam+mammillaria

for example. Look around and you may find it cheaper elsewhere.