The horticultural richness of the Leipoldtia group (66 species in seven genera will be covered in this volume) is levied by an array of smaller genera, from the alabaster beach pebbles of Argyroderma to the pavement windows of Fenestraria. Cheiridopsis is the most varied of the widely-cultivated groups, and the species have marvelously large flowers from white to yellow to clear orange and scarlet red, yet no well-illustrated and readable reference works exist to help hobbyists tell them apart. The granite-faced Pleiospilos are among the most horticulturally important mesembs, produced by the millions in the wholesale nursery trade. Antimima presents the only problematic genus in the group, since its ca. 130 species run the gamut from collectable dwarfs to gangly shrubs. Whether the most desirable species if Antimima will be covered in this volume remains to be determined, but a new treatment is obviously needed and could alternately accompany the other half-dozen genera of this group in a later volume.