Cactus Book

This is the current (Feb 22, 2005) version of a book, based on a manuscript left by the late Dr. J. S. Sarkaria, on the Cactus Garden in Panchkula. Your suggestions, comments, corrections are most welcome. K. S. Sarkaria

Links to the Chapters

Front Material

Chapter 1

IMPORTANT NOTE. The botanical garden described in the above book is a government facility run by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (H.U.D.A.), and has been, effective October 23, 2008, re-named by the Haryana Government “to honour the memory of its founder-curator” as follows:--

Dr. J. S. Sarkaria National Cactus and Succulent Botanical H. U. D. A. Garden and Research Centre, Panchkula, Haryana, India.

Accordingly, here then is this garden's chief gardener Sushil in front of a freshly re-painted signboard! The Sarkaria Cactus Garden is very popular with plant-lovers and is often in the news. Here is the transcript of an interview with a news reporter shortly before the garden was re-named. The wonderful website of naturalist Captain Suresh Sharma has some beautiful photographs from this garden as well as biographical information about Dr. J. S. Sarkaria. My father was also one of the founders, and the guiding spirit, of the National Cactus and Succulent Society, whose annual shows are often held in this garden. Some of DR. J. S. SARKARIA’s Previous publications were briefly described— see Notes 1-3 on pages 6-7 — in “Cacti and Mathematics” (which was written for the cactus show of 2008) and now (2011) some of these earlier works of his are also available on this website:-

Journal N. C. S. S. I.