Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

David Yetman.
Organ Pipe Cactus.
Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2006.
Paper, 70 p., ISBN 0–816–52541–2, $9.95.

Native to Mexico and a small area of southwest Arizona, the organ pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi) grows in some of the hottest deserts of the region. Notable for its many upright branches, reminiscent of a pipe organ, this columnar cactus is among the dominant plants of the Sonoran desert, and the signature interest in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona. Social scientist David Yetman discusses its origin, history, distribution, cultivation, and economic value. The author focuses on the particular roles these cacti play in society and their future in their limited range.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.