CSSA VOL.69 MARCH-APRIL, 1997 No.2 A Madagascan tragedy Gray James Opuntia lindsayi, a new cholla from Lower California, Mexico Jon P. Rebman Melocactus violaceus ssp. natalensis P. J. Braun & E. Esteves, a new subspecies of Cactaceae from Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil Pierre J. Braun & Eddie Esteves Pereira New and old species of Haworthia Duval from the Little Karoo J. D. Venter & Steven Hammer Cacti & Succulents for the Amateur Duke Benadom The Huntington Botanical Gardens presents the 1997 offering of International Succulent Introductions John N. Trager Spotlight on Round Robins Braden Engelke & Rita Fleischmann Valley View Succulent Notes Gerald S. Barad Illegal collecting in Mexico Charles Glass

Cover illustration: Gerhard Marx's beautiful cover painting of Haworthia bayeri, a new species published in this issue, brings up several points. First, the plant itself is not new, as it has been grown in a few collections since the 1950's, always under other names, including an invalid one named after the district of Uniondale. In 1995 the ISI distributed it as H. emelyae var. emelyae. It sometimes takes a long time before a species acquires a recognized identity and a name of its own. The glass-like leaf-structure of H. bayeri also illustrates why, besides H. truncata and H. maughanii, the members of Section Retusae are the favorite haworthias - the highly succulent leaves, with their flattened, often decorated upper surface, greatly appeal to collectors. Finally, in the matter of comparing photographs with paintings: look at Fig. 3 of the article on H. bayeri and then at the cover of the issue for September-October, 1995!