The CD ROM format has great potential as a media for very high quality publications on Cacti and Succulents. This potential has not been fully realised until now. The capacity to store large numbers of images has previously resulted in CDs with some good photographs but to date all have succumbed to the temptation to include some which would not make the grade in a printed publication. This is not the case with this CD, Frans Noltee is an excellent photographer and the quality is uniformly high.
Some earlier Cactus and Succulent CDs were basically a collection of pictures with a few notes. Frans has been cultivating cacti and succulents for a long time and has a very detailed knowledge of them. It is evident that a great deal of work has been put into the composition of this disk and there is a large amount of information provided about the plants depicted both in cultivation and in habitat. Indeed I understand the system has been in gestation for over four years.
This disk is the first of what will eventually be a set of three disks and contains nearly 1,700 pictures from 80 different genera. I found the system chosen for the navigation around the disk very easy to use. If you have a computer with a CD ROM drive and like succulents this CD-ROM is highly recommended.
An online demonstration of this CD-ROM is available (2Mb). It uses javascript and the Illuminatus plug-in for Internet Explorer or Netscape. If you don't have this plug-in you will be asked if you want it downloaded and configured for you.
The price of this unique publication is ZAR 330 (Euro 43; approx. £25 or $40)
Part 2 was published in October 2001 and contains a further 1,300 pictures, the quality of which is very high and possible exceeds that of Part 1. If Euphorbias are one of your main interests then this CD ROM will be essential to you as inevitable the genus takes up a high proportion of the content.
The disk is very well organised and indexed and it easy to find your way around, using the same system as Part 1.
When I reviewed Part 1 of the CD Set I omitted to mention the extensive cultivation advice provided for each genus. A watering table by month, temperature and other special requirements are given in easy to understand charts.
I have now 'read' both CDs and I would say that they both meet high standards of accuracy. I know how difficult it is to avoid errors creeping in and I would say there are remarkably few. I can therefore throroughly recommend these CDs to anyone who is interested in Succulent Plants.
Secure on-line ordering with credit card is available for either or both of these CDs.
The price is ZAR 270 (about Euro 35) including postage and packing.
Part 3 is due summer 2002. The complete set will contain around 5000 pictures in total.
For more information click here.
