The January-February issue features an article on lesser-known and under-appreciated succulent members of the Portulaca Family, including the genus Avonia. Another article of interest concerns the hybridization of Turbinicarpus and Gymnocactus, which includes useful cultural information. As usual, the March-April issue contains the 2005 offering of the International Succulent Introductions. There were some real goodies here that I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on. This issue also features three articles of interest for lovers of melocacti with many photos of plants in habitat, especially the one covering The Melocacti of Chapada Grande, Brazil, but also those covering The Succulents of Venezuela’s Rio Chama Canyon and Trekking for Cuban Cacti. In the May-June issue we find a lengthy article discussing field observations on Backebergia and other cacti of The Balsas Basin in western Mexico.

The July-August issue presents Pachypodium mikea, a new arborescent species from Madagascar. The features of this plant are carefully compared with its well-known close relatives P. geayi and P. lamerei and also with P. ambongense and the recently described P. menabeum. Also of interest in this issue is an article on the Interdependence of the Galapagos Islands Cacti and Fauna. Two travelogues in the September-October issue focus on the cacti and succulents of the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix and Gasterias in habitat in South Africa. Articles on epiphytic cacti don’t often appear in our journal, but there is one in the September-October issue on Schlumbergera hybrids with spectacular flower photos and good cultural information. Finally Part 3 of a three-part series entitled "Succulents for most Gardens," appears in this issue (Parts 1 and 2 appear in the previous two issues). Featured in these articles are the genera Phedimus, Hylotelephium and Rhodiola, which I had never heard of, but they turn out to be splits from the genus Sedum. Most of the plants discussed are native to various parts of Eurasia and should be of interest to cool-climate gardeners (they should be good for zones 1-6, according to the articles). Not particularly heat tolerant, these plants will be of less interest to those of us living in warmer climates, but we have many other choices of cacti and succulents for growing outdoors. In the final issue of the year, one can lean about Thelocactus in habitat and in cultivation, succulent and xeromorphic Bromeliads of Brazil (Dyckia marnier-lapostollei, in particular) and also the changing face of cactus fruit growing. Also in this issue is a special conservation report exploring the threat posed by invasive weeds and wildfires to our North American deserts. Sequels to both this conservation report and the article on Brazilian succulent bromeliads are promised for the coming year.

I hope this brief review of Volume 77 of our journal gives the reader some idea of the breadth of coverage now available. We are trying to include more articles of general interest to the succulent hobbyists than has sometimes been true in the past, and I think we are succeeding in accomplishing this. In addition to the various articles included in each issue, regular features include book reviews, a page of succulents on stamps by Peg Spaete, a buyers’ guide and appearing in most issues, a research and conservation report by Donna Woodward.

I know that many affiliate club members are not members of CSSA and that although you may have access to the Cactus and Succulent Journal in your club’s library, you may not have been able to become aware of all that the journal has to offer. By Joining CSSA and having regular access to your own copy of the journal, you will be able to increase your understanding and appreciation of the wonderful plants that form the basis of our hobby.

Good Growing,
Bob Barth
Publicity Chair
CSSA Board of Directors