You don't have to be new to the Sonoran Desert to learn a thing or two about our surroundings from David Yetman.
His new book, "The Great Cacti: Ethnobotany and Biogeography," is a treasure trove of photos taken by Yetman of exotic, often hard-to-find specimens in Central and South America.
And, for newcomers to the area, there are a couple taken in Arizona's backyard.
Yetman, a research social scientist at the University of Arizona's Southwest Center, said his book is a plea for conservation of cacti often deemed by outsiders as "run of the mill."
"They form in many areas the ecological basis for survival for a lot of organisms," he said. "They are a tree."
Yetman said he became fixated on the saguaro cactus as a young boy. He didn't get to go to school a lot because of illness, and when a friend of his family gave them a National Geographic he zeroed in on the saguaro.
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"I moved to Arizona in 1954, and the first thing I wanted to see more than anything else was the saguaro cactus."
Yetman's interest expanded over the years as he studied different indigenous cultures and the vital relationship they forged with columnar cacti. That relationship is the focus of his book, published by the University of Arizona Press. It sells for $59.95 (hardcover) through the UA and at local bookstores.
The UA grad is also the host of the public television series "The Desert Speaks," which airs on KUAT at 8 p.m. Thursdays. Check out his other book, "The Organ Pipe Cactus." (The University of Arizona Press, $9.95 paperback).
Did you know?
David Yetman, left, represented the west side of Pima County on the Board of Supervisors from 1977 to 1988.
