Cactus Explorer 05 - Complete PDF

The
Cactus Explorer
The first free on-line Journal for Cactus and Succulent Enthusiasts
Aylostera deminuta
Echeveria brachetii
Number 5 Parodia rechensis
ISSN 2048-0482 Little Florida Mountains

August 2012 Succulent Ant Plants
The Cactus Explorer ISSN 2048-0482 Number 5 August 2012
In thIs EdItIon
Regular Features Articles
Introduction 3 The last population of Parodia rechensis 30

News and Events 4 What is the world’s largest tuberous plant? 35
Recent New Descriptions 6 Echeveria brachetii A newly described species 38
In the Glasshouse 17 The first Aylostera 41
Journal Roundup 24 Mammillaria scheinvariana rediscovered? 45
The Love of Books 26 The Little Florida Mountains 49
Cactus People Histories nEW 29 Some bizarre plants of Australasia & Oceania 54
Society Pages 71 An amazing afternoon south of La Pozo. N.L. 61
Plants and Seeds for Sale 74 Travel with the Cactus Expert (4) 65
Books for Sale 76
The No.1 source for on-line information about cacti and succulents is http://www.cactus-mall.com
Cover Picture Aylostera deminuta VG10-1098 photographed by Victor Gapon at 2213m in

Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra. Candelaria.
Invitation to Contributors
Please consider the Cactus Explorer as the place to publish your articles. We welcome contributions for any
of the regular features or a longer article with pictures on any aspect of cacti and succulents. The editorial
team is happy to help you with preparing your work. Please send your submissions as plain text in a
‘Word’ document together with jpeg or tiff images with the maximun resolution available.
A major advantage of this on-line format is the possibility of publishing contributions quickly and any
issue is never full! We aim to publish your article within 3 months and the copy deadline is just a few days
before the publication date which is planned for the 10th of February, May, August and November. Please
note that advertising and links are free and provided for the benefit of readers. Adverts are placed at the
discretion of the editorial team, based on their relevance to the readership.
Publisher: The Cactus Explorers Club, Briars Bank, Fosters Bridge, Ketton, Stamford, PE9 3BF U.K.
The Cactus Explorer is available as a PDF file downloadable from www.cactusexplorers.org.uk
The Editorial Team:
Organiser: Graham Charles graham.charles@btinternet.com
Scientific Adviser: Roy Mottram roy@whitestn.demon.co.uk
Paul Hoxey paul@hoxey.com
Zlatko Janeba desert-flora@seznam.cz This issue published on
Martin Lowry m.lowry@hull.ac.uk August 10th 2012
Our thanks go to John Pilbeam and Brian Bates for proof-reading.
Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the editorial team.
Issues of the Cactus Explorer may be freely distributed whilst the copyright of the text and pictures remains
with the authors. Permission is required for any use of this material other than reading, printing or storage.
2
Number 5 August 2012 ISSN 2048-0482 The Cactus Explorer
IntroduCtIon
We are One Year old Today!
A year ago, I asked some friends to help me
launch this new kind of cactus journal. Of
course, it is not difficult to give something
away for free! But, a famous Brit once said ‘The
best things in life are free’ and, although he
wasn’t referring to a cactus journal, price isn’t
the only way to judge value. The readers’
response has been consistently positive so our
challenge is keep it that way.
Since the last issue in May, the weather in
England has been extremely wet, raining
almost every day and breaking rainfall
records. Readers around the world may think
we get weather like this all the time here, but
in summer there are usually days when it is
too hot to work in the glasshouse, but not this
year. The plants look as if they are missing the
sunshine and are a bit lush so let’s hope that
August will be better, for the plants and the
Olympic Games.
August is also the month when the BCSS will
hold the National Show on Saturday 18th, a and well-known student of succulents,
great day out with lots to see and do. It will be especially Aloe. In the picture above, he can be
the biggest plant sale in the UK this year and seen in a glasshouse at the Jardin Exotique,
the competitive classes should provide plenty Monaco, admiring a flowering plant of Aloe
of inspiration. See the BCSS website for all the pillansii.
details.
As another summer passes, I look forward to
This edition of the Cactus Explorer is not, the Cactus Explorers weekend in September
as I expected, smaller than the last. I thought and meeting friends at ELK in Belgium.
that our authors would be too busy with
summer jobs to write, but not so. We have a GrahamCharles
good range of articles, including some from
new contributors. I urge you to read Derrick We are sorry to hear that Graham Slack passed away
on 12th May 2012. He was well known to many of us
Rowe’s article about some bizarre succulents of
through his activities with the Chileans.
Australasia and Oceania. An obituary appears on Page 37
There have been a number of new on-line
journals published this year and I am aware The next issue of the Cactus Explorer is
that if our journal gets too big it could become planned for November 2012. If you have not
daunting to read. Do let me know if you have already told me and would like to be advised
an opinion about this. when it is available for download, please
send me your E-mail address to be added to
I am very pleased to publish an article from the distribution list.
Professor Len Newton, president of the IOS Thank you for your interest and support!
3
nEWs and EvEnts

Oxford Show with the Mammillaria Society
Wolfgang Plein (right) discusses the show with Alasdair

Glen, judge of the Mammillaria Society classes and
Chairman of the BCSS.
It has been a record-breaking wet Summer in
England but happily it was dry for the big show at in which they are found. The relationships between
Oxford on Sunday 15th July. This annual event has the many names, both old and new, from the region
earned a reputation for being one of the highest were discussed.
quality shows in the country and this year visitors It was a really great day out and a sampler for the
were again treated to a splendid display of plants. National Show in August.
As well as a wide range of competitive classes for GC
cacti and other succulents, there were many more The BCSS National Show
especially for Mammillaria and associated genera
18th August
organised by the Mammillaria Society. These
classes especially attract plants of the highest Every four years, the British Cactus and
quality and many wonderful plants went home Succulent Society organises its National Show
without a prize card. and 2012 is the year. If you are planning to be
in Britain in August, maybe for the Olympic
Games, it’s an event not to be missed. The
venue is about one hour’s journey north of
London, near to the A1.
The competitive show has 134 classes and
attracts the best plants in the country. As well
as the show, there are lots of trade stands
selling plants, books and accessories so a great
day out is guaranteed.The BCSS National
Show Saturday 18th August 2012 at Wood
Green Animal Shelter, Godmanchester, near
The day was rounded off by an expert lecture Huntingdon.
given by Wolfgang Plein from Germany about the
Mammillarias of north-western Mexico, the result http://www.bcss.org.uk/nat_show.php
of his extensive fieldwork. The many images of There are many local show, meetings and
flowering plants in habitat gave an insight into their sales held in Britain every year. The BCSS
variation in nature, illustrating how difficult it can publishes a list which you can view on-line at
be to decide what constitutes a different species.
http://www.bcss.org.uk/events.php
Wolfgang explained his theories about plants and
how their identity correlates with the river systems GC
4
ELK Meeting 2012
The 47th staging of this ever-popular
international meeting of cactus and succulent
enthusiasts will take place from 7th to 9th
September 2012 at the usual venue on the coast
of Belgium, east of Blankenberge.
As well as the biggest plant sale in Europe,
there will be five talks given in various
languages:
Friday 7th
20.00 Cacti of Peru. Land of the Incas.
Guillermo Rivera, Argentina
Saturday 8th
10.30 Echinocereus. Mieke Geuens, Belgium
15.30 Kleine Chilenen: Bodenschätze unter

den chilenischen Kakteen. Ricardo Keim,
Chile.
20.00 Cacti of the Marañon Valley, Peru.

Graham Charles, U.K.
Sunday 9th
09.00 Echeveria. Jean-Michel Moullet, France.
Details of the event can be found at

www.elkcactus.eu
German Society Calendar 2013

The German Cactus Society (DKG) are again
publishing their calendar this year and, as
usual, it has twelve high quality images of
plants in cultivation and in habitat.
For 2013, the pictures include Astrophytum
caput-medusae, Tacinga subcylindrica, Pterocactus
valentinii, Puya raimondii and Pachypodium
namaquanum.
This edition has a different, narrower, format
than those recently published. There is a brief
description of each plant in German, French,
Italian and English.
The 2013 calendar is available for DKG
members at 7.00€. See the DKG website for
details.
If you are not a member of DKG, you can
order it from Kakteen Haage for 7.50€.
5
rECEnt nEW dEsCrIptIons

Paul Hoxey describes his search for Browningia hernandezii – A remarkable new
species from Colombia. Photos by the author
Fig.1 Browningia hernandezii PH960.01 above Corrales, Río Chicamocha, 2520m
Colombia, a country in the north-western found there and described.

part of South America is not commonly In 2006, the Colombian botanist José Luis
associated with cacti but nevertheless it has a Fernández-Alonso described a new species of
reasonable cactus flora of 35 species according Browningia from central Colombia. The
to Hunt (1999). It is often thought of as a detailed and well-illustrated description was
country predominately covered in tropical published in a Colombian scientific journal but
jungle but in fact, it has a far more diverse fortunately it is available online for download.
range of habitats because of the Andes that
form a mountainous backbone north to south This is a particularly interesting discovery
through the centre of the country. since, until then, the genus Browningia was
only known from Peru, with one species
The mountains are dissected by a number of extending into northern Chile (Browningia
rivers that form deep valleys and within some candelaris) and another just entering into
of these valleys there are arid enclaves due to southern Ecuador (Browningia microsperma).
the rain shadow affects of the high mountains. The new species, Browningia hernandezii, is
Not surprisingly, these arid habitats are restricted to the Cañon del Chicamocha, a deep
favoured by xerophytic plants and are home to and arid river system over 1000km distant
a number of cactus species. This short article from the nearest Browningia microsperma
concerns one such valley in central Colombia populations. It is remarkable to find a
and a noteworthy cactus that has recently been Browningia so far disjunct from the remainder
6
Fig.2 Browningia hernandezii PH955.01 Fig.3 Browningia hernandezii PH955.01
Fig.4 Browningia hernandezii PH955.01 partially

developed fruit.
of the genus and it is far from a simple range
extension of a known population.
The discovery was little noticed by the cactus Fig.5 Browningia hernandezii PH960.01 flower bud.
fraternity, perhaps because cereoid cacti are stop off in Colombia for 3 days on my return to
not the most suitable for pot cultivation and the UK from Peru in April 2011. My goal was
Browningia is not a genus commonly found in to try and see Browningia hernandezii in habitat.
UK collections. However, I find such unlikely
discoveries very enticing and hoped one day to I arrived in Bogotá and by bus found my way
visit Colombia to see this species for myself. A to Sogamoso, a town at the head of the Río
look at the map indicated that the Cañon del Chicamocha. Sogamoso lies at an altitude of
Chicamocha is relatively close to Bogotá and 2600m and has a relativity damp climate and,
reasonably accessible, so a plan was hatched to apart from a few cultivated Opuntia around
7
Fig.6 Agave species PH955.05
town, it did not look to be an ideal place to next to reach a few of the cacti for closer
search for cacti. Very intense rains had hit inspection.
Colombia shortly before my arrival and there At this location (PH955) the plants were
has been significant flooding country-wide. limited to 3-4m tall, a little smaller than the
Sogamoso had been affected and large areas of maximum 7m quoted in the description for
farm land around the town were under Browningia hernandezii, but branched readily.
standing water. After a few enquires I was Older stems had a bluish-grey colour but fresh
fortunate to find a local guide, Luis, who I growth was bright-green and the plants had
contracted along with his 4x4 vehicle for a day clearly responded to the recent rains with a
of cactus hunting. spurt of growth. The stems are about 8-12cm
Early the following day and using the in diameter and have up to 12 fairly deep ribs.
location details given in the first description On older stems the spines are grey and
we headed down into the Río Chicamocha number 20 to 30 but fresh growth has fewer,
canyon. The road followed the swollen river only 15 or so, brown spines. Perhaps further
that was nearly overflowing its banks. It did spines develop as the stem matures. I found a
not look at all like a cactus habitat with green few green and partially developed fruits
and densely-vegetated slopes but as we [Figs.2, 4 & 7] which unfortunately only
descended the conditions became a little drier contained unripe seeds. However, they
and eventually we encountered cereoid cacti showed the naked scaly fruits typical of the
on a gently inclined hillside at approximately genus to confirm that this was indeed
2500m. Could this be Browningia hernandezii? Browningia hernandezii. Fig.16 shows a fruit of
The plants were surrounded by dense Browningia candelaris, the type species of the
vegetation and consequently difficult to genus, for comparison. Ripe fruits turn a deep
approach. The terrain was scattered with large red colour and contain seeds within a white
boulders underneath the vegetation and I pulp. I imagine the colour makes them
carefully clambered from one boulder to the attractive for birds to eat, so subsequently
8
Fig.7Browningia hernandezii PH955.01 with partially developed fruits
dispersing the seeds.

The only other cactus species growing here
was a yellow-flowered Opuntia, perhaps O.
schumannii or O. elatior, but the habitat was full
of other interesting plants. I illustrate here a
few of the more noteworthy plants for
succulent enthusiasts, including a succulent-
leaved Peperomia species that formed clumps
on exposed rocks [Fig.9] and a nearly leafless,
scrambling Asclepiad (Cynanchum?) [Figs.10
Fig.8 Passiflora species.PH955.07 Fig.9 Peperomia species PH955.04
9
Fig.10 Cynanchum species (?) PH955.09
Chicamocha canyon and passed the village of

Corrales. A large group of inflorescences with
reddish yellow flowers on a steep muddy bank
by the side of the road caught my eye and I
was pleased to discover a population of
Echeveria quitensis [Figs.12-13]. After
scrambling up the bank I was surprised and
quite unprepared for the size of the plants. I
Fig.11 Cynanchum species (?) PH955.09 have seen several Echeveria species in Peru and
Mexico but here the largest plants had naked
& 11] with tiny white flowers, just a few stems exceeding one meter high topped off
millimetres in diameter. The cacti were home with a green rosette of leaves and then an
to a number of different plants especially a inflorescence of 50cm or more.
Tillandsia species growing as an epiphyte but
also a Passiflora sp. [Fig.8] that clambered over The Browningia were not frequently
the branches. encountered but we took a side road which
descended to a bridge over the river. We
I was particularly interested to find an Agave crossed to the other side and by making
species with attractive blue-coloured leaves enquires with some local residents we found
with closely-packed teeth along the margins another small stand of Browningia. The plants
[Fig.6]. A few Agave have been described from are known locally as “dato” and once we
Colombia so they are native to the country, but learnt the name and started asking if there are
published information on Colombian species is any “dato” in the area the local population
scarce and I have been unable to determine a immediately understood what we were
name for this one. Comments on its identity searching for.
from Agave experts are very welcome!
This second population (PH956) consisted of
We continue descending down into the Río just a handful of plants situated on a small but
10
Fig.12 Echeveria quitensis PH956.01 Near Corrales, Fig.13 Echeveria quitensis PH956.01 Near Corrales,
Río Chicamocha, 2450m Río Chicamocha, 2450m
steep rocky slope surrounded by farm land.
Again they were covered in epiphytic Tillandsia
and growing well. Buds, recent flower
remains and unripe fruits were all in evidence
but unfortunately they were lacking flowers.
The flowers are nocturnal and presumably
pollinated by bats, like the other members of
the genus. They are described as 4.5-6cm long
and 4.5cm in diameter in the original
description.
A third micro-population (PH959) of just two
roadside plants was seen from the car and
briefly examined as we started the return
journey to Sogamoso. The fourth and final
location visited was above the village of
Corrales. We were told that cacti grew on the
hills above the village so we set out to
investigate. We took a small track that climbed
up the hillside above the village. The land was
mainly used for grazing with no sign of cacti
other than a few Opuntias until we reached a
steep rocky slope on the edge of a field. Once
again we encountered a small number of
Browningia (PH960) but here the plants grew Fig.14 Browningia hernandezii PH959.01with stems
densely covered with Tillandsia
11
Fig.15 Browningia hernandezii PH958.01 Road to Betéitiva, Río Chicamocha, 2550m
significantly larger with more impressive arid habitats. Browningia hernandezii is

proportions than we had seen previously. One probably a relict species hanging on in this one
plant had in excess of one hundred branches valley in rather small, fragmented populations.
and reached perhaps 5m tall and wide. Other We found four scattered populations within a
specimens growing further down the slope 15km section of the valley, all at an altitude of
reached in excess of 8m and perhaps as high as 2500m. The description states it is found along
10m but the steepness of the terrain made it 75km of the valley so I explored only the
impossible to reach them to make accurate upper end of the range and I cannot assess
measurements. how frequent or otherwise it occurs
The Cañon del Chicamocha is probably a throughout the range. Browningia hernandezii
refuge for arid-adapted plants within the is reported to grow in a relatively narrow
northern Andes where they remain isolated altitude band of 2500 to 2150m so does not
and have little opportunity to escape to other appear to grow in the more arid lower altitude
section of the valley.
References
Fernández-Alonso, J.L. (2006) Nueva especie
Colombiana de Browningia potencialmente
promisoria para el país. Revista Acad. Colomb.
Ci. Exact. XXX (114): 19-30
Hunt, D. (1999) CITES Cactaceae checklist. 2nd
edition.
Hunt. D et al. (2011) NCL updates etc:
Browningia. Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives
Paul Hoxey
Fig.16 Fruit of Browningia candelaris PH884.01 Road to
paul@hoxey.com
Tarata from Tacna, Peru 2540m (for comparison).
12
Zlatko Janeba provides us with more information about Maihueniopsis

glochidiata, a new species recently described by Graham Charles and discussed
in the last issue of the Cactus Explorer. Photos by the author
Fig.1 Maihueniopsis glochidiata ZJ 180. This plant has been in cultivation since 1998 when a single tiny segment was
collected in the mountains of Sierra Sanogasta, E. of Los Tambillos. The joint had travelled in my backpack through
Argentina and Chile for almost 2 months before successfully rooting in cultivation.
In the last issue of The Cactus Explorer, Cutting a long story short …
an interesting small species of the genus … on 19th January 1998, we took a bus
Maihueniopsis was introduced by Graham (company IVANLOR) from Alegro Puerte,
Charles (Charles 2012). This very recently where we studied cactus flora, especially nice
described cactus (Charles 2011) was quite often form of Gymnocalycium riojense (today
brought from field trips to Argentina by probably called G. riojense var. mirandense).
various travellers and is often grown in After more than 1 hour drive the bus stopped
cultivation, but usually under the name of M. at our next destination, Los Tambillos, La
minuta. I also saw similar plants in nature and Rioja. Since we still had some time before dusk
want to tell you my story. we searched the flat area E of Los Tambillos for
In 1998 I visited Argentina for the third time. cacti and saw Gymnocalycium aff. guanchinense
That time I travelled with my friend Petr (flat, very spiny plants) growing mostly under
Bernat, who was interested mostly in the bushes, Cereus aethiops, Echinopsis leucantha,
genus Tillandsia. On this trip we were using Denmoza rhodacantha, Tephrocactus alexanderi,
local transport, i.e. buses and hitch-hiking. Our Trichocereus candicans and T. terscheckii among
expedition took 63 days (from 7.1.1998 till others. We also found various Tillandsias on
10.3.1998), it was the most strenuous cactus the bushes, e.g. T. bryoides, T. capillaris, T.
hunting trip I have ever made, but at the same gilliesii, and T. xifioides. It was very hot that
time I have to admit, it was so far the best, afternoon, 37°C in the shade, and very windy
most exciting trip and a real adventure. And with a lot of dust in the air, so we got pretty
we also saw a number of very interesting exhausted after some roaming around. After
cactus and bromeliad species. our return to the settlement we got ‘queso
13
Fig.2 Top view of the same plant as in Fig.1. It can be noticed on the older joints that their epidermis can get easily
sunburnt during spring months.
casero de cabras’ (homemade goat’s cheese) variable in spination.
and coke for dinner and the locals let us stay Since I was not sure at the time what species
overnight at an unfinished building. it was, I took a single segment with me and I
The next day (20th January, 1998) we got up was able to collect some seeds as well. After
at 7 a.m. and headed eastwards, across the flat some more exploration we started to descend
bushy area we had searched the day before, to back and the lower we were, the hotter it was.
the high mountain range (Sierra Sanogasta, We got back to Los Tambillos at about 2 p.m.
just south of the famous Cuesta de Miranda). and it was already 35°C in the shade. After
After one hour or so we reached the foot of the some refreshment we caught a bus and headed
mountains and started climbing up, using a towards Chilecito … (adapted from my travel
dry river bed at first … to an elevation of some diary of the 1998 trip).
2500m and higher (up to ±2700m) where we After coming back to Prague I tried to
observed e.g. Lobivia (Soehrensia) rosarioana, identify the tiny Opuntia species, but that
quite common Pyrrhocactus andreaeanus loaded seemed to be not a very easy task. Finally, I
with ripe fruits, and a very variable small concluded that it might be a form of Opuntia
Opuntia species. minuta or O. ovata. I have discussed these
I was especially very happy for the encounter plants and their variability in the Tephrocactus
with P. andreaeanus since it was the only Study Group journal (Janeba 2000) in the hope
Argentinean Pyrrhocactus I had not seen before that somebody would tell me what it really
(although it is considered to be only a form of was. But I got no response. And since the TSG
P. strausianus). Also, the Opuntias seemed to be article (Janeba 2000) is not easily available I use
very interesting plants. There was something one paragraph from it here:
like a small form of Cumulopuntia boliviana and “… I suppose that they were all forms of
the tiny Opuntia mentioned before. Opuntia (Maihueniopsis) minuta (Backeb.) Cast.
Interestingly, the tiny Opuntia was quite
14
As the photographs illustrate, they were very
variable and the plants were just a few meters
apart. The segments were oval and very small
(1 - 1.5cm long) and formed relatively compact
groups. The spination varied considerably.
There was one extreme form with almost no
spines, but many of this form had yellowish,
long tufts of glochids. The second extreme
form had almost no glochids, but 3 - 5 very
distinct spines: up to 1 cm long radials and 1 –
2 central strongly flattened ones up to 3.3cm
long. There were also many transitional forms.
Seeds were typical for the subgenus
Maihueniopsis, lentil like and smooth. ”(taken
from TSG article, Janeba 2000)
Both forms of the Maihueniopsis were
depicted in the above article (Janeba 2000). In
1998 I offered seeds of this interesting Opuntia
as: Maihueniopsis sp. (tiny bodies), ZJ 180, E. of
Los Tambillos (2500m), La Rioja (from my 1998
seedlist).
I do not remember whether anybody bought Fig.3 Pyrrhocactus andreaeanus ZJ 181 in cultivation. It
the seeds from me, but they did not germinate is a 14-year-old plant grown from the seeds collected in
for me. Thus, it seems there is only the single 1998 east of Los Tambillos, La Rioja, Argentina. These
clone that is shown in the two figures (Figs.1 & seedlings flower freely each year with number of
enchanting two-coloured flowers and set many seeds.
2). The single tiny segment taken at the locality
E. of Los Tambillos survived the long trip and References
moreover, it survived many years in Charles, G. (2012) Recent new descriptions.
cultivation. Unfortunately, it has not flowered The Cactus Explorer 4:8-12
yet. But I placed it in a larger pot so maybe
next year? Charles, G. (2011) Maihueniopsis glochidiata
species nova. Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives
During the repotting I noticed its large 25:20
tuberous roots, pity I did not take a picture of
it then. Although the plant does not want to Janeba, Z. (2000) Opuntia (Maihueniopsis)
make me happy with flowers, the segments fall minuta? TSG 6(2):382-384
apart quite freely and can be easily rooted in a Janeba, Z. (2009) Eriosyce andreaeana
sandy substrate. It is a modest plant and good Kattermann.
option for those who do not have much space http://www.cact.cz/noviny/2009/10/Eriosyce_a
and still want to keep some Opuntias to ndreaeana.htm
diversify their cactus collections.
Janeba, Z. (2010) Pyrrhocactus andreaeanus
Anyway, I am not still sure what to call this (Backeb.) Ritter. Atlas kaktusů XXV/35.
plant (M. minuta or M. glochidiata), as I am not
Zlatko Janeba desert-flora@seznam.cz
100% sure they are different (separate) species.
Thus, I look forward very much to read the full
account of the molecular study mentioned by
Graham Charles and I can supply my clone as
well, if there is an interest to continue with the
DNA testing.
15
The first description of Corryocactus erici-marae has just been published in

International Cactus Adventures No.95 (July 2012). The genus Corryocactus
(including Erdisia) is surely one of the least understood genera of the Cactaceae.
Photos by Paul Hoxey and Graham Charles
Photo: Paul Hoxey

Photo: Graham Charles
Fig.1 Corryocactus erici-marae RRP1080 from Lic Lic,

Cajamarca, Peru in culture
Fig.2 Corryocactus erici-marae PH235.01 on the trail
I met Nelson Cieza Padilla when I visited San
from Huagal to Pai-Pai, Cajamarca, Peru at 2950m
Marcos, a town south of Cajamarca, Peru. He
was working on the project to establish a kilometers away near Cuzco. As Paul Hoxey
botanical garden there. During his says, there have been a number of new
explorations of the surroundings, he came descriptions recently where authors have
across this Corryocactus and considering it to be sought to justify the differences of their new
undescribed, he named it after his children. taxa by comparing them with other species
that are not the most similar.
He explains that he has seen similar plants at
other localities in Cajamarca Province, even as A better species for the comparison would
far north as Baños del Inca which is near have been Corryocactus apiciflorus, first
Cajamarca City. Paul Hoxey has also seen this described as Cereus apiciflorus by Vaupel in
plant near Huagal and Chris Pugh saw it, or 1913 from a collection of Weberbauer. This old
something similar, above Balsas on the road to name has now been applied to similar-looking
Leimabamba, so it would appear to be plants distributed over a wide area of Peru. It
widespread in the Marañon river valley and is probably the oldest name for this new
nearby. description, originating from a similar altitude
further south and also in the Marañon valley.
The plant has thin, erect stems to 1.64m
growing from a tuberous root. The red-orange Although they easily flower when young, the
flowers are borne mainly from the upper parts small-growing Corryocactus species, known by
of the stems. Its habitats are said to be steep some as Erdisia, are not often seen in UK
rocky cliffs between 2325 and 3097m. collections, perhaps because the stems are
rather plain and poorly-spined. Paul Hoxey
The author states that his investigation of has distributed seedlings of the plant in Fig. 2
other described species led him to conclude as well as PH240.01 from the same trail but
that he had found a new one. He compares his lower down at 2700m. They are very easy to
find with Corryocactus erectus which is certainly grow and start to flower for me when less than
a different species and from hundreds of 25cm tall. GC
16
In thE GlasshousE

Stenocereus eruca trough, the sort of container often used on
window sills. They report that after it
Here is yet another really individual plant, a established, the plant grew well and needed a
cereoid species which most enthusiasts would further trough to be placed next to the first.
recognise. My earliest memory of this They later succeeded in obtaining a succession
remarkable cactus was seeing the specimen of flowers during the summer which they tell
exhibited by Tom and Agnes Lavender that us opened in the evening and faded the
won a Diploma at the National Show held in following morning.
Luton, England in 1979. Not only was it an
unusual species to see at a show but it was I was inspired by this story so when I had the
actually flowering. You can see a picture of the chance to buy a cutting from an imported
plant, taken at the time by Helmut Broogh, in plant, I was delighted. My experience has been
the National C&S Journal 34(4):84 (1979). very similar to that of the Lavenders. I also
planted my cutting horizontally in a trough
Two years earlier, Tom and Agnes had and placed it on the top shelf of my glasshouse
described their experiences with ‘The Devil’. in the sunniest place I had. It has since grown
Having obtained their plant from a nursery in quickly, not only growing longer but
Menton, France in 1971, they sensibly laid the producing wonderfully-spiny side branches
cutting horizontally on the soil in a plastic that optimistically send roots from their lowest
17
areoles hoping to establish in nearby pots! The decided to take the post-convention tour to
fresh growth is adorned with new spines with Baja as an easy introduction with experienced
their prominent pinky-red colour. It has guides. It was the beginning of June and Baja
flowered regularly for many years now but was very dry.
photography is difficult since I cannot easily As the bus turned off Rte.1 along Rte.22
lift the metre-long trough off the top shelf. The across the flat Magdalena plain towards San
picture on the previous page was taken in situ Carlos, I wondered if we would be able to find
while I was standing on a ladder! the ‘Creeping Devil’ since I had heard that
Seed of Stenocereus eruca is occasionally agricultural activity had adversely affected the
offered for sale and it is quite easy to raise. populations. I need not have been concerned, a
Bryan Goody, owner of Southfield Nursery few patches of the plant were soon noticed
(which is near where I live in England) planted amongst the roadside vegetation.
out a seedling in a big wooden box. The plant Arriving near the sea, on level ground within
sent out arms which radiated from a central sight of the prominent power station, we were
point and made an impressive specimen. surrounded by the decumbent stems of
A batch of seedlings raised by Chris Pugh Stenocereus eruca. It was a thrill to walk among
produced two cristates. One made a tight the stems which were pointing in every
mound of thin cristate stems, whilst the other direction, climbing over each other but not
started as a normal stem, the end of which showing signs of flowers or fruits.
then grew into a single flat cristate fan with As is often described, the stems have their
roots growing from the underside. heads raised whilst the back end of the stems
It was not until 2007 that I was able to see this shrivel and die. It is as if they are slowly
amazing plant in its natural habitat. I had moving forwards like giant caterpillars, hence
attended the CSSA Convention in Seattle and the name ‘eruca’, from the Latin ‘eruca’
18

meaning a caterpillar. There were specimens of

the widespread Mammillaria dioica in some
parts of the population (see picture bottom
right)
Townshend Stith Brandegee was making a
botanical expedition in Baja when he came
across this plant. It had previously been seen
but had never been named so Brandegee
named it Cereus eruca in the Proceedings of the
California Academy of Sciences (1889).
After initially combining Cereus eruca in
Lemaireocereus, Britton and Rose created a
new genus Machaerocereus in Volume II of
‘The Cactaceae’ to include M. eruca as the type
species and M. gummosus, another related

plant from Baja California.
In the 1930s, the area was visited by many
famous cactus explorers like Howard Gates,
Yale Dawson and Gil Tegelberg. The sandy
roads presented major difficulties to their
attempts to travel by car but, at that time, the
populations of Machaerocereus eruca were in
pristine condition. They all gave enthusiastic
reports of the populations of this extraordinary
19
Brandegee’s picture of Cereus Picture of Cereus eruca published in

eruca that was published with his first ‘Monatsschrift für Kakteenkunde’
The Howard Gates catalogue from
description in the ‘Proceedings of the (1895) and repeated in Karl
1933 in which M. eruca is offered in
California Academy of Sciences’ Schumann’s ‘Gesamtbescreibung der
various sizes from 6in. to 6ft.(below)
(1889) Kakteen’
plant. Later reports from the 1960s describe
how increased agcricultural use of the plain
had reduced the extent of the ‘Creeping Devil’.
Machaerocereus eruca was its generally
accepted name for many years until Gibson
and Horak (1978) moved the plant into at the junction of the dead portion, which part shrinks
and disintegrates in a year or two. The tip of the living
Stenocereus, a large genus including many portion is slightly elevated, which permits it to rise up
columnar cacti from Central America. and climb over an obstacle such as another plant lying
on the ground.
Probably because of its unique appearance,
The region where the Eruca grows is subject to very
the plant created much interest and was in heavy fogs at certain seasons. This causes a lichen to
great demand from collectors. Howard Gates grow on the spines, making the strange spectacle of a
had a nursery in Anaheim, California and moss-backed cactus. The natives call this species,
"Chirinola," but the common English name of "Creeping
made a number of trips to Baja California to Devil" fits it very nicely.”
collect plants. In an article published in the
‘Desert’ magazine in October 1930, he tells of His collecting activities provided growers
his experence with the ‘Creeping Devil’: with a chance to buy lengths of M. eruca and
this remarkable plant was introduced into
“The traveler has to go a long way to see this one, as it
only grows near the sea coast in the sparsely settled widespread cultivation. GC
Magdalena Bay region. The searcher for it feels well References
rewarded when he finds the eerie place, where Brandegee, T. S. Cereus eruca Proc. Calif. Acad. 2:163
hundreds of these "Creeping Devil" crawl around (1889)
through the brush like great snakes, or a horde of
hungry, hairy caterpillars. The plants are covered with a Gay, Ed and Betty Baja California’s Creeping Devil’
multitude of flattened, stiff spines that curve back NCSJ 21(1):26-27 (1966)
toward the body of the plant and heighten the Gibson, A.C. & Horak, K.E. Systematic Anatomy and
resemblance to a hairy caterpillar. One must be careful Phylogeny of Mexicn Columnar Cacti. Annals of the
of these spines as they are very sharp, and hurt as Missouri Botanical Gardens (1978) 65(4):999-1057
though they carried a little poison. The most curious Lavender, T. & A. Machaerocereus eruca NCSJ 32(1):13
feature of these plants is that they lie flat on the ground,
rooting on the under side and as the plant advances the (1977)
hinder part dies. The living portion is about four inches The 1979 National Show NCSJ 34(4):81-86(1979)
thick, and from a few inches to ten feet in length. A new Zeissold, H. Kakteen-Neuheiten Cereus eruca
bark grows over the end of the live portion of the plant MfK5(5):73(1895)
20
The Story of a strange Hamatocactus
René Zahra, Dar ix-Xewk, 44 Triq il-Gistakor,
Ghaxaq GXQ2373, MALTA Photos:René Zahra
For almost 20 years, I have been growing
these cactus plants in my collection. Everyone
who has seen them has asked me what they
are. All I know about them is that they are a
form of Hamatocactus, possibly even a new
species or subspecies.
These plants were grown from seed given to
me by my friend Alfred Lau when he was in
Malta to give us a few talks. I asked Alfred
several questions about this cactus, but with all
the problems he had in his last years it was
impossible to obtain the details I had asked for.
I also waited a long time for Alfred to publish
something about this particular form, but days
rolled into years and now that our friend is not
with us anymore, I feel that I have to share
with you the scanty information I have about
this strange plant.
The story behind this cactus (of which I now
have 6 mature plants all of them with a free
root run) started in 1992. That year Alfred Lau
was in Malta to give us talks. It was after his
first talk that he gave me a small envelope with
some seeds and told us by word of mouth that
this was “Hamatocactus spec. nova from Sta.
Eugeade, Mexico”. I shared these seeds with a
friend, but my friend wrote Sta. Engracia
instead.
Alfred told us that he had collected the seeds
from plants he had found growing on a hill in
the shade of trees in a small pine forest where remained solitary, but others produced a few
he never expected to find any cacti growing. offsets. When my plants finally flowered, the
He also told me that the plants were spineless, big flowers were lemon yellow in colour and
but he was sure that it was a form of both flowers and fruits were quite typical of
Hamatocactus. Although he had collected the those produced by Hamatocactus hamatacanthus.
seeds, he had never seen the flowers. A friend from France who specializes in
In the spring of 1993 I sowed the seeds Alfred Ferocactus was visiting my collection and, on
had given me and from them I managed to seeing these cacti, wanted to know more about
grow a number of plants. I kept a number of them. To start with I looked through the
them in my collection, but I also distributed booklet with Lau’s field numbers, but here
some of seedlings amongst my friends, both in there is no mention about any unnamed
Malta and abroad. When the plants I kept had Hamatocactus. Maybe Lau had found these
matured, I noticed that most of them had no plants after the booklet went to the press,
spines at all, but some of them had a few very because it covers only 1972 to 1992. Next I tried
short spines. Some of the mature plants to locate Santa Eugeada in Mexico using
21
Thrixanthocereus senilis
Photo: Chris Pugh

Google Earth, but no such place was to be
found. In spite of this it was suggested that I
might be looking for Santa Egueda in north
Baja California. I looked at this place and I
found that it is a very small village consisting
of a few huts and, interestingly enough, there
was indeed a small forest to the north of it.
Knowing that species of Hamatocactus are
found in Texas, New Mexico, Durango, Nuevo I had always thought the flowers of
León, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas and Thrixanthocereus senilis are dark pink, so when
Tamaulipas that are all on the eastern side of Chris Pugh told me that his plant had white
the continent, I had to rule out this location. flowers, I was surprised. I had always thought
On questioning my friend about this matter he that dark pink was unusual for a nocturnal
told me that he had written Sta. Engracia and flower that is presumably pollinated by bats.
not Sta. Eugeade. Looking once again at The plant is known from a few isolated
Google Earth, I found that there are two Sta. habitats in Peru so perhaps the flowers are
Engracia: one in Nuevo León and the other in white at one of these places. It would be
Tamaulipas. I looked at both places, and the interesting to hear from readers if they know
most promising one was Sta. Engracia in of any other white-flowered plants or any
Tamaulipas where, to the west of the town, reference to them in the literature. GC
there is a hill which has its sides covered with
what look like trees.

The main reason why I’m publishing this
information is because it seems that, here in
Malta, we are the only ones to whom Alfred
gave the seeds of this form of Hamatocactus.
Another reason is to encourage anyone
travelling in the area mentioned above to
check the locality because, if these cacti grow
there, one might be able to give this form a
much needed official name to be able to
identify properly this very interesting cactus.
Rene Zahra
22
A New Locality for Old Favourites: Mammillaria saetigera
Matucana comacephala

Photo: Chris Pugh
What makes a cactus species popular? I often

wonder why some plants are always in
demand, whilst others that are more attactive
to my eyes, are rarely requested or talked
about. I am still very fond of plants I grew as a
beginner all those years ago and I plan to share
some of these with you in the Cactus
Explorer.
My first example is Mammillaria saetigera. I
had my first plant with this name more than 40
Matucana comacephala is widespread in the years ago so, when I saw it offered under the
drainage system of the River Marañon in Peru. field number Rog 432 in the seedlist of the
In the last issue of the Cactus Explorer, German Mammillaria Society, I had to grow it
Holger Witner explained why he considers it again.
to be a different species from M. myriacantha
which occurs further north in the same river One of the tiny seedlings had three heads so
system. He published a number of pictures that was one I kept. It grew easily and quickly
showing flower colours from pale pink to red- and now fills a 22cm bowl. Every year it has
orange. rings of pretty pink flowers. The other seedling
I kept is a single head and is overall much
When we were at the habitat of Matucana smaller so perhaps three heads are better than
oreodoxa ssp. roseiflora, we met a local man who one! I cross-pollinated the plants and the red
told us that the M. comacephala there had fruits started to appear in July. I think it is the
orange flowers. They were not flowering at the symmetry which attracts me to Mammillarias
time but we were able to find some seeds. Now and this is certainly a good example.
we have seen flowers in cultivation and orange
is a reasonable description of the colour of its The application of the name M. saetigera,
spectacular flowers. which was described in 1933, is uncertain, but
in cultivation plants with this name usually
These Matucanas are easy to grow, enjoying look like the illustration above. If you accept a
as much sunshine as you can provide. They wide concept of species then you would
usually grow on steep slopes in nature, so probably include it in M. hahniana. The location
need a well-drained compost and a pot that is given for Rogozinski 432 is Guamúchil, in
not too big . Guanajuato state, Mexicó.
GC GC
23
Journal roundup
Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives

The latest issue of this Bulletin of the
Piante grasse now in English International Cactaceae Systematics Group
includes updates to the treatment of various
The second issue available in English has just genera in preparation for the second edition of
been published and it is a welcome addition to the New Cactus Lexicon.
the journals I can easily understand. The
There is also more information about the
layout is very attractive and represents a proposed publication of Ritter’s photographs
significant improvement over previous years. in colour, including some sample pages. Paul
This issue includes the description of a new Hoxey comments on the recently-described
species Corynopuntia nigrispina and a review of Copiapoa griseoviolacea (see the Cactus
Digitostigma caput-medusae. Al Laius writes Explorer 2:16) , suggesting that it could
about ‘Gasterias in the Veld’ and there is an well be a re-description of Ritter’s Copiapoa
account of Kunkeliella subsucculenta, a rare cuprea.
succulent endemic from Tenerife. Cold-hardy The posthumous publication of an article by
Agaves and detailed review of Sempervivum the late Beat Leuenberger, concerning the
wulfenii completes the core of this impressive application of the name Cereus tupizensis
production. Vaupel, is most welcome. The name was used
by Backeberg as the earliest name for the
It is a brave venture to start a new English
Cleistocactus growing near Tupiza, Potosí,
language journal at this time, so please
Bolivia. However, it is now clear that it was a
consider subscribing to it: re-description of the plant named Oreocereus
http://www.piantegrassejournal.it/eng/index.html celsianus. So, the Cleistocactus we have in our
collections needs to be re-named C. buchtienii
according to the New Cactus Lexicon.
You can subscribe to CSI by contacting the
publisher: David Hunt GC
24
On-line Journals for you to download

Publishing journals on the web is becoming more popular and the number is increasing.
Here are the links for you to download and enjoy.
Xerophilia
The first issue of Xerophilia appeared in June this year. It is
published in Romania but much of the content is in English as
well as Romanian. It is intended to focus on cultivation with
articles about growing and propagating our plants.
The first edition has 88 pages and includes articles about
Corynopuntia, the Pinya de Rosa garden, Digitostigma, Opuntia
fragilis, Mammillaria schiedeana, succulent ant houses and
Adromischus. The next issue is due by the 30th September.
The magazine may be read online or downloaded as a pdf
from
http://xerophilia.ro Contact: xerophilia@xerophilia.ro
Avonia-News
Free German language on-line newsletter of "Avonia", the
quarterly journal of the German Society for other Succulents.
See website: www.fgas-sukkulenten.de
Annual seed list for members and much more.
Special interest groups for Aloe (incl. Haworthia a.s.), Ascleps,
Euphorbia, Mesembs and Yucca/winter-hardy Succulents.
For membership and further information contact:
Dr. Jörg Ettelt: Morgenstr. 72, D-59423 Unna,
praesident@fgas.sukkulenten.de or
Wilfried Burwitz: Postfach 100206, D-03002 Cottbus,
geschaeftsstelle@fgas.sukkulenten.de
Succulentopi@
The second issue of this new free online journal has recently
appeared. This is the first one published in French and it is called
Succulentopi@
The quality is excellent as you would expect from Yann Cochard
and his very active team. It is available as a free download from:
http://www.cactuspro.com/succulentopia
Succulentopi@ is a magazine in PDF format published by ‘Le
Cactus Francophone’ and its team. Their goal is to publish it every
three months, and to include articles, information, photos, etc. on
the theme of cacti and other succulents.
25
thE lovE of Books

News of Recent Publications. A Reminder of Old Favourites.
Many cactophiles enjoy reading about their plants, particularly in the winter when our
collections are less demanding. This feature aims to provide you with inspiration.
including information about their size and
hardiness. Then, the majority of the book is
dedicated to describing 80 species, cultivars
and hybrids with field observations, plant
descriptions and taxonomy, as well as specific
cultural information.
This is a very recommendable book and it
will certainly become my first place of
reference for information about the genus.
Price $39.95 or £16.50 from Keiths Plant Books.
A Photographic Guide to Pricklypears
Here is an attractive and well-produced book
about a subject which has been largely ignored
in recent years. Although Opuntias have
New Agave Book

Even cactus specialists enjoy the symmetry of
Agaves. They make spectacular specimens
and, even in parts of the world where they
cannot be grown outside all the year, they are
excellent container plants for summer display.
So, a new book about these sculptural plants is
very welcome.
‘Agaves. Living sculptures for landscapes
and containers’ by Greg Starr. 342 pages, 228 x
175mm, 225 colour pictures, 1 map, hardbound
in green cloth with colour dust jacket.
Published by Timber Press.
spectacular flowers and are often the dominant
This book is impressively produced, printed cactus genus in habitat, few of us have taken
on good quality paper with consistently high much interest in them. For instance, it was
quality colour pictures of plants in habitat and difficult to find good pictures of them when we
cultivation, all technically and artistically were assembling the New Cactus Lexicon.
pleasing.
This book is designed to help amateurs to tell
The introduction covers Agave reproduction, the species apart by providing good pictures
distribution, conservation, horticultural and grouping them by growth habit. The
history, taxonomy and common names. The introduction prepares you for the identification
following chapter explains how to grow them, of 60 species, varieties, forms and cultivars
26
commonly found in the USA and northern The Printed Legacy of
Mexico. They are grouped by growth habit:
Chapter 1 has mainly tree-like plants; Chapters
Edgar and Brian Lamb
2 and 3 have large schrubby plants and Chris Leather recalls how he became
Chapters 4 to 7 have low-growing plants. interested in the work of E. & B. Lamb and
how he created useful indexes for their serial
Every plant has a full page profile with publications which you can download.
information on names, ornamental uses,
distribution, hardiness, and morphological
characters. Each page has photographs of the
growth habit, stem segments, spines, flowers
and fruits to help direct comparisons and aid
identification.
‘Pricklypears Commonly Found in the
United States and Northern Mexico’ has 144
pages 279 x 216mm, softbound with laminated
board cover. Illustrated with 420 good quality
colour pictures and 3 maps.
Cheryl Green (pictured below on a trip to
Brazil) wrote and organised the book with the I would imagine that nearly everyone who
help of Opuntia specialist Dave Ferguson. She grows cacti and succulents will have at least
is an artist as well as a cactus enthusiast and one book by Edgar Lamb. Indeed, for many,
did a series of paintings of Opuntias. In an the names Edgar and Brian Lamb will recall
endeavour to find out their scientific names, memories of their early collecting days.
she spent 6 years photographing the plants Perhaps the most famous set of books is The
with the aim of producing a book to help Illustrated Reference on Cacti and Other
others with identification. Succulents – five volumes of Cactus and
Succulent pictures. Other familiar books are
I shall certainly find this book useful in The Pocket Encyclopaedia of Cacti in Colour,
putting names to my pictures of ‘Opuntia sp.’ Colourful Cacti and other Succulents of the Deserts
and I recommend it to our readers. Priced at and Popular Exotic Cacti in Colour to name just
$23.95 and available from book dealers or three.
http://www.pricklypeargreen.com GC
Some of you may be familiar with the
Photographic Reference Plates and the Monthly
Notes on the Exotic Collection. These were, in a
way, early examples of those “part works” that
you see advertised on the television. Each
month there was a magazine with growing
tips, travelogues and other general articles.
With each issue there were two numbered
reference plates published, each comprising
short notes about a particular plant together
with a photograph. They were issued over a
period of nearly 40 years (1948–1987) and in
the end there were over 1000 plates published.
Many, many years ago I was given a part set
of The Exotic Collection magazines by one of
our late Manchester Branch members in a
number of A5 ring binders. Harry Ormerod,
the member in question, had been sorting
through some drawers at home and when he
27
had pulled out the drawer containing the I also thought it would be useful to know
magazines, it had fallen to pieces. Not with which magazine each plate was issued.
wanting to go to all the trouble of putting the Fortunately, on the inside front cover of the
magazines back, he brought them to the next magazines there is a list of which plates were
meeting and gave them to me. “They need published with that magazine. My own
sorting,” he said. “I tried filing them in some magazines provided some information and I
sort of order, but then I gave up as it was too also had some information from Ralph Martin.
complicated.” Hopefully Martin Doorbar and Graham
I spent a few hours over the next few days Charles, who are checking their sets, will be
pulling everything out of the ring binders and able to add more of this information too.
putting all the magazines back together with My website has two PDF files available for
the plates. I suppose I read quite a few, but download – a numerical listing and an
then they got filed away for years and years alphabetical listing. There is also a brief
until recently I saw some for sale in a outline of the history of the plates, magazines
catalogue. and the Exotic Collection. The PDF’s are free
Having bought those, I decided to try and for you to download for your personal use. I
find more and quickly purchased another two hope they prove useful to anyone trying to
or three sets of plates. One of the problems assemble a collection of plates. Having taken a
with such a long running “part work” is that it lot out of the hobby over the years via Branch
is very unlikely that those who were there at meetings, the Journals and latterly the
the start would see the collection through to CactusWorld Forum, I hope my lists go
the end, and those joining later wouldn’t have someway to putting a little bit back.
the earlier plates. What was obvious was that It’s been fun doing all the research and all the
you can find lots of incomplete sets of plates. sorting (even if it was a little tedious and
So I decided to try and get a complete set. As repetitive at times) and I’ve also made quite a
each batch arrived I would merge them into few friends along the way who have given a
the ones I’d already had and, after about five or lot of help and support, for which I am very
six batches, I found I had no more to insert, but grateful. I would like to think that Harry
lots of duplicates. would be pleased to know that I have
At this point, it became apparent that to eventually sorted what he thought to be
make just a list of numbers and plant names impossible.
wouldn’t take into account the variations in Christopher Leather
plate types. Many plates have at least two Downloading indexes from website .
different versions. Once all the numbers and
plant names had been listed in a spreadsheet, I
had to sort all of the plates into the different
types. It turns out that there are five major
types with seventeen minor variations.
28
CaCtus pEoplE hIstorIEs

The Cactus Explorer welcomes Chuck Staples and his first article about people
who have made significant contributions to the study of cacti and succulents
Gray (1810–1888) at Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts during the
summers of 1872, 1873 and 1875. Moving to
Lincoln, Nebraska he became chair of botany
and horticulture at the University of Nebraska
and a dean of the College of Agriculture at the
college from 1884 until his death in 1915. He
started agricultural research at both Iowa State
College and University of Nebraska.
Professor Bessey received an honorary
Master of Science degree from Michigan
Agricultural College in 1872, an honorary
The following brief biography touches
Doctor of Philosophy degree from Iowa
mainly on the aspects of the life and career of
University, Iowa City in 1879 and an honorary
the person above as they relate to his
Doctor of Law from Grinnell College, Grinnell,
contributions to the cactus plant world. This
Iowa in 1898.
person made wider contributions than I have
included here, but we hope that for the Scientific honors for Professor Bessey
interested cactologist, this will prove a include: 1) President of Society for the
sufficient introduction to the personality of the Promotion of Agricultural Science (1889–1891),
individual. 2) President of Botanical Society of America
(1895–1896), 3) medal for distinguished service
Charles Edwin Bessey (1845–1915) was
in botany from the International Academy of
probably the most important botanist west of
Geographical Botany (1899), 4) President of
the Mississippi from the 1880s to about 1910
American Association for the Advancement of
and was immortalized in the cactus plant
Science (1910–1912).
world by having the genus Neobesseya named
in his honor. Publicatons by Professor Bessey include:
Botany for High Schools and Colleges (1880);
Born in a log cabin on a farm in Wayne
The Essentials of Botany (1884); Elementary
County, Ohio on 21 May 1845, Charles Bessey
Botany (1904); Plant Migration Studies (1905);
became an educator, agriculturist and botanist.
The Phylogenetic Taxonomy of Flowering
His primary education was under the direction
Plants (1915).
of his mother and father. After teaching school
for a couple of years he began his college The genus Neobesseya was named in Professor
education at Michigan State Agricultural Bessey's honor by Nathaniel Lord Britton
College, Lansing in the summer of 1866, (1859–1934) and Joseph Nelson Rose (1862–
receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1928) in 1923. However, the genus name
botany in 1869. Neobesseya later became a synonym of
Escobaria.
He was hired as an instructor of botany and
horticulture at Iowa State College, Ames in Charles Edwin Bessey passed away on 25
1870, and a full professor by 1872, where he February 1915.
established the first laboratory as part of the Chuck Staples
course. He met and studied under Dr. Asa
29
The lasT populaTions of

Parodia rechensis (Buining) f. h. BrandT
Giovanna Anceschi & Alberto Magli report on their search for plants of Parodia
rechensis in habitat. The plant, which is better known as Notocactus rechensis, is
difficult to keep in cultivation and its future in nature is also in doubt.
Photo: Anceschi & Magli
Fig.1 Parodia rechensis. Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Caxias do Sul, Ana Rech, 16 Nov 2011, AM 821
We spent October and November 2011 in the In mid-November we were in São Gabriel, a
state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) amongst the town in the Pampas area in the centre west of
‘gauchos’, who are wonderful people, the state, we rested and then moved on after we
dedicating ourselves to the study of different had conducted a series of surveys in the district
cactus populations that make up 17 of the taxa of Santana do Livramento (also in the Pampa
of the genus Parodia Spegazzini. Biome) in the extreme central south of the Rio
This article is about a part of the journey last Grande, just on the border with Uruguay.
year when we worked in South America Here we studied populations of Parodia
between mid-February and the end of allosiphon (Marchesi) N.P. Taylor, Parodia
December, studying and documenting in the nothorauschii D.R. Hunt and Parodia
field, about 130 taxa of the Cactaceae at a tenuicylindrica (F. Ritter) D.R. Hunt; and we
species level (the forthcoming publication of were really satisfied after having found P.
these materials on our site cactusinhabitat.org nothorauschii, a very scarce taxon in habitat.
and a related booklet are planned for the The next destination was Caxias do Sul, in the
beginning of 2013). Mata Atlantica zone, in the northeast of the
30
F. Celli Marchet
F. Celli Marchett
Fig.2 Habitat of Parodia rechensis and Parodia linkii. Fig.3 Parodia rechensis. Ana Rech,
View from the margins of Represa do Faxinal, Ana Rech Reprensa do Faxinal, 3 Nov 2009
(Celli Marchett 2008, 64: ANEXO XII, Fig.F.)
information about the territory.
state, in order to get to the Ana Rech district, As always in the Rio Grande, the people we
where we would start the research of Parodia met on this occasion (Adriana Guazzelli and
rechensis (Buining) F.H. Brandt (Fig.1). Ilea Camassola) were fantastic, and with the
We had very little information about the support of the Subprefeito Helio Dall’Alba, we
taxon location, i.e. information about the were immediately put in touch with Valmor
discovery of the type: BR, Rio Grande do Sul, Bertin, the Ana Rech green areas technician,
nr Ana Rech, 10 Feb 1967, Büneker et al. s.n. and with Professor Ronaldo Adelfo Wasum, of
(U). (Hunt et al. 2006: 223) and the field number the Jardim Botânico de Caxias do Sul - JBCS.
HU 98: Notocactus rechensis, Ana Rech to Caxias, The day after, accompanied by Valmor to the
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 10 Feb 1967 JBCS, we met Professor Ronaldo, whom we
(according to Ralph Martin’s field number briefed about our research on P. rechensis, and
search). explained that our only objectives were to
We also had two other pieces of information study, document and preserve plants, and we
about the conservation status, neither of which believed that this did not require the collection
were promising about the health of the taxon. of any living material from its habitat. We were
The first, Gerloff et al. (1995: 135), indicated more than happy to be accompanied by those
that P. rechensis had been eradicated by responsible when the plants are living in
intensive grazing; while the second, contained protected areas, are very rare, or both; and
in a Schumannia special issue dedicated to finally that the results of our investigations will
Brazilian cacti and succulents, Braun & Esteves be made freely available to the scientific
(2001: 48), see Gerloff (1998), included P. community and to all enthusiasts through our
rechensis in the list of extinct or near extinction website and booklet.
taxa in the wild. For further details about conservation and
Upon arriving in Ana Rech, we inevitably our contributions to this delicate and constantly
noticed that between Caxias city centre and the evolving subject, please refer to the booklet
district the area is completely built up. Since South America 2005/2010 (Anceschi & Magli
1967, urbanization and industrialization have 2010, 35 – 41), downloadable from here.
invalidated the HU 98 information. Today, Professor Ronaldo, who is overseeing the
between Ana Rech and Caxias, there is only a project “Salvando os Cactos”, of JBCS and
continuous settlement, without traces of Universitade de Caxias do Sul, put us in touch
natural elements. with his former student, Franco Celli Marchett,
Through intuition and a bit of luck, we found because he knew where the populations of P.
our way to the headquarters of the cultural rechensis live, having studied them for his thesis
association SAMAR (Societade Amigos de Ana A Família Cactaceae Juss. no Município de
Rech), where we thought we might get some Caxias do Sul, RS, Brasil (2008), which is also
31

Fig.4 Parodia linkii. Ana Rech, 16 Nov 2011, AM 822 Fig.6 Parodia rechensis. Ana Rech,
16 Nov 2011, AM 821

Fig.5 Parodia rechensis. Ana Rech, Fig.7 Parodia rechensis. Ana Rech,
16 Nov 2011, AM 821 16 Nov 2011, AM 821
part of this project. had verified that the surviving individuals had
The meeting with Franco was crucial for our been reduced to 10, i.e. 75% fewer (Fig.3), and
work (and also very important at a personal that the population seemed to have been
level): despite our training in searching for destroyed by climate change created by the
cacti, we would never have found the taxon dam and the capybaras (Hydrochoeris
without him. He told us that there were only hydrochaeris, the largest rodent that currently
two surviving populations of P. rechensis living exists) due to the new water reservoir.
in the Ana Rech territory, and since we had On November 16th 2011, after reaching the
decided to devote our efforts to the larger private fazenda and asking the owner (who did
population, which was located on a private not seem to be aware of the presence of P.
fazenda, he provided us with detailed rechensis) for permission to enter the woods, we
information on the smaller one. walked for a good half hour.
At the time of the survey for his thesis (10 Sep Franco could not remember the exact location
2008), the minor population was composed of as he had not been there since his last visit on
about 40 individuals living on a rocky outcrop 4th March 2005, which was about seven years
at the edge of the forest (mixed Ombrofila earlier when he was carrying out research on
forest) and which are (or were), near the his thesis. We came across a small clearing
Represa do Faxinal in the Parque Ecológico do created by a flat rocky outcrop covered in
Faxinal (Fig.2). All this information is moss, at the centre of the outcrop there was a
published in his thesis (ibid. 37-38), but then he large population of Parodia linkii (Lehmann) R.
added that about a year later (3 Nov 2009) he Kiesling (Fig.4) which was in good health,
32

F. Celli Marchett
Fig.8 Parodia rechensis. Ana Rech, 4 Mar 2005, (Celli Fig.9 Parodia rechensis. Ana Rech,
Marchett 2008, 63: ANEXO XI, Fig.C.) 16 Nov 2011, AM 821
while at the edge of the stone, right at the edge dam, nor can we assign a large amount of
of the forest, we finally saw some small groups damage to capybara: nevertheless the plants
of P. rechensis blooming (Figs.5-7). are gradually disappearing.
We had conflicting feelings, we were happy to Franco thinks that the advancing forest is
have found the taxon and appalled because so suffocating the survivors, but it must be
few individuals (we counted only 42) were remembered that in the same place, and under
perhaps the last of a species that is the same conditions, as we already said, P. linkii
disappearing; given that the population reproduces itself and lives in excellent health
studied in 2005 numbered 120 individuals (Fig.10).
(ibid.: 37), we registered a decrease of 65% Certainly in the past, P. rechensis has been
(Figs. 8-9). plagued by theft. Also, the urban and
Both populations are very small, which is agricultural expansion has severely altered the
why Franco reported to us an attempt that was landscape. It is equally certain that those
made to reproduce the species in greenhouses factors have isolated the favourable areas for
at that time. On the 4th March 2005 living the population’s survival, causing local
material was collected and placed into extinction and reducing its own genetic
cultivation in the JBCS (No. 5) under Professor variability (Celli Marchett 2008: 1-2) and that is
Ronaldo’s supervision. probably the key point.
Unfortunately, of the plants that initially While P. linkii, in Darwinian terms, is a
seemed to grow vigorously, flowering and dominant species, i.e. the one that proves to be
fruiting, not one survived to the second year the most opportunistic, since it is the most
(ibid. 37-38). widespread of the genus Parodia among the six
The fact that the taxon is problematic in living in the rocky outcrops of the Caxias do
cultivation is something that is well-known. Sul Municipality (ibid.: 44); P. rechensis is a
Mace (1978: 60) summarized this problem: species that has always been “genetically
“This is a species which has remained very weak”, and that no longer enjoys potential
scarce in cultivation and plants which have genetic variability in its habitat due to the
been imported seem weak and unwilling to re- scarcity and fragmentation of its populations.
establish”. Unfortunately it is very unlikely that this
The reasons that can lead to the extinction of variability can now be recreated in cultivation.
a species, in a case such as P. rechensis, can be We are aware that in the Plano de ação
imagined. The populations in question, though nacional para conservação das Cactacéas, Série
known to be coveted by collectors, were safe Espécies Ameaçadas n° 24 (Zappi et al. 2011),
from this kind of danger. On the other hand, which lists P. rechensis at the rank of risk DD
for the population we visited we cannot (ibid.: 25) following Hunt et al. (2006), there has
attribute the decreasing plant problem to the been an initiative described by João Larocca
33
decreased with percentages ranging from 65%
to 75%, the area of occupancy of the two

populations combined is estimated to be a few
square metres, the quantitative data shows that
there is a 50% probability that the taxon will
disappear from its habitat in the next 10 years.
Giovanna Anceschi & Alberto Magli
info@cactusinhabitat.org
www.cactusinhabitat.org
Bibliography
Anceschi, G. & Magli, A. (2010) South
America 2005/2010. Bologna: MODO infoshop.
Fig.10 Parodia rechensis and Parodia linkii. Ana Rech, Braun, P. J. & Esteves Pereira, E. (2001)
16 Nov 2011, AM 821; AM 822 Kakteen und andere Sukkulenten in Brasilien.
(UNISINOS) as follows: “To propose priority Schumannia 3: 1-235.
areas for conservation based on studies of the Celli Marchett, F. (2008) A Família Cactaceae
distribution and presence of Parodia rechensis Juss. no Munícipio de Caxias do Sul, RS, Brasil.
(RS)”, where the difficulty is considered Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde,
medium, the priority is high, and the deadline Universidade de Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do
is scheduled for October 2013 (ibid.: 84). Sul, Caxias do Sul, Brasil.
What we can say, based on the surveys Gerloff, N., Neduchal, J. & Stuchlik, S.
conducted and from the data and information (1995) Notokakteen. Gesamtdarstellung aller
gathered (using the IUCN categories and Notokakteen. Ludwigsburg: Kveten Verlag.
criteria), is that it seems appropriate to propose Gerloff, N. (1998) Pflanzen bei Ana Rech im
an update of the risk assessment of the Municipal Caxias do Sul. Internoto 19 (1): 36 -
conservation status of P. rechensis from the 40.
previous sources: Hunt, D. R. et al. (2006) The New Cactus
Gerloff & Hofacker in Braun & Esteves Lexicon. Milborne Port: DH Books.
(2001): Extinct in the Wild?, EW? Mace, A. (1978) Notocactus. A review of the
Justifications: fire, habitat destruction, grazing Genus incorporating Brasilicactus, Eriocactus
and urbanization and Wigginsia. 2nd edition. The editorial board
Hunt et al. (2006): Data Deficient, DD & the Sussex zone of the National Cactus &
Anceschi & Magli (2012): Critically Succulent Society.
Endangered, CR B1ab(ii,v)+2ab(i,ii,v); C2a(i);E Zappi, D. et al. (2011) Plano de ação nacional
Justification: the extent of occurrence is 8.5 para conservação das Cactacéas. Série Espécies
km2, the only two known populations are very Ameaçadas n° 24. Brasilia: Istituto Chico
small and during the last 7 years have Mendes de Concervação da Biodiversidade.
34
What Is thE World’s larGEst

tuBErous plant?
Len Newton challenges readers to find caudiciform plants with the largest tubers and record
their dimensions.
Fig.2 Adenia globosa ssp. pseudoglobosa in the Rift

Valley, Kenya, with Alan Butler.
Fig.1 Adenia globosa ssp. globosa near Voi, south-east

Kenya, with the author.
Daiv Freeman’s article “The largest
Echinocereus in the world (?)”, appearing in
the last issue, reminds me of a claim some
years ago that the world’s largest tubers, up to
100kg in weight, are to be seen on a Chinese Fig.3. Flowers of Adenia globosa ssp. pseudoglobosa.
cucurbit in the genus Thladiantha (Tianzi
Biodiversity Centre, 2007). From the this claim, but there was no response. Now I
photographs the plant appears not to be a can throw out the challenge to a wider
cucurbit, but a member of the genus Stephania, audience.
in the family Menispermaceae. Four Stephania When I wrote my note in 2007 I had in mind
species have been featured in succulent plant the caudiciform members of the genera Adenia
literature, one in tropical Africa, one in (Passifloraceae) and Pyrenacantha
Cambodia, and two in Thailand (Eggli, 2002). (Icacinaceae), both of which occur in Kenya.
When reporting this in the local succulent Some species in these two genera have tubers
plant newsletter in Kenya (Newton, 2007), I that can reach a metre or more in diameter.
invited readers to send in details of the largest They mostly occur in savanna woodland, and
tubers they could find to see if we could match the leafy shoots climb in surrounding trees.
35
Fig.6. Pyrenacantha malvifolia in the growing season.
venenata, with a more upright caudex, also

occurs in Kenya but the largest I’ve seen was in
Yemen. Pyrenacantha malvifolia is widespread in
Fig.4. Adenia venenata in Yemen. Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia and Ethiopia.
Another species, Pyrenacantha kaurabassana, is
more widespread, from Kenya down to
Zimbabwe, but its tuber is entirely
underground. In South Africa many years ago,
Gordon Rowley and I came across a fairly
large tuber of Dioscorea hemicrypta
(Dioscoreaceae) — as the specific epithet
suggests, the tuber is partly hidden
underground.
A good number of contenders for the record
were illustrated by Gordon Rowley (1987), but
Fig.5. Pyrenacantha malvifolia near Ramu, northeast dimensions were not given for most. It would
Kenya, with the author. be interesting to compile a record of the largest
Without the supporting trees the shoots form a tubers observed for each species as well as the
tangled mound above the tuber, making it largest tuber of all. Most of the accompanying
difficult to access the tuber for photography or photographs were taken before 2007 and I had
measuring. An exception is Adenia globosa ssp. not measured the tubers, though people
pseudoglobosa, which has stiff erect shoots included in some of the photos give an idea of
arising from the tuber. In old plants there are scale.
so many shoots arising from all over the tuber References
that even here the tuber itself is largely hidden.
Eggli, U. (2002) Stephania. In: U. Eggli (ed.),
Adenia globosa ssp. globosa is found in Kenya, Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants:
Tanzania and Somalia, whilst Adenia globosa Dicotyledons. Springer, Berlin. Pp. 312–313.
ssp. pseudoglobosa occurs only in Kenya. Adenia
36
Newton, L. (2007) What is the world’s largest
tuberous plant? Succulent News 15(2): 6–8.
Rowley, G.D. (1987) Caudiciform &
Pachycaul Succulents. Strawberry Press, Mill
Valley.
Tianzi Biodiversity Centre. (2007)
Thladiantha spec. “Mountain Buffalo”: the
world’s largest tuber plant. Cactus-Adventures
International 73: 36–37.
Len Newton, Nairobi, Kenya.
Fig.7. Dioscorea hemicrypta near Kalitzdorp, South E-mail: ellyen@yahoo.com
Africa, with Bruce Bayer.
Lastly, like the Cactus Explorer, the

CactiGuide.com site is also completely free.
That means there is no money involved - either
Images wanted! coming in or going out. This project is for the
As many of you know, CactiGuide.com has love of the hobby alone.
one of the most extensive collections of I hope you are able to help. The web needs
identified cactus photos anywhere. This is reliable images of plants to aid identifiaction
thanks in a major way to the many volunteers and raise the profile of succulent plants.
who offered images where they were lacking.
Thank you!
However, even with approx. 9,000 images,
there are still roughly 500 species without a Daiv Freeman
single picture and even more when infra-
specific taxa are included.
For the first time, I would like to pro-actively Sydney Graham Slack
solicit images to help fill in these gaps. 12 Jan 1942 – 12 May 2012
Additionally, some species are poorly Sydney Graham Slack, Sid to his
represented with just one picture or perhaps workmates, Graham to his wife Irene and to
no picture of the flower, or only an immature the cactus world, lost his fight with cancer
plant. If you have good quality digital photos on 12th May 2012.
of species that you believe would enhance this
resource, please contact Daiv via e-mail at: Graham along with Tom Tate was a
daiv@cactiguide.com founder member of Doncaster branch of the
then National Cactus and Succulent Society
I would be happy to give you more details (NCSS). He was always an official and
about this project and agree the best method financed the branch almost single handedly
for getting images to me. I am quite flexible by supplying raffle prizes every month.
and can work with e-mail, drop-box, CD, These were usually seed grown plants.
thumb drives, etc. The copyright of your There were usually more prizes than raffle
pictures will remain with you. tickets sold.
Please note that I'm not interested in images For his services to the branch Graham was
with watermarks unless I can find nothing else, awarded the Robert Holt Meritorious Award
and likewise, if the images are already easy to in 1999 having previously been awarded the
find on another website. If the images are only Award of Merit.
on a personal page that gets few visitors, then
Brian Bates
that would be fine.
Sucre, Bolivia
37
echeveria brachetii
a newly descriBed species
John Pilbeam tells us about the formal description of an Echeveria he had been
shown some years before. Photographs by John Pilbeam.
Fig.1 The type locality of E. brachetii (syn. E. 'Macuiltianguis' Pilbeam)

After the nebulous experience of visiting were the attractive, tight rosettes of a
Echeveria nebularum [see page 6 in the Cactus Pinguicula species, with the characteristic
Explorer 4], the next on our schedule for that flowers betraying their identity, as well as
day was to see again what was believed to be a some unflowering Peperomias, with small
new species of Echeveria, near the small columns of windowed leaves, not that the
village of Macuiltianguis, which had been flowers would have helped much in their
discovered at this locality in 2004, and shown identification.
to us a few years before this present visit. But here and there were small, mostly
We came to a fairly steep stretch of a dirt solitary, low-growing rosettes of an Echeveria,
road cutting along the side of a rocky, shaded looking distinctly like the current year’s
slope with a goodly number of plants growing growth, reminiscent of other mountain species
in the cracks. Because of the situation they we had seen which become deciduous during
were all small plants, and many other than the dry months. Some had made a short, thin
succulents were not familiar, although there stem with just one or two branches, each with
38
Fig.2 Six plants within a square metre on the near-sheer rock face.
its end cluster of leaves. The half a dozen or so the ‘Future species?’ chapter, as Echeveria
leaves to each rosette were soft and quite thin, ‘Macuiltianguis’ in the hope that it would be
with little fleshiness to them at all. One or two described subsequently as a good species, as
had produced a short, nodding stem of small from the first time I saw the plants I was
flowers, few in number, yellow to orange. convinced that they were quite unlike any
In my 2008 book on the genus I included it in species I had ever seen before.
Fig.3 Echeveria brachetii in cultivation.
39
Fig.4 Three of the tiny rosettes hanging on for dear life.

It has subsequently been described as
Echeveria brachetii by Jerónimo Reyes and O.
González in the Cactáceas y Suculentas
Mexicanas (2009), surprisingly with no
reference to its earlier discovery, or its
inclusion in my Echeveria book – ah well,
that’s life in the naming game.
In cultivation I understand that it makes a Fig.5 Pinguicula species thriving in this shady situation.
charming little shrubby plant of no great
References
height, and delightfully produces its flowers
Pilbeam, J. (2008) The genus Echeveria. BCSS
during the winter months on every stem it has
publications
made in the spring and summer, always a
Reyes,S.J. & González, Z.O. (2009) Echeveria
bonus in a collection of plants mostly
brachetii (Crassulaceae), una nueva especie
hunkered down for the winter, and awaiting
para el estado de Oaxaca, México. Cactáceas y
kinder weather to do their thing.
Suculentas Mexicanas 54(3): 75
John Pilbeam
Fig.6 Close-up of single rosette, about 3cm across. Fig.7 Peperomia species doing well here too.
40
thE fIrst aylostEra

Roy Mottram re-examines the application of the name Aylostera deminuta in the light of new
discoveries along the northern borders of the province of Tucuman, Argentina by Victor Gapon.
Photo: Roy Mottram
Fig.1 Rebutia pseudominuscula. Copy of the photo sent

to Britton & Rose who reproduced it in their monograph
(1922: 46).
The genus Aylostera was established in 1923
by Carlos Spegazzini, based on the single
included species Echinopsis pseudominuscula,
that he himself had earlier described (1905:
488). Aylostera pseudominuscula has a type at the
Fig.2 Map of Tucuman Trancas District, showing the
La Plata Museum, LPS 23002, comprising three
positions of the Sierra Candelaria and Sierra de Medina.
envelopes containing flowers, fruits, and seeds
Aylosteras do not grow in the vicinity of the
and a photo of a plant from Prov. Salta,
small town of Trancas, so the voracity of this
Argentina, 3500m, where it was said to be very
information was subsequently questioned.
rare in the mountains. A copy of the photo was
However, Trancas also happens to be the name
sent to Britton & Rose, and they reproduced it
of a large administrative district of northern
in their monograph (1922: 46) [Fig.1]
Tucuman bounded by the Sierra de Medina to
Aylostera pseudominuscula is therefore well the east, which is probably where E. deminuta
documented and well understood, but it has was originally gathered. No other
unfortunately become confused with another documentation has survived about Weber's
species, Aylostera deminuta (Weber) Backeb., plant, other than the fairly detailed first
described about a year earlier, also as an description published posthumously by
Echinopsis, and the subject of the present Roland-Gosselin, and the holotype is said to be
article. missing.
Echinopsis deminuta was described by Dr. As it happens, you don't have to travel too
Weber, Paris, in some notes that he had far north or east in order to locate plants that
compiled shortly before his death. He reported agree very well with Weber's description,
it as "reçue de Trancas", in the north of Prov. because Aylosteras are a component of the
Tucuman, probably sent by Schickendantz.
41
Photo: Victor Gapon

Photo: Roy Mottram
Fig.3 [left] The flower of Aylostera deminuta VG10-

1098/5 4781/5 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra. Candelaria,
2213m) showing an exceptionally spiny pericarpel (not
all are as spiny as this), compared with [right] a typical Fig.4 Aylostera deminuta VG11-1179 (Argentina,
Aylostera pseudominuscula BLMT 54.04 (Bolivia, Prov. Tucuman, Sra. de Medina, 1865m, at the top)
Potosi, Saavedra, Betanzos).
putative type locality, has been preserved.
cactus floras of the Sierra Candelaria in Salta to
the north, and the summit of the Sierra de The Echinopsis deminuta protologue calls for a
Medina to the east, where they grow in both plant that is 5-6cm in diameter, while A.
places with Rebutia senilis. They are equivalent pseudominuscula is only up to 3.3cm diameter,
to what has come to be known by the later having 11-13 ribs as opposed to 15-19, and
name A. pseudodeminuta. radial spines 10-12 compared with 6-8. Also A.
pseudominuscula does not occur in Tucuman
Naming confusion began with Frič, who
nor in the hills of southern Salta. The
introduced the incorrect name Rebutia
pericarpel of Aylostera deminuta is notable for
pseudodeminuta without description in his
bearing quite strong acicular spines up to
catalogue of 1928 as a synonym of Rebutia
3.2mm long (cf. Weber "Ovaire aculéifère"), but
deminuta. In 1933 Backeberg described Rebutia
they are less prominent in the related A.
pseudodeminuta as new, without any reference
pseudominuscula [Fig.2].
to the earlier usage by Frič. Then, in 1934, his
looseleaf pictorial encyclopaedia carried a Nomenclatural history
photo of Rebutia pseudominuscula, which he was Echinopsis deminuta Weber, in Roland-
later to claim was actually a photo of R. Gosselin (ed.), Oeuvres posthumes de M. le Dr.
deminuta. Weber, Bulletin du Muséum d’Histoire
In 1936, Backeberg adopted Spegazzini's Naturelle 10: 386-387. 1904.
genus Aylostera, accepting the name Aylostera Echinocactus deminutus (Weber) Gürke, Über
deminuta and reducing A. pseudominuscula to a neue, von Roland-Gosselin veröffentlichte
variety of it. Perhaps because of this and the Kakteenarten, Monatsschrift für Kakteenkunde
earlier confusion, later authors have tended to 16(7): 103. (Jul) 1906.
think of Aylostera pseudominuscula as just a
variant of A. deminuta, and therefore Rebutia deminuta (Weber) Britton & Rose, The
submerged both under the earlier name. This Cactaceae 4: 285. (24 Dec) 1923.
mistake has persisted. However, close Echinorebutia deminuta (Weber) Frič, in
inspection of Weber's description reveals that it Kreuzinger, Verzeichnis amerikanischer und
agrees well with the plants from the two anderer Sukkulenten mit Revision der
sierras, so it is now possible to correct the Systematik der Kakteen: 26. (31 Apr) 1935.
misapplication of the name deminuta. A
Aylostera deminuta (Weber) Backeberg, in
replacement will be needed for the missing
Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus-ABC: 274. (12 Feb)
holotype in due course when a suitable
1936.
specimen from the Sierra de Medina, the
42
Etymology: A Latin adjective, deminutus,
Photo: Victor Gapon

diminutive. Diminutive Rebutia.
Type: Argentina, Prov. Tucumán, Trancas
[District].
Recollected by Victor Gapon (2010-11) in
Tucuman, Sierra de Medina, 1800-1950m, and
in Salta, Sierra Candelaria, 2000-2280m
Argentina.
Holotype: P. Not found according to Hunt
(2006 1: 247).
Fig.5 Aylostera deminuta VG11-1180 (Argentina, Prov.
Other synonymy (in chronological order): Tucuman, Sra. de Medina, 2061m, at the top)
Photo: Victor Gapon

Rebutia pseudodeminuta Frič, Kakteenjäger: 14.
1928 nom. nud. [listed as a synonym of Rebutia
deminuta].
Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. schumanniana
Backeberg, Rebutien, Der Kakteen-Freund: 7-8.
(Jan) 1933.
Rebutia pseudodeminuta Frič ex Backeberg,
Rebutien, Der Kakteen-Freund: 7. (Jan) 1933.
[amplified with Latin diagnosis and photo in
Blätter für Kakteenforschung 1(8): 59-4. 1934].
Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. longispina
Backeberg, Samen-Preisliste: Kakteen &
Sukkulenten: 23. 1934. Fig.6 Aylostera deminuta VG10-993 (Argentina, Prov.
Echinorebutia pseudodeminuta (Frič) Frič, in Salta, Sra. Candelaria, 2044m, c. 20km from the
Tucuman/Salta border)
Kreuzinger, Verzeichnis amerikanischer und
anderer Sukkulenten mit Revision der Backeberg, in Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus-
Systematik der Kakteen: 26. (31 Apr) 1935. ABC: 275. (12 Feb) 1936 nom. inval. (Art. 36.1).
Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. albiseta Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. schneideriana

Backeberg, Kakteen-Index 1936: 48. 1935 nom. Backeberg, in Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus-
nud. ABC: 275. (12 Feb) 1936 nom. inval. (Art. 36.1).
Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. grandiflora Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. schumanniana

Backeberg, Kakteen-Index 1936: 48. 1935 nom. (Backeberg) Backeberg, in Backeberg & Knuth,
nud. Kaktus-ABC: 275. (12 Feb) 1936.
Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. schneideriana Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. longiseta Köhler,

Backeberg, Kakteen-Index 1936: 48. 1935 nom. Nochmals: Drei schöne Rebutien, Kakteen und
nud. andere Sukkulenten 1937(4): 51, 52. (Apr) 1937
nom. inval. (Art. 36.1).
Aylostera pseudodeminuta (Backeberg)
Backeberg, in Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus- Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. albiseta
ABC: 275. (12 Feb) 1936. Backeberg, Some results of twenty years of
cactus research, Cactus and Succulent Journal
Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. albiseta (US) 23(3): 82. (May-Jun) 1951.
Backeberg, in Backeberg & Knuth, Kaktus-
ABC: 275. (12 Feb) 1936 nom. inval. (Art. 36.1). Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. grandiflora
Backeberg, Some results of twenty years of
Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. grandiflora cactus research, Cactus and Succulent Journal
43
Photo: Victor Gapon
Photo: Victor Gapon

Fig.7 Aylostera deminuta VG10-1098 (Argentina, Prov. Fig.9 Aylostera deminuta VG10-1101 (Argentina, Prov.
Salta, Sra. Candelaria, 2213m) Salta, Sra. Candelaria)
VG10-1101 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra.
Photo: Victor Gapon
Candelaria, 2273m) [Fig.9]

VG11-1179 (Argentina, Prov. Tucuman, Sra.
de Medina, 1865m, at the top) [Fig. 4]
VG11-1180 (Argentina, Prov. Tucuman, Sra.
de Medina, 2061m, at the top) [Fig. 5]
Acknowledgement
My opportunity to study the true Aylostera
deminuta is thanks to the painstaking
explorations of Victor Gapon, Moscow, who
has made several journeys to study the cacti of
Fig.8 Aylostera deminuta VG10-1100 (Argentina, Prov.
Salta, Sra. Candelaria, 2277m) the two sierras mentioned above, and for
supplying young plants, seeds, and photos.
(US) 23(3): 82. (May-Jun) 1951.
Literature cited
Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. schneideriana
Backeberg, Some results of twenty years of Britton, N. L., & Rose, J. N. (1922) The
cactus research, Cactus and Succulent Journal Cactaceae 3. Carnegie Institution, Washington.
(US) 23(3): 82. (May-Jun) 1951. Hunt, D. R. (ed.) (2006) The new Cactus
Victor Gapon gatherings of Lexicon. 2 vols. dh books, Milborne Port.
Aylostera deminuta: Roland-Gosselin, R. (1904) Oeuvres
VG10-801 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Cuesta del posthumes de M. le Dr. Weber, Médecin
Lajar, 1948m) Inspecteur de l'Armée. Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. 12:
VG10-993 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra. 382-399. Imprimerie Nationale, Paris.
Candelaria, 2044m) [Fig. 6] Spegazzini, C. (1905) Cactacearum
VG10-1097 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra. platensium tentamen, Anales del Museo
Candelaria, 2111m) Nacional de Buenos Aires 11 (Ser. 8, 4): 488 (19
Jan). Museo Nacional, La Plata.
VG10-1098 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra.
Candelaria, 2213m) [Fig. 7] Roy Mottram
VG10-1100 (Argentina, Prov. Salta, Sra. Whitestone Gardens, Sutton, Thirsk, North
Candelaria, 2277m) [Fig. 8] Yorkshire YO7 2PZ
44
MaMMIllarIa sChEInvarIana
rEdIsCovErEd?
Jaroslav Záhora1, Grzegorz Matuszewski2, Vojtěch Myšák3
1 Doubravník 121, 592 61 Czech Republic zahora@mendelu.cz
2 Malinowa 37, 97-400 Belchatow, Poland grzegorz.f.m@neostrada.pl
3 Čisovice 45, 252 04, Czech Republic vmysak2@seznam.cz
Photo: Jaroslav Záhora
Fig.1 The Zimapan dam – are there more hidden localities?
Abstract 1997) and Echinofossulocactus sulphureus (Dietr.)

Mammillaria scheinvariana (Ortega et Glass, Y. Ito are possibly extinct in the wild because
1997) as well as Echinofossulocactus sulphureus the localities of original populations were in
(Dietr.) Y. Ito in eastern Querétaro, Mexico are 1996 inundated by the filling of the Zimapan
still alive despite the assumption of some dam (the reservoir for a hydroelectric plant in
authors that the entire habitat has disappeared Eastern Querétaro).
under the water of the Zimapan dam and that There were many trips undertaken to the
they should be considered as extinct in the surroundings of Zimapan dam with the aim of
wild. The extraordinary small number of M. rediscovering these plants but they were not
scheinvariana plants may be endangered in the found elsewhere. As an example we could read
near future by another threat there, by non- in the diary of Grzegorz Matuszewski, second
native invasive natal grass Melinis repens co-author: “11.07.2010 - Sunday - Hotel
(Willd.) Zizka of South African origin. Esperanza, Cadereyta, Que. We packed up and
The Story went back toward the dam ‘Presa Zimapan’.
After we crossed the cactus habitats in Hidalgo
It has been repeatedly stated (Glass 1998; we went down again to see what is hidden
Weightman 2003, and Nagl et Perndl 1995) that between the local rocks. I principally looked
both Mammillaria scheinvariana (Ortega et Glass for the legendary Mammillaria scheinvariana,
45
Photo: Grzegorz Matuszewski

Fig.2 Rediscovered Mammillaria scheinvariana (Ortega Fig.3 The same plant of M. scheinvariana six weeks
et Glass, 1997), Eastern Queretaro, Mexico later with flower buds
but at that time we had not found it. In reality, we (me together with third co-author Vojtěch
the surviving plants were very close, not more Myšák) visited the exciting locality in rocky
than 200m away. (source: hill slopes above the Zimapan dam. All E.
http://www.kaktusymeksyku.pl/3.html).” sulphureus plants were flowering yellow, but on
The new story about M. scheinvariana began this occasion we did not record any plants of
with the interest in another cacti group, in the M. scheinvariana.
genus Echinofossulocactus. Thanks to the Czech Two years later, in February 2012, 16 years
cacti hobbyist Jiří Horal, the attention was after the original plants of E. sulphureus were
focused in 2009 on the ‘extinct’ drowned in the dam, were we back in this
Echinofossulocactus sulphureus. He has made an habitat, photographing and documenting
effort to identify potential localities, which are another interesting plant, decorative but non-
close to the flooded habitats of original E. native tall grass Melinis repens (Willd.) Zizka
sulphureus. In the same year, on July, 2009, J. which is strongly competing there with the E.
Horal visited one of these supposed localities sulphureus.
which was mentioned by Nagl and Perndl As often happens in one´s life, coincidentally
(1995). on this occasion have we observed one alive
The first pictures of rediscovered E. and one dead clusters of M. scheinvariana. Six
sulphureus appeared on my computer in weeks later Grzegorz Matuszewski visited the
August 2009, through another Czech cactus locality again with the aim to find more plants.
hobbyist, Jaroslav Bohata, with the wish for The result was not satisfactory. He found only
confirmation of species identity. It was a four other clusters, and two of them were dead
simple task and a beautiful surprise because as a consequence of infestation by some
not all members of the genus unknown insects.
Echinofossulocactus are as recognizable as this Mammillaria scheinvariana belongs to the
species is. There were no doubts that the Series Stylothele. According to Bill Weightman
pictured wild plants looked directly like my (2003) this plant became well-known as the
cultivated plants of E. sulphureus which I only cactus discovered by boat. It happened
obtained 18 years before from Helmut Nagl. during the plant rescue operation undertaken
It means that this exceptionally uniform by the Federal Electrical Commission during
Echinofossulocactus species is still alive, but the the 5 years prior to the filling of the Zimapan
pictures of the flowers from the rediscovered dam (Glass 1998).
locality were still missing. This gap was filled Rafael Ortega, working then as the biologist
on February the following year (2010) when with the Commission, discovered the
46
Photo: Grzegorz Matuszewski Number 5 August 2012 ISSN 2048-0482 The Cactus Explorer
Photo: Grzegorz Matuszewski

Fig.4 One of the surviving plants M. scheinvariana Fig.5 Flowering cluster M. scheinvariana
unknown Mammillaria and asked Charles spine is not usually present. Based on observed
Glass to help him with its identification. So it plants, we can support this. Nevertheless, our
was that M. scheinvariana was described and commentary is far away from significance
published by Rafael Ortega and Charles Glass because of the negligible amount of discovered
in 1997. The plant was named in honour of plants.
Dra. Leia Scheinvar who had helped Rafael And why the question mark in the title?
Ortega with identifying plants rescued during Because it is difficult to say that the extremely
the 5 year operation. small number of living plants is sufficient to
From the description of the plant can be maintain a stable population there.
extracted (see references below for further Furthermore, it should be noted that the
information): - the plant is solitary or sparingly surviving plants of M. scheinvariana are now
caespitose, about 5cm diameter and 2-3.5cm under serious threat represented both by insect
tall. Radial spines, 20-24, to 2cm long, white, infestation and by a wide-spreading of Melinis
soft, smooth, hairlike. Central spine, 1 (if repens (Natal grass). As was described by
present), ca. 1.6cm long, porrect, pale Skerman et Riveros (1990), this tall grass is a
yellowish tan to pale reddish yellow, darker very efficient nitrogen-fixing species that can
towards the tip. Flowers are funnelform, fix over 300g N/ha/day. This is due to a special
nearly 2cm long, pinkish, opening about 1cm group of non-symbiotic free-living nitrogen-
wide. Weightman (2003) noted that a central fixing micro-organisms in the rhizosphere. The
Fig.6 Echinofossulocactus sulphureus at the Fig.7 A new threat - invasive Natal grass Melinis repens
rediscovered locality from South Africa
47

Fig.8 Invasive Natal grass Melinis repens of South Fig.9 The overproduction of very decorative seeds is
African origin one of the key strategies for spreading of M. repens.
activity of nitrogen fixation by micro- thanks to all those, who helped us, particularly
organisms is found exclusively near the roots to Helmut Nagl, Harald Perndl, Jiří Horal and
of Melinis repens and is closely linked to plant Jaroslav Bohata.
photosynthesis and to the production of root Literature cited
exudates. A sufficient source of nitrogen
favours the grasses in competition with native Glass, C.E. (1998) La Guía para la
vegetation. The presence of Natal grass is Identificatión de Cactaceas Amenazadas de
definitely associated with cactus and results in México Guide to the threatened cacti of
a high production of biomass. Larger amounts Mexico. Vol. I, Conabio, Cante
of litter with higher content of nitrogen Nagl, H. & Perndl H. (1995)
compounds open up the habitat for other Echinofossulocactus de flor amarilla. Cactáceas
invading tall grasses, change the soil nutrient y Succulentas Mexicanas, Vol. 40: 76-86.
status as well as the preferences of
Ortega-Varela, R. & Glass, C. (1997) Guia
decomposing (micro)organisms and the
para la Identificacion de Cactaceas
flammability of the ecosystem. All of these
Amenazadas de Mexico. (Identification Guide
may modify the survival of M. scheinvariana
to the Threatened Cacti of Mexico). CANTE,
and E. sulphureus. So we can conclude our
A.C., Guanajuato, Mexico.
short article with the same sentence that
Weightman did in 2003: “With such slender Skerman, P. & Riveros, F. (1990) Tropical
possibilities the future is bleak indeed.” grasses. Rome : FAO, 1990. 831 pp.
Acknowledgments Weightman, B. (2003) Mammillaria
scheinvariana submerged. BCSJ, Vol. 21, 45-48.
The authors would like to express many
Fig.10 View of the seeds of Mammillaria scheinvariana Fig.11 A flowering seedling of Mammillaria scheinvariana
showing the seed coat. Bar indicates 1000 µm. in cultivation.
48
thE lIttlE florIda MountaIns

Peter Berresford describes a return visit to New Mexico to search for Echinocereus
chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis. Photos by the author.
Fig.1 A white-spined Echinocereus chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis and view from the habitat.
For three weeks in March and April 2011 and description of the location was insufficient to
in the company of Simon Mentha, I explored work out exactly where they were so I was
several locations from south Texas to west of very much “taking a punt” in trying this ranch.
Phoenix, Arizona. It was an ambitious trip and We were greeted by three individuals who
included an unreasonable number of locations were managing the ranch for absentee owners
and plants to squeeze into our limited time. and they not only gave us permission to go
In early April I had planned to search for where we pleased, but also gave us a tour of
Echinocereus chloranthus ssp rhyolithensis in the the ranch. Although interesting, this ate into
Little Florida Mountains, Luna County, New the time available for exploring. We eventually
Mexico partly for the challenge of finding it, set off, working our way around to the highest
but also to try to understand the plant and of the peaks. The lower hills detained us whilst
how it fitted into the E. chloranthus/russanthus/ we took photographs of E. arizonicus ssp.
viridiflorus complex. Around lunchtime we nigrihorridispinus [Fig.2]. There were no flowers
found ourselves on a dirt road south of but this was encouraging as the Böhms had
Deming, venturing along an access road to a described this plant growing at “their”
ranch to seek permission to climb the location.
surrounding mountains. I had tried to By now, the day was inexorably passing and
understand where Gerhard Böhm and his wife, we needed to be at our next overnight stop in
Gisela had found these plants but their time for the next day’s hunting. We also did
49
Fig.2 Echinocereus arizonicus ssp. nigrihorridispinus

found on both visits but its presence does not guarantee Fig.5 Echinocereus fendleri ssp. rectispinus growing on
that of E. chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis. the rocky plain.
without any sign of the plant which is
documented as growing above 1,400 metres.
As I turned to descend my foot struck a
desiccated, uprooted plant. I picked it up and
close inspection showed the spination to be
what I imagined a dead plant would look like!
I suppose that perhaps an animal had
dislodged this individual from further up the
mountain and it had fallen to its final resting
place. I promised myself that I would return.
With all my previous travelling companions
busy, I travelled on my own in April 2012 and,
as part of my trip, put a full day aside to
Fig.3 Eschscholtzia californica ssp. mexicana on the explore up to the summit of this mountain. I
gentle slopes at the base of the mountain.
arrived at the ranch early in the morning and
was again greeted with the same courtesy.
With plenty of water and “energy bars” to last
the day, I headed for the base of the mountain.
In Oklahoma and in New Mexico there had
been rain for the previous week, which I had
mostly managed to avoid, so all the plants
such as golden Eschscholtzia californica ssp.
mexicana [Fig.3] and white-flowering
Pinaropappus roseus [Fig.4] around the
approach to the mountain were in flower, as
well as some Echinocereus fendleri ssp.
rectispinus [Fig.5]. Echinomastus intertextus was
also here and many yellow-fruited Ferocactus
Fig.4 Pinaropappus roseus commonly known as wislizeni [Fig.6]. With several small Yucca
"the white dandelion". baccata [Fig.8] in flower in the early sun, the
not relish the prospect of driving back to the place was beginning to take on a magical
highway in the dark on a very rough road in quality. This was a remote place. Apart from
our budget saloon! I made an attempt up the the distant ranch house, there was no sign of
largest of the peaks and reached 1,760 metres human activity.
50
Fig.6 Ferocactus wislizeni in abundance on the

approach to the mountain.
Fig.8 Yucca baccata an unexpected flowering plant.
Fig.7 Allium lacunosum which seemed to be a marker

plant for the lower altitude plants of E. chloranthus ssp.
rhyolithensis.
The base of the mountain was around 1,560
metres. As I ascended, Agave neomexicana
[Fig.9] and flowering Allium lacunosum [Fig.7]
peppered the slopes. I reached 1,795 metres
and suddenly E. chloranthus ssp.rhyolithensis
was immediately in front of me [Fig.10]. I was
just 35 metres above where I had stopped the
previous year. Both white and red centrals Fig.9 Agave neomexicana, detail of markings on the
individual leaves.
projected from its areoles, the white centrals on
each areole projecting downwards with age, certainly did not bear a resemblance to a green
forming neat rows. E. viridiflorus type. As I continued to climb, I
saw many plants that were dead and looked
Although the buds were green, the flowers very similar to the specimen I had encountered
opened russet-coloured with a darker mid- in 2011, the stems drained of water and spines
stripe and loaded with a projecting green extremely close together, more resembling E.
stigma and yellow filaments. In this russanthus in this respect [Fig.11]. Perhaps 50%
population the flower colour did not vary and of plants which were alive and, in some cases,
51
Fig.10 Echinocereus chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis - the first plant and lowest of the population.
52
Fig.11 E. chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis (denser-spined Fig.12 A view of the open flower and fine spination of
example) E. chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis
flowering showed similar desiccation. The I would like to finish on a positive note.
colour of spination was not consistent amongst When I returned to the ranch house with my
the plants, some showing more presence of red photographs in the early evening together with
and some with virtually no red colouration at several ferocious blisters on my feet, I was told
all. that the owners were “selling up”. I am of the
I climbed to a height of 2,226 metres which opinion that the plants are at a high enough
was very close to the summit but I had not altitude to be unlikely to be threatened by any
seen E. chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis since 2,052 new human occupants but this trading in
metres which would give this plant a range of precious land resources does highlight the
1,795 to 2,052 metres at this location. The vulnerability of rare forms of life so dependent
Böhms had indicated they found plants at on the lack of interference by humans.
1,800 metres so I believe the documented Peter Berresford
height of 1,400 metres is probably too low.
Literature cited
This is an extraordinary plant with a very Blum, W., Lange, M., Rischer, W., Rutow, J.
specific habitat [Fig.1], growing as it does on (1998) Echinocereus monographie. Privately
silica-rich rhyolite rock. There are no plants published, Aachen.
resembling any of the E. russanthus/chloranthus/ Böhm, Gerhard and Gisela (2010) Die
viridiflorus group in the vicinity, but the Florida Mountains in New Mexico. Der
spination and flower colour is much closer to Echinocereenfreund 23(3): 79-81
E. chloranthus than E. viridiflorus which has Powell, A.M. & Weedin J.F. (2004) Cacti of
been suggested elsewhere. So, for me, the the Trans-Pecos & adjacent areas. Texas Tech
name Echinocereus chloranthus ssp. rhyolithensis University Press, Lubbock.
remains the best fit for this plant.
53
soME BIzarrE plants of

australasIa and oCEanIa
Derrick Rowe introduces us to some remarkable succulent and xerophytic plants that we have
probably never heard of before. You may think that they do not interest you, but when you read
about their amazing adaptations to the harsh environment, you are sure to be impressed!
Photos by the author.
Fig.1 Creekside vegetation in the far north of Cape York Peninsula. Home of ant-house plants Dischidia major,
Hydnophytum moselyanum, Myrmecodia tuberosa "papuana", Lecanopteris sinuosa and a very few succulent to
xerophytic orchid species. Creekside soaks contained numbers of carnivorous plants.
The hot and very humid tropical regions of may frequently be water stressed.
our planet are not popularly associated with Plants herein photographed in Papua New
succulent plants but as we will see, they Guinea had already experienced four months
certainly do exist in these environments. of drought, and an annual seven month dry
Many of the places that harbour such plants season is typical for the frontier lands of Cape
are still difficult and dangerous to explore, York Peninsula, North Queensland, Australia,
hence these plants will probably prove to be especially when subject to the drier vagaries of
our world’s very last frontier of xerophytic and the Pacific Ocean’s El Niño/La Niña weather
succulent plant explorations. cycles.
Although tropical and sub-tropical regions When rainfalls are erratic, plant species that
generally have high rainfall, they often grow perched upon trees inherently have
experience dry seasons of durations sufficient problems maintaining their water budgets,
to create rehydration challenges for many challenges further compounded by the
plants, especially those that live in fast imperative of all life forms to obtain sufficient
draining habitats or niches. It follows that nourishment. Hence, most vascular epiphytes
plants growing as epiphytes or lithophytes
54
prefer benevolent habitats beneath lush
canopies that provide highly protective
measures of shade, humidity and ever falling
supplies of animal and plant organics (and
consequent leachates) that can be exploited in
various ways according to the varied survival
strategies of resident plants.
In response to their habitat-induced moisture
limits, many epiphytes have evolved water
conserving forms and physiologies that permit
the best-adapted species to spread far beyond
(or above) protective canopies. Indeed, there
are probably more epiphytes that use the
highly water conserving crassulacean acid
metabolic (CAM) pathway than do terrestrial Fig.2 Dischidia major growing on a huge Paperbark
succulent plants. (Luttge 2004) Certainly, Melaleuca species tree, Iron Range National Park,
many epilithic and epiphytic plant species Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.
qualify as being fully succulent, while others housing, so I will start with them.
are as xerophytic as many caudiciform or Dischidia major (Vahl) Merrill published in
pachycaul species accepted as ‘succulent’ in ‘An Interpretation of Rumphius's Herbarium
temperate climate plant-houses. Amboinense’ 1917. (Rumphius's Herbarium
It follows that as epiphytes become better Amboinense was published posthumously in
able to survive in tropical environments 1741.) Basionym Collyris major Vahl, published
without the benefits of lush canopies, they in ‘Skrifter af Naturhistorie-Selskabet’ 1810.
experience ever higher insolation levels and at Synonym, D. rafflesiana Wallich, ‘Plantae
the very least, more frequent dehydration Asiaticae rariores’ Vol 2, 1831.
stresses. Thus they have ever increasing Dischidia major has hollow domatia leaves
struggles obtaining sufficient nutrients because (domatia means little homes) that in early
it is difficult for plants to imbibe nutrients literature have been termed pitchers. Yet these
without water. leaves are not at all analogues of the water-
Yet some epiphytic succulents have evolved holding rosettes of phytotelm (tank)
fascinating ways to bypass such problems by bromeliads or the urn-like leaves of
actually manipulating ants to purposely, yes carnivorous plants such as Nepenthes that often
purposely, feed them. Not that the ants have share the very nutrient-poor habitats of many
any understanding of what they are doing. Old World ant-house plants.
This is achieved, if only initially, through the As you will see in the accompanying
vital incentive of providing ant colonies with photographs, hollow domatia leaves are
ready-made homes. However, exactly how seldom positioned where they could possibly
ants are further manipulated is still not catch rainfall, even in the torrential downpours
completely understood. of the North Queensland high-summer
Plants that provide homes to ants are called monsoons and certainly not falling plant
myrmecophytes which translates as ant-plants debris. However, Australian author Attila
but the term ant-house plant is probably better. Kapitany has made the interesting and
So successful are guilds of varied arboreal probably correct hypotheses that often a few
living ant-house species that myrmeco- leaves may be positioned sufficiently to catch
epiphytes frequently dominate their habitats in at least small quantities of leachates flowing
open savannahs with poor soils to the down plant stems without unduly disturbing
exclusion of virtually all non ant-house resident ant colonies. D. major also grows
epiphytes. normal laminate leaves but these are disposed
of at an inbuilt abscission layer during
Tropical North Australia has representatives drought, showing most definitely which form
of two of the most important forms of ant-
55
Fig.4 Myrmecodia beccarii "southern form" with the

orchid Cepobaculum tattonianum, Hinchinbrook Channel
swamps near Cardwell, North Queensland, Australia.
There is a small section of Dischidia nummularia (top.)
It is rare to see this dischidia species close to this orchid
species.
domatia interiors (compared with far fewer
Fig.3 Myrmecodia beccarii "northern form" festooned stomate numbers on outer leaf surfaces) it
with the asclepiad vine Dischidia nummularia a
ensures much less transpirational water losses
facultative hemiparasite of ant-plant symbiotic
mutualisms. Younger plants of the northern form are than would occur from a need to open (or
heavily spined but this is a mature specimen. more fully open) stomata on external domatia
Cooktown, North Queensland, Australia. surfaces.
is most beneficial for this species survival. It is Research has shown that in unoccupied
therefore not at all surprising that laminate domatia leaves, ant-derived CO2 measured
leaves are rare in habitat. only about 4% of a plants total CO2 uptake, but
Ant colonies choose to rear their broods in in newly ant-occupied leaves it had risen to
hollow domatia leaves while gradually filling about 27%, finally rising to 39% in occupied
them with their plant nutritious debris to then leaves that also held stores of decomposing
abandon them for roomier leaves that host ant-composts. This study also found that an
plants are continually growing. Adventitious average 29% of a plant’s nitrogen was derived
roots originating at nearby leaf nodes gain from ant-supplied composts. (Treseder et al.
entrance through a single hole at the petiole 1995.)
(leaf stalk) end also used by resident ants. Resident mutualist ant colonies bring in
Roots then ramify throughout stored composts nutrients from far beyond what the root
enabling access to products of decomposition systems of host plants or indeed entire host
such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium etc. trees could possibly reach. These various
Yet perhaps of even greater importance is morphological and physiological traits allow
access to concentrated amounts of plant- D. major to survive in habitats where extremely
essential carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted, not few other epiphytes can, or indeed do exist.
only by resident ants, but by all respiring life
Certainly, D. major is an extremely successful
forms especially microbes living within
species with a range spanning an enormous
domatia. Because CO2 is absorbed by larger
area across southern Asia with records as far
numbers of stomata within enclosed, humid,
west as eastern India (e.g. Assam) across the
56
Indian Ocean to the Andaman & Nicobar
Islands, onward through Burma (Myanmar),
Thailand, the Indo-China nations, down
through Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore
Island, and onward throughout the
innumerable island archipelagos of Indonesia,
the Philippines and New Guinea then at last to
north-east Australia. Local habitats range from
sea level to about 900 m (2953 ft) but low
elevations are most frequented.
Myrmecodia beccarii Hooker, published in the
‘Botanical Magazine’ 112: 1886, is a species
endemic to North Australia; however, in this
genus ant-houses are provided in tunnels and
chambers that form entirely without help from
ants within a caudiciform base (technically a
tuber.)
Myrmecodia have two types of internal
hollows; smooth walled, light brown chambers
Fig.5 A peek into a windfall Myrmecodia species,
in which ants live and rear their broods and
Lockhart River region, Cape York Peninsula,
darker brown ‘wart’-lined tunnels in which Queensland, Australia.
resident mutualist ant colonies deposit their
various organic wastes. The so-called warts
are highly shortened adventitious roots able to
absorb moisture and nutrients from
decomposing ant wastes.
The complex tunnel and gallery systems
within Myrmecodia are very similar to the nests
that ants themselves build in soil. What is
most intriguing is that somehow Myrmecodia
species can manipulate ants to store their
wastes in suitably ‘warted’ tunnels when it
would be hygienically safer for resident ant to
simply throw their wastes to the ground
below.
Compared to other Myrmecodia, this species
has a particularly high tissue to space ratio in
its tubers and a recent study “demonstrates
unequivocally the presence of crassulacean
acid metabolism” (Tsen & Holtum 2012) Fig.6 Hydnophytum moselyanum in scrubby riverine
forest on very poor silica sand soils at the outer edges of
M. beccarii is a littoral species that also the Jardine River catchments, Cape York Peninsula.
occupies mangrove forests where, however, it
Myrmecodia have thick fleshy stems that,
prefers fairly open exposures especially on
according to the species, are more or less
deciduous tree species. Although this is a
ornamented with shield-like leaf insertion
heavily canopied environment its exposure to
scales called clypeoli which are particularly
salinity and other unique environmental
distinct in M. platytyrea subsp. antoinii. Stems
factors make it a habitat harsh to most non ant-
are also ornamented to a greater or lesser
epiphytes.
degree according to species with rather unique
Australia has two other Myrmecodia species depressions called alveoli from which flowers
namely M. platytyrea subsp. antoinii and M. and eventually ripe fruits emerge.
tuberosa “papuana”.
57
mangrove forests.
Along with Myrmecodia they are members of
the subfamily Hydnophytinae of the plant
family Rubiaceae.
Hydnophytum have rather ordinary twiggy
stems, very different to those of Myrmecodia
but their flowers and fruits are very similar.
References
Huxley, C. R. (1978) The Ant-plants
Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum (Rubiaceae)
and the Relationships between their
Morphology, Ant Occupants, Physiology and
Ecology. New Phytologist. Vol.80: 231-268.
Huxley, C. R. (1982) Ant-epiphytes of
Australia. In Ant-plant Interactions in
Australia. Junk Publishers, Hague,
Netherlands.
Huxley, C.R. & M. H. P. Jebb (1991a). The
tuberous epiphytes of the Rubiaceae 2: A new
sub tribe, The Hydnophytinae. Blumea 36: 1-
20.
Huxley, C. R. & M. H .P. Jebb (1991b) The
tuberous epiphytes of the Rubiaceae 2: The
new genus Anthorrhiza. Blumea 36: 21- 41.
Huxley, C.R. & M. H. P. Jebb (1991c) The
tuberous epiphytes of the Rubiaceae 3: A
revision of Myrmephytum to include
Myrmedoma. Blumea 36: 43- 52.
Huxley, C. R. & M. H. P. Jebb (1993) The
Fig.7 Myrmecodia tuberosa and M. platytyrea subsp.
antoinii growing on a She-oak Allocasuarina tree in tuberous epiphytes of the Rubiaceae 5: A
open savannah, Iron Range National Park, Cape York revision of Myrmecodia Blumea, Vol. 37: 271-
Peninsula, North Queensland, Australia. 334.
A complex of four New Guinea species also Jebb, M. H. P. (1991b) The tuberous epiphytes
has tunnels that extend from those of the tuber of the Rubiaceae 4: A revision of Squamellaria.
to run the entire length of their stems to open Blumea 36:53- 61.
in the deep depressions of stem alveoli. Jebb, M. H. P. (1993) Anthorrhiza camilla - A
new species of Rubiaceous ant--plant. Blumea
Hydnophytum moseleyanum Beccarii, 37: 341- 344.
published in: ‘Malesia Raccolta’ 2: 1885, Jebb, M. H. P. (2009) Irish National Botanical
inhabits the monsoon tropics of Cape York Gardens website 2009:
Peninsula, Australia, primarily near the east http://www.botanicgardens.ie/herb/research/h
coast where it too has tubers filled with ydnophytum.htm
complex tunnel and gallery systems; however, Kapitany, A. (2007) Australian Succulent
in Hydnophytum species, ‘warts’, where they Plants: An Introduction. Kapitany Concepts,
exist at all, are restricted to certain dead-end Australia.
galleries hence there is little differentiation of Luttge, U. (2004) Ecophysiology of
the surface textures and colours of internal Crassulacean Metabolism (CAM) Annals of
walls. Botany 93: 629- 652.
The species also occurs in nearby New Rowe, D. J. (2010) Ant-plants: Arboreal
Guinea and some of that island’s smaller Wonders of Nature. A book distributed only
archipelagos where in some regions it prefers as a DVD.
See: http://www.australiansucculents.com
58
Fig.8 Myrmecodia tuberosa "papuana" Iron Range

National Park. Cape York Peninsula.
Treseder, K. Davidson, D. W. Erhleringer, J. R.
(1995) Absorption of ant-provided carbon
dioxide and nitrogen by a tropical epiphyte.
Nature Vol. 375: 137- 138. Fig.9 Myrmecodia platytyrea subsp. antoinii,
Tsen, Edward W. J. Holtum, Joseph A. M. Iron Range National Park, Cape York Peninsula.
Note the very distinct rows of shield-like clypeoli.
(2012) Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)
in an epiphytic ant-plant, Myrmecodia beccarii apparently less common and far less
Hook., (Rubiaceae.) Photosynthesis Research. widespread on the island continent.
Myrmecodia platytyrea subsp. antoinii (Becc.)
More Australian Ant-house species. C.R. Huxley & Jebb, published in: Blumea
37(2): 1993.
Myrmecodia tuberosa Jack, published in
Transactions of the Linnean Society of London This is a New Guinean and Australian native
14: 1823. that appears to be more numerous and
widespread in Australia than M. tuberosa
This is an extremely widespread species with
which is anomalous because the latter species
numerous forms, some of which are very
has a truly enormous distribution throughout
aesthetic but also particularly weird. Its form
Southeast Asia.
in Australia and nearby Papua New Guinea
has been given the informal trinomial It has longer and thicker stems than M.
“papuanum.” It appears to be rarer and more tuberosa and much longer but usually less
localised in Australia than the two other native branching stems than M. beccarii. Unusual
Myrmecodia species; however, it has some diagnostic features, certainly among
easily photographed populations growing in Australian hydnophyta are its very distinct
scrubby heath savannahs of the Iron Range rows of elevated, hence highly prominent,
region on the east coast of Cape York densely spine-edged clypeoli (leaf-insertion
Peninsula. None were located by our party scales) in rows along its stems. Another
further north than Iron Range but it is not at all diagnostic feature, if only for Australian taxa
impossible that other populations exist in such are its opaque, orange-coloured, soft, sweet,
an enormous and mostly trackless wilderness. bird-eaten fruits.
This form also grows further south in the Some were seen high in lush rainforest
difficult of access McIlwraith Range area, inland at Mossman Gorge about 80km (50
north-east of Coen, Cape York, and Huxley & miles) north of Cairns where it extends far into
Jebb report that it occurs in mangroves in New northern latitudes of M. beccarii habitats which,
Guinea. Considering the species is enormously however, are primarily coastal.
widespread and has extremely varied forms
beyond Australia, it is inconsistent that it is It occurs sporadically in rainforest at Iron
Range National Park but far more abundantly
59
“papuana” join a similarly dominant ant-
epiphyte guild that excludes virtually all other
epiphyte species.
Dischidia nummularia published in
‘Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae’ 1810 by
Richard Brown in the very first flora of
Australia ever published. Type Collection:
Australia, North Queensland, Endeavour
River. This was a Banks & Solander 1770
collection made during Captain Cook’s famous
voyage of exploration.
Fig.10 Myrmecodia horrida at over 2134m on Rondon
Ridge, above Mt Hagan City, Western Highlands A gateway to Cape York, the small frontier
Province, Papua New Guinea. This is a member of a city of Cooktown with its many ant-house
closely related complex of four species that, in addition plants and other tropical wonders sits at the
to having this genera's internal ant-gallery systems mouth of the Endeavour River but explore
within tubers, also has tunnels connecting to them that with care, salt-water crocodiles are very
run within the length of stems to exits at entrances in
unforgiving of the unwary. There is now an
alveoli near stem apexes. Alveoli in this context are
sunken, somewhat areole-like stem depressions from excellent bitumen highway from Cairns but
which flowers and ripe fruits emerge. beyond Cooktown it is 4wd only and usually
impassable in the wet, with seemingly endless
in lower growing, open-canopied heath and
corrugations and the infamous bull-dust
savanna scrubs with very poor silica based
patches.
soils. It was also located in somewhat open,
low-canopied riverine scrub on very poor D. nummularia is another immensely
sandstone derived soils nearer the tip of Cape widespread, hence extremely successful
York in outer edges of the Jardine River species that consequently is very variable
catchments where it grew with Hydnophytum occurring as it does from India right across
moseleyanum, Dischidia major, D. nummularia, southern Asia to southern China and down
Lecanopteris sinuosa and a very few tenacious through the various island archipelagos to
succulent/xerophytic orchid species. This, the Australia and beyond to Oceania.
most northerly point of Australia is situated Yet it is not an ant-house plant and its
only about 150km (93miles) from the large constant appearance in the habitats of ant-
island of New Guinea. During the lower sea house species is unique. Indeed, it is often the
levels of past ice ages, New Guinea and some first epiphyte found in the field and an
of its nearby islands were connected to assurance that ant-house plants surely lurk
Australia. nearby. There are a number of morphological,
Lecanopteris sinuosa (Hooker) Copeland. physiological and ‘strategic’ reasons for its
Published in University of California success, not the least being that it is frequently
Publications in Botany 16: 1929. a hemiparasite of ant-plant symbiotic
mutualisms sending invasive roots within
This is an extremely tough ant-house plant
debris-containing domatia of true ant-house
that is a member of a number of ant-house
species. Symbioses involve any life forms that
guilds throughout the Malesian Floristic
live closely together on a long term to
Region that varies according to local species.
permanent basis, while mutualisms are varied
In Australia it forms ant-house guilds with
ecological relationships where all species
Dischidia major, D. nummularia, Hydnophytum
involved gain survival benefits.
moseleyanum, Myrmecodia platytyrea subsp.
antoinii and a few particularly tough Derrick Rowe
xerophytic to succulent orchid species that are
able to survive in these seasonally harsh
habitats. On widespread trees in the vast
lowland plains of Western Province, Papua
New Guinea, L. sinuosa and M. tuberosa
60
an aMazInG aftErnoon
south of la poza, nuEvo lEón
Chris Davies shares the excitement of visiting the habitat of two remarkable
plants that eluded discovery for so long. Photos by the author.
Fig.1 The gypsum slopes leading to the cliffs
It was about three-quarters way through my main road and headed south-east of the village
recent 18 day field trip to Mexico, and we had of La Poza. The road was not bad, very
been hard at fulfilling our plan to try to see as winding as usual, and we were scanning the
many species as possible, with a special focus hillsides waiting to see the pale slopes of the
on Turbinicarpus and Mammillaria. gypsum hills that we hoped to see. The
We had started in Hidalgo and worked our hillsides were lovely, and as we twisted and
way through northern Querétaro, eastern turned we had glorious views of them.
Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, then directly into After about only 20km, though it seemed
Tamaulipas, and now into Nuevo León. We’d rather more, we passed close to the tiny village
spent the last night in a hotel in the centre of of Tomates, and then we knew we had arrived!
Aramberri, and “ticked off” several more The road was on the south western side of the
Turbinicarpus and Mammillaria on our way valley, and the hills to our right as we came
north. along the road were now quite bare and
By mid-afternoon, with plenty of time before exceedingly white [Fig.1]. Gypsum literally
finding a hotel near Galeana, we turned off the shone through here in the sunshine and,
61
Fig.2 Geohintonia mexicana in flower
although there were sparse trees in places, the the rocks, there it was, my first Geohintonia
predominant impression was white. This was mexicana [Fig.3]! It was about 5cm across, and
reinforced as we made our way across the looked very happy sitting there in almost
lower slopes to where we expected the plants splendid isolation.
to be. I started to gingerly make my way round
The gypsum was relatively firm in places, but some rocky outcrops, and soon started to see
broke away easily in others, making the climb more plants. Not all of them looked in quite as
up the slopes a very hit and miss affair. We good condition as this first plant, but as I
started to find plants, initially just a few worked my way round towards the mouth of a
Thelocactus bueckii in flower [Fig.8], though narrow ravine, the plants appeared to be
they looked quite dry, and then higher up in
Fig.3 The first Geohintonia mexicana seen Fig.4 Aztekium hintonii
62
Fig.5 A group of Aztekium hintonii
better, and I saw the first plant in flower water. My assessment was certainly imprecise,
[Fig.2]. as it was by now well after 5pm, and the sun
By this time, I realised that I was about ten was low in the sky with sunset at about
metres above a ravine and there was no easy 7:30pm.
way down. So it was a careful and lengthy The Geohintonia were the most floriferous
back-track and then the entry to the ravine was here, though there were a few Aztekium plants
easy. The entrance narrowed so that it was showing buds. It was difficult to make an
only possible to walk in single file, and then it
widened just about enough to allow two
people to stand. As well as the Geohintonia that
we had seen earlier, these were now joined by
Aztekium hintonii plants in numbers.
As I worked my way further in and up, the
numbers of plants increased dramatically.
Almost all of them were on the one side of the
ravine, though both sides were gypsum [Fig.7].
I have wondered what produced this unusual
distribution.
Maybe it had something to do with the way
in which that the ravine was oriented as, from
making a rough approximation of the way in
which the sun might travel, the populated side
was probably the sunnier one. It didn’t seem to
have any advantage in terms of nutrients or Fig.6 Geohintonia mexicana in flower
63
Fig.7 Just how many plants!!

accurate assessment of how many plants were cold Modelo Especial at the first convenience
in this ravine, but we estimated that there must store (yet another OXXO) was an appropriate
have been hundreds, possibly even thousands. reward. When we found our hotel at the
There were probably 3 times as many Laguna de Labradores, we asked if they could
Geohintonia as Aztekium, with many examples provide us with food, which they said they
of young plants of both species. It was just an could, but in order to do so, the staff had to go
amazing sight, and my companions at this back into Galeana for a carry-out. The beers
time in the ravine, Norbert Rebmann and they brought back were very cold and the food
Christophe Assalit, were just as dumbfounded hot and spicy, which rounded off what had
by the profusion of plants. been a superb day.
It had been another long and hot day, but the The more I see of Mexico, the more I am
exhilaration of having had the privilege of amazed that such species have remained
seeing this site stayed with us, and a can of undiscovered for such a relatively long period
of time. This location, and others within the
area, have really only been widely known for
some 20 years, after their discovery by George
Hinton in 1991. As new roads are driven into
the more remote areas, we can hope for more
such discoveries, although the sheer profusion
of these particular plants might never be
matched. A unique gypsum habitat has
combined with the remoteness of the area to
make this just an amazing place to visit.
Chris Davies
http://www.woodedge.co.uk
Fig.8 Thelocactus bueckii, dehydrated but flowering.
64
travEl WIth thE CaCtus ExpErt (4)

Zlatko Janeba continues his travels around the US where he saw lots of
interesting plants in beautiful scenery. Photos: Z. Janeba
Fig.1 Landscape south-west of Beaver Dam Mountains, near Arizona-Utah border. This area is one of the richest
biotopes in the state of Utah for the number of plant and animal species there.
During that day (April 29th 2006) we Since it was getting dark and Josef prefered
managed to visit one more locality in Utah to stay in a hotel that night, we went back
(Washington County), north of Littlefield several kilometers across the state borders to
(Arizona), just where we crossed the Arizona- the city of Mesquite (Nevada), where you can
Utah border. This is a really great place with a gamble if you wish to do so. But it was not the
beautiful scenery [Fig.1] and one of my most best idea since we paid $100 for the double
favourite cactus places in the USA. room in Virgen River, the most costly hotel
The south-western corner of Utah represents during our whole cactus hunting trip.
part of the Mohave Desert and it is probably Furthermore, it was really a pity to miss
the richest habitat in the state for cactus camping in the Beaver Dam Mountains
species. I counted some nine species of cacti Wilderness. It is a gorgeous area, extremely
there. But, although both varieties of quiet at night, with the sky full of stars and
Echinocactus polycephalus (var. polycephalus and excellent visibility without any light pollution.
var. xeranthemoides) are also reported from I had slept there alone three times before and it
southern Utah, I personally did not encounter was always a really enjoyable experience.
either in this area. The next morning (April 30th 2006), we
65
Fig. 2. Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is rarely

seen in nature. I got really lucky with this one.
Fig.5 Seedling of Echinomastus johnsonii, about 5cm in
diameter. At this size it starts to develop beautiful,
colourful, and strong spines. Can we get such seedlings
in cultivation?
headed back there since we were not able to
shoot good pictures the day before. We entered
the Woodbury Desert Study Area which was
designated in 1977 by the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and includes over 3000
acres of unspoilt wilderness. It is a desert
biotope, dominated by Joshua trees (Yucca
brevifolia) and creosote bushes (Larrea
tridentata), with many desert animal and plant
species living there that are not found
anywhere else in Utah. It is worth mentioning
the desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) [Fig.2],
desert iguana (Dipsosaurus dorsalis), Mohave
rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus), and desert
kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti), among other
desert-dwelling creatures.
Fig. 3. Echinomastus johnsonii, one of my favourite The cactus flora is also rich there and you can
species from the south-west of the USA, especially for often get several species in one shot [Fig.6]. It
its heavy spination and gorgeous bicoloured flowers. It is is the northernmost habitat of Echinomastus
very common in the flat area with numerous washes that
run to the south and west into the Beaver Dam Wash.
johnsonii [Figs. 3-5]. This is my favourite cactus
of the Mohave Desert and I had the chance to
study it at some 30 localities in total (Janeba
2008). In this area of south-western Utah it is
common, both in the flats with numerous
washes, and on rocky slopes of the Beaver
Dam Mountains. This species usually flowers
in April and the beginning of May. E. johnsonii
has pink to magenta flowers with darker
centres at this Utah location, and this is the
place where I was extremely lucky to observe
an unusual pollinator (or flower visitor?) of
this remarkable cactus, hawk moth Hyles
Fig. 4. Flowers of Echinomastus johnsonii, Washington lineata Fabricius, although its flowers are
County, Utah. A picture is better than a thousand words.
66
Fig.6 Rich desert flora in the south-west corner of Utah, Washington County. You can see Echinocereus engelmannii,
Ferocactus cylindraceus, Mammillaria tetrancistra with reddish fruits, and Yucca brevifolia growing together here.
67
Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea [Fig.7] are
usually in bloom at the same time as
Echinomastus johnsonii. Mammillaria tetrancistra
can be easily spotted, especially when it is
decorated with its orange to reddish sweet
fruits. Also Ferocactus cylindraceus can be seen
here, but it flowers much later than
Echinocereus and Echinomastus, usually during
the hot summer months. Although this
population is said to belong to F. cylindraceus
spp. lecontei (e.g. Pilbeam & Bowdery 2005), I
personally do not see any convincing distinct
Fig.7 Flowering Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea, characteristics of the spination to be able to
Washington County, Utah. distinguish these two subspecies.
Yucca brevifolia (Joshua Tree) is an important
dominant feature of the landscape in this
region, as well as the Mohave Desert in
general. Agave utahensis [Fig.8] commonly
grows on the rocky outcrops there (Janeba
2010) and Escobaria vivipara can sometimes be
encountered at higher elevation [Figs.9-10]. We
spent most of that day at this interesting
location where one could roam through the
wilderness forever.
Afterwards, I took Josef to one more special
place nearby, just south-east of the city of St.
George (Utah). There I showed him a nice
population of another gem of the cactus family,
Pediocactus (Utahia) sileri [Fig. 11]. This might
be the only population of this species in the
state of Utah, although it is known from
several locations along the Arizona-Utah
border. This exceptionally healthy population
comprises really huge plants (up to 30cm) and
the flower colour here varies from yellowish to
reddish (Janeba 2009b). We spent the rest of
the afternoon there admiring this rare cactus
and its special biotope where it grows on
barren gypsum hills at 900m elevation [Fig.12].
We ended up at Hurricane (Utah) in some
cheap hotel. That day I had my 35th birthday
so we got several six-packs of beer. We had
seen wonderful plants ... it had been a really
Fig.8 On the rocky outcrops of the Beaver Dam Moun- good day.
tains Agave utahensis is plentiful together with more
specimens of Echinomastus johnsonii.
To be continued ...
primarily mellitophylic, i.e. bee pollinated
(Janeba 2009a).
Zlatko Janeba
There are other common cacti found in this
south-west corner of Utah. Clumps of
Echinocereus engelmannii (ssp. engelmannii) and
68
Fig.9 View of the pass north of Castle Cliff with Agave utahensis. On many plants here was severe damage from
recent wildfires.
69
Fig.10 At higher elevation you can encounter Escobaria

vivipara. This specimen is from the pass north of Castle
Cliff, Washington County, Utah.
Fig.11 Pediocactus (Utahia) sileri south-east of St. Fig.12 Habitat south-east of St. George, Washington
George, Washington County, Utah. At this location there County, Utah with Pediocactus (Utahia) sileri. Notice the
are some really old specimens of this amazing cactus. barren gypsum hills of this very specific biotope.
References
Janeba, Z. (2008): Echinomastus johnsonii
(Parry ex Engelm.) E.M.Baxter. CactusWorld
26(3): 125-132.
Janeba, Z. (2009a): Insect flower visitors and
pollinators of cacti from the southwest
USA. Bradleya 27: 59-68.
Janeba, Z. (2009b): Utahia sileri z Utahu.
Cactaceae etc. XIX(4): 127-132.
Janeba, Z. (2010): The Agave utahensis
Engelmann Complex. Kaktusy XLVI, special 2.
Pilbeam J. & Bowdery, D.(2005): Ferocactus. –
British Cactus and Succulent Society.
70
soCIEty paGEs
British Cactus & Succulent Society
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Also available are a series of separate books
about particular groups of Echinocereus.
Articles in English as
http://www.arbeitsgruppe- well as German.
echinocereus.de/html/home_english.html http://www.mammillaria.eu/en_index.html
71
"Avonia", the quarterly journal of the German Society for other Succulents.
Written in German with English summaries, non-German manuscripts in original
language. Includes colour photographs, excellent drawings and articles on all aspects of
other Succulents. See our website: www.fgas-sukkulenten.de
Annual subscription: Germany: 30 € incl. P&P Other countries: 35 € incl. P&P
Also available is the free colour online journal "Avonia-News", Annual seed list for
members and much more.
Special interest groups for Aloe (incl. Haworthia a.s.), Ascleps, Euphorbia, Mesembs
and Yucca/winter-hardy Succulents.
For membership and further information please contact:
Dr. Jörg Ettelt: Morgenstr. 72, D-59423 Unna, praesident@fgas.sukkulenten.de or
Wilfried Burwitz:
Postfach 100206, D-03002 Cottbus, geschaeftsstelle@fgas.sukkulenten.de
The Haworthia Society

Dedicated to the furtherance and knowledge
of the Aloaceae, including Haworthia,
Gasteria, Astroloba, Aloe and also Bulbine.
Membership details are available from
Mrs. Joyce Jackson
E.mail: jackson.343@ btinternet.com
Kaktusy is an international (Czecho-Slovak) journal

about cacti and succulents with many interesting articles
(travel, descriptions, growing, exhibitions, books, taxon-
omy) published since 1965. It is in the Czech language with
summaries in English and German.
Volume 2010 has 292 pages, 451 color photos, 54 B&W
photos and one CD-ROM.
Price: 180 CZK + postage
(about 8€ + postage or about $11 + postage)
Orders please via E-mail
http://www.cactus.cz/english/kaktusy/kaktusy_2010/
“
o calycium
„Gym n
o u t also in
ag az ine now h
M Englis GYMNOC
ALYC
AL IUM 25(1)
2012: A+B
"SCFJUTH
"SCFJUTHSVQQF(
SVQQF(ZNOPDB
ZNOPDBMZDJVNt
MZDJVNt Ges. Österr
Österre
eichisch
ichischeerr Kakteenfr
freunde
aningaen
se Piltz Neuhuber
Gert J.A. Gymnocaly cium
eunde
alycium t e4 carolinense (Neuhuber
car
Gymnoc Traunaustraß ) Neuhuber
A-4600 Wels Verbreitung und Dive 25(1)2012: 1007-1012
orte
ium.info
er@gymnocalyc rsität des
nd
nsten Fu
e-mail: neuhub
Gymnocalycium caro
Die schö
linense.
Gert J.
J A. Neuhube
Distribution and variabilit Traunaustraße 4
ber
y of
Gymnocalycium caroline A-46000
0 Wels
Teil 2
Teil nse e
e-mail:
-mail: ne
neuhuber@gym
uhube
uber@gymn nocalycium.info
ocalycium.info
damit e
da
oba und f i n d e
d e C ó rd ,
n Sie r ra r g s ke t te der Abstract: Enhanced knowled
er lange e d i e s e r G e b i er an
knowledgege of the geographic
s ts e itte d eit f d
de
biette a u 007 in ein
bution and morphologic
al variability has led to the distri- Abstract: Enhanced
an der O u f d e r We s t s n G e bie knowledge of the geographic
t a C r u z, is a e wohne rde 2 nition of G. carolinense recog-
recog distribution and morphologic
Bei San San Lu n d te n b uber wu das e subsp. ludwigii and its al variability has led to
Prov inz le Ve r wa p. fuschilloi Neuh nd ist bis heute eltrebolense. variety recognition of G. caro
recognition the
in der ör e n. A l ie be n u
linense subsp. ludwi
t hingeh se 7PS[a
subs
5 b e sc hr variety eltrebolense. gii and its
n i c h t dor aningaen f Seitte 70 Resumen: Mejor conocimiento
ycium t 7-708) au de la dis
Gymnocal 2 0 07: 6 9 gráfica y de la variabilidad distribución geo-
M 20(1) morfológica rresultan Resumen: Mejor conocimiento
CALYCIU ennen. tablecimiento de G. car esultan en el
olinense subsp. ludwigii es- geográfica y de la variabilidad de la distribución
Grande da d a s w ir k variedad eltrebolense y su morfológica resultan en
. establecimiento de G. el
carolinense subsp.
su variedad eltrebole ludwigii y
Das kleinste Gymnocalyc n s e.
ium in der Provinz
Provinz
carolinense (Neuhuber) San Luis,
Gymnocalycium carolinense The smallest Gymnocalyc
wurde
wur de in GYMNOCALYCIUM Neuhuber,,
Neuhuber Luis, Gymnocalyci ium in the province
province San
bereits ausführlich besprochen. (Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) um carolinense
besprochen. Die Informatione Neuhuber, has already
already been (Neuhuber)
die V
Verbr
erbreitung
erbreitung und die Eigenschaf
Eigenschafteten
n über GYMNOCALYCIUM (Neuhuber discussed in detail in
men indes mehr und mehr n der Pflanzen neh- 1994 + 2005). However
zu. Heute kennen wir the informations about
distribu
distribution
lationen die bedeutend
grös
grös
Popu- the plant increase continuouslytion and characteristics of
und auch Sippen die rosa sere Pflanzen beherbergen populations that include . Nowadays we know
of
blühen. (Abb. 1) considerably
cons
de ! Noch im Jahr 2005 wurde species that flower pink iderably bigger plants
wurde vom Autor die and
eu n treten,
tr eten, dass auf der Sierra Meinung ver- (Fig. 1).
u mfr des Westabhangs
de
d e Portezuelo und am
Fuss
lyci r üübbeer der Sierra de
Comechingones Gym Back in 2005 the
author held the opinion
noca en wi iiee w
- Gymnocalycium bru that
Gy m richt ndor f, d B
found in the Sierra de
uchii
chii (S((Sp
Speg
S
Sppeg.) Ho
Hosseus could be
Liebe be ben E u g e ad e i m Portezuelo and at the
usga ung in i Eu ge r
western slopes of the Sierra foot of the
n A Au t, ge ab
ab de Comechingones. Detailed
nde mnotag gsarbei ns lliiegt, f resear
esearch
ch made evident, that
iege t. Gy
rlie Gy un or unu c ha monvillei ((L not only Gymnocalyci
r vo 23 . In l Forsch no c h v i s s e ns i c h n Lem.) Britton um
n de r 2 3 n o Neuhuber var. confu & Rose subsp. ger trudae
I de
uf de ie vie ungen, g von W äf tiig gt ssi m a s
G. carolinense s. l. extendsa Neuhuber
Verla gt h at, w h n h iu but also
eze i ha ntersuc ernetzu er be besc nocalyc ub the western from the Sierra de San L
from
western slopes of the Sierra uis to
g U
DNA ig eine r t Ne
V
Ve hub Gym he P
der ichtig Neu nten Gy ic de Comechingones (Fig.
2).
i e w i s t Ge
. Ge b
bee k an z ahlre che E Enn
In 1989 Ludwig Bercht
w fern gu t
gu schone h hiisto n
r is re Bercht and
Feldldlääu einbar zu sc g– in the Sierra de Portezuelo,the author discovered
discovered plants
sch es da ih m
d
di
die chung Sch in the east of the province
de m ih fors San Luis, that have been
ohl haat, gi gibt er Feld rischen errb recorded in the locality
recor
Obw ben h ich ded hiisto nten V
h Ve list as
e
geg e iim Beere sier ten sgedeh chiede
B
d m analy ten aau u
i ver
s
in d
gera enau an a nn r zwe ndere in

de r h
g
ge eb
k
ek
be uhub e a
an ma

heeut er t Ne Ne de
, di lyciu
o ba y m n o c a e r n

dem nt Ge G Córd ls Gy
n
erke ierra de de Có a G
al uhub Le Abb. 1: Eine schön rosa
blühende Sippe vo
n er abloi Ne b Luiis
Lu von G. carolinense vo
im von der Sierra de San
de r
S anze ec. pa p e bee uen Fig. 1:
1: A beautiful pink flo
n Pfl sp reud fre
flowering specimen of G
. carolinense in
dere eb. sub n viel F un u ns a m 2
in the Sierra de San Luis
.
k
Bac ünsche würden ndor f am nocalycium bruchii (Speg.)
w e Hosseus zu finden sei.
Wir n un u nd in EuEug nauere
nauer e Untersuchungen haben Ge-
e e in ergeben, dass sich nicht
Seit enbörs ür fen. nur die Verbr
Verbr
erbreitung
eitung von Gymnocalycium
te dü
d
Kak ßen zu (Lemaire)
(Lemair e) Britton & Rose subsp. monvillei
rü
rüß ber var gertrudae Neuhu-
beg var.. confusa Neuhuber
von der Sierra de San
rf bis an den Westabhang
Westabhang der Sierra Luis
endo erstreckt,
erstreckt, sondern de Comechingones
e Eug sondern auch die von
G. carolinense s. l.
h l es e (Abb. 2)
reist
Nac Ja h r m d Ludwig Bercht
Bercht und der Autor Abb. 2: Es
Es vve
er wunder t nicht, wenn
ma n be i d
auf der Sierra de Portezuelo entdeckten im Jahr 1989
diieser P
em n, um u Fig. 2: No
No wonder th Pflflfla
a n ze a n G . b r u c h i i d
dies g an
that this plant re
recalllss G. bruchii. deenk t.
d
die a . B im Osten der Provinz
h in ta Provinz
Auc onners nd Fam Ta Luis Pflanzen, die als G.
bruchii in die Fundortliste San
D u
un de r genommen wurden. auf-
am hauser ichte de am F
wurden. Das Vorkommen
V G. bruchii. The distribution
r ch n am Hügeln dieser Sierra, die orkommen auf den niedrigen on low hills of this Sierra
Ame r Ge Ges m ssccho ng i Y)S[L\
U K- in Wirklichkeit keine ist, that is not really any, is
rremarkable,
emarkable, it is only maximally
de gr [ `WPZJ OL da sie
in de ra m t f ü h r u OPSSVPTP[ 100 m higher than the
Prog Staad IZWM\ZJ adjoining rise, being
s d , D P UN HLUZLZ\ located
d a r a r x VU.[HU
eine rich M re G 7 MSHUaL] A
mit
ei HJ OZ L U L
E ,PULLY ^
Dr. en unse on H 1007
von htig ig t v
sicc norama r A
Gymnocalycium 25(1))2
besi pa beer de
012
ttp
Stad lick ü üb versc
Ausb kko n
onnnte under
und dt bew de
a
Altst tlich n naach
k da
Pü hauser
n h b
Sttuc silien Gr de d
r v S
Ame Stanisla ber Bra at R G ra n
üb
ü Ríío
Ing. icht hen Sta
eber sc
R e i s d b ra s i l i
Im süsü
www.gymnocalycium.info
.gymnocalycium.info
> dha.gymno@aon.at <
72
The Sedum Society The Tephrocactus Study Group
Website: http://www.cactus-mall.com/sedum/
Download information leaflet here
Internoto
The specialist society for
the study of Notocactus.
(German with English
summaries)
A well-produced journal Each issue includes articles principally
published 4 times per about the smaller South American Opuntias,
year since 1980. including such genera as Cumulopuntia,
http://www.internoto.de Maihueniopsis, Tephrocactus and Pterocactus.
Articles about the smaller North American
IN T E R N AT I O N A L S A N S E VIE R I A S O C IET Y Opuntias are also sometimes included.
Learn about the enormous variety of Sansevierias an
and how to
grow them by joining the INTERNATI
INTERNATIONAL SANSEVIERIA The 2012 subscription is £10 for the UK,
SOCIETY.. We have members world
SOCIETY €14 within the EU and $25 for the USA and
colour journal three times per subscripti
journal also covers the related Dr Canada. New members are very welcome, so
why not contact the Secretary: John Betteley,
Subscription £25 or €28 per year (UK an
countries), £29 or US$46 for
for airmail d 25, Old Hall Gardens, Coddington, Newark,
outside of Europe. For further details write
to: Alan Butler, via della Campana 7,
Notts. NG24 2QJ U.K. Tel: +44(0)1636 707649
00048 Nettuno (RM), Italy or e-mail
alan-brook-side@hotmail.com. You You can also johnbetteley@another.com
subscribe on line at www.sansevieri
international.org where you can also fin http://www.cactus-mall.com/tsg/index.html
local representatives.
73
plants and sEEds for salE

Your place to advertise spare plants, seeds, journals, books etc. FREE!
Entries are free so please send me the text of your advert which can include links to a web page
or a document which you should also send me.
2012 Seedling Offer from René Geissler
Looking for decent Plants? - Try me!
Graham Charles I always try to grow something a bit different
• Gymnocalycium with location data Also Books & Stamps on the theme of Cacti & Succulents
Postal Service for Books & Stamps only!
• Mexican cacti with location data S.A.E. please for list
• Rare cerei from habitat-collected seed Serious collectors come again & again because they’re
pleased with my plants – you will too!
including Pygmaeocereus bieblii, Bragaea Prior call appreciated for callers please!
estevesii and Brasilicereus markgrafii Website: http://freespace.virgin.net/geissler.w/
(01453) 890340 E-mail: geissler.w@virgin.net
View and download list here Kingston Road, Slimbridge, Glos. GL2 7BW U.K.
Plants can be sent only to EU countries.
Pictures Wanted
John Pilbeam is looking for photos of Agaves
for a tentatively projected book, in particular
aristocacti.co.uk
Slow-growing cacti from Mexico and SW USA
unusual species and variegates, but stunning Ariocarpus, Aztekium, Geohintonia,
Strombocactus, Encephalocarpus,
photos of any of interest too. Turbinicarpus, Obregonia and more
High-res digital preferred but high quality By mail order to all European Union countries
scans of slides are acceptable. Prices include delivery to any EU address
email: jpilbeam@tiscali.co.uk E-mail: de.quail@virgin.net
Website: aristocacti.co.uk
Corona Cactus Nursery
Seeds from Aymeric de Barmon
• Specializing in collector cacti and succulents
• Mail Order - We ship to most countries, ADBLPS produces more than 75% of the
please inquire
• The majority of our plants are seed grown seeds offered, mostly cacti. Greenhouses and
• Quarterly newsletter, cultivation articles, processes are designed to ensure production
photo galleries and more ....
of pure seeds.
http://www.coronacactus.com
http://www.adblps-graines-cactus.com
Milenaudisio
● Cactus & Succulent Nursery in Italy ● Seed grown plants
● Specializing in Gymnocalycium and Lithops ● Mail order service
Via Casalgrasso 1/a, 10022 Carmagnola (To) Italy

Web: http://www.milenaudisio.it Email: info@milenaudisio.it
74
Kakteen Ness J & J Cactus and Succulents

Perndorf 108, A-8182 Puch Bei Weiz, Austria Joyce Hochtritt
Interesting Website and on-line shop 600 N. Pine St., Midwest City,
with a good selection of seedlings, OK 73130, USA
particularly Echinocereus (+1) 405-737-1831
http://www.kakteen-niess.at/cms Cactibud@cox.net
www.jjcactus-succulents.net
Visits By Appointment Only
Brookside Nursery PLaNtLIfe

Contact address: via della Campana 7, 00048 Nettuno (RM), Italy Cactus & Succulent Nursery
Website: www.brookside-nursery.com
E-mail: alan-brook-side@hotmail.com
Tel: 00-39-335-6159058
Beechwood, 50, Friday Street, Eastbourne,
We are open to visitors East Sussex, BN23 8AY U.K.
but strictly by prior appointment.
Stuart & Jane Riley
Visit our web site
at www.brookside-nursery.com for more Tel +44(0)1323 761943 FAX +44(0)1323 724973
information and our plant list.
We offer an efficient mail order service and email: mailto:plantlifenursery@fsmail.net
probably the most comprehensive list
of Sansevierias, and Aloaceae in Europe.
We also stock a wide range of other
succulents, especially asclepiads,
euphorbias and caudex plants.
The cactus Man Cactus Shop (formerly Westfield Cacti) have been
Proprietor : John Gander
Good Selection of Cacti & Succulent Plants growing and trading in cacti & other succulents since
Opuntia Specialist 1979 and guarantee speedy delivery of top class
See Website for Days of Opening & Events
18 Bodgara Way, Liskeard, Cornwall PL14 3BJ UK plants
Email : john@thecactusman.co.uk
Web : www.thecactusman.co.uk All plants have been grown from seed or cuttings in
ebay: thecactusmanuk cultivation. Please note that we have just moved to
Opuntias (plants & cuttings); large cacti always wanted Devon and are setting up a new glasshouse.
Tel : +44(0)7899 002476
http://www.cactusshop.co.uk
Connoisseurs’
Cacti
John Pilbeam’s latest lists of plants and books
http://www.cactus-mall.com/connoisseurs-
cacti/index.html
Address for corresponence; John Pilbeam,
51 Chelsfield Lane, Orpington, Kent, BR5 4HG, UK
75
Books for salE

Keith’s Cactus Books
For the widest range of books on Cacti and Other Succulents

And a wide range of other plant and gardening books
Delivery worldwide
Please visit www.keithscactusbooks.co.uk - As easy to browse as a paper catalogue
Please click on the book images for more details
GYMNOCALYCIUM
IN HABITAT AND CULTURE
Copies of my book are still available from
dealers around the world or from me.
If you would like me to sign it, please ask!
Graham Charles Gymno Book Website
CHUCK EVERSON, BOOKSELLER

“Your Cactus Bookstore Specialist”
1444 E. Taylor Street Vista, CA 92084-3308 USA
Specializing in literature concerning cacti, succulents,
epiphytes, deserts, bromeliads, hoyas, palms, cycads,
and ornamental plants from around the world.
We have the latest books at the most reasonable prices.
We also buy and sell previously owned books on cacti
and succulents.
WE SHIP WORLDWIDE. VISA/MASTERCARD IS ACCEPTED.
Check with us for the best possible times to visit.
Our 33 years of experience tells you that you are in
good hands. www.cactusbookstore.com
Tel: 760-945-8934 ceversonbooks@cactusbookstore.com
The next issue of the Cactus Explorer is planned for November 2012. If you would like to be told
when it is available for download, please send me your E-mail address to be added to the
distribution list.
Contributions to any of the regular features, articles, adverts for events, plants etc. are all very
welcome. Thank you for your support!
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The

Number 5 Parodia rechensis

ISSN 2048-0482 Little Florida Mountains

Introduction 3 The last population of Parodia rechensis 30

Cover Picture Aylostera deminuta VG10-1098 photographed by Victor Gapon at 2213m in

nEWs and EvEnts

Wolfgang Plein (right) discusses the show with Alasdair

15.30 Kleine Chilenen: Bodenschätze unter

20.00 Cacti of the Marañon Valley, Peru.

Details of the event can be found at

German Society Calendar 2013

rECEnt nEW dEsCrIptIons

Fig.1 Browningia hernandezii PH960.01 above Corrales, Río Chicamocha, 2520m

Colombia, a country in the north-western found there and described.

Fig.2 Browningia hernandezii PH955.01 Fig.3 Browningia hernandezii PH955.01

Fig.4 Browningia hernandezii PH955.01 partially

Fig.6 Agave species PH955.05

Fig.7Browningia hernandezii PH955.01 with partially developed fruits

dispersing the seeds.

Fig.8 Passiflora species.PH955.07 Fig.9 Peperomia species PH955.04

Fig.10 Cynanchum species (?) PH955.09

Chicamocha canyon and passed the village of

Fig.15 Browningia hernandezii PH958.01 Road to Betéitiva, Río Chicamocha, 2550m

signiﬁcantly larger with more impressive arid habitats. Browningia hernandezii is

Zlatko Janeba provides us with more information about Maihueniopsis

The ﬁrst description of Corryocactus erici-marae has just been published in

Photo: Paul Hoxey

Fig.1 Corryocactus erici-marae RRP1080 from Lic Lic,

Photo: Graham Charles

Photo: Graham Charles

Photo: Graham Charles

species and M. gummosus, another related

Brandegee’s picture of Cereus Picture of Cereus eruca published in

Photo: Chris Pugh

what look like trees.

Photo: Graham Charles

What makes a cactus species popular? I often

Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives

On-line Journals for you to download

thE lovE of Books

New Agave Book

CaCtus pEoplE hIstorIEs

The lasT populaTions of

Photo: Anceschi & Magli

Photo: Anceschi & Magli

Photo: Anceschi & Magli

to 75%, the area of occupancy of the two

What Is thE World’s larGEst

Fig.2 Adenia globosa ssp. pseudoglobosa in the Rift

Fig.1 Adenia globosa ssp. globosa near Voi, south-east

Fig.6. Pyrenacantha malvifolia in the growing season.

venenata, with a more upright caudex, also

Lastly, like the Cactus Explorer, the

Fig.1 The type locality of E. brachetii (syn. E. 'Macuiltianguis' Pilbeam)

Fig.3 Echeveria brachetii in cultivation.

Fig.4 Three of the tiny rosettes hanging on for dear life.

thE fIrst aylostEra

Fig.1 Rebutia pseudominuscula. Copy of the photo sent

Photo: Victor Gapon

Fig.3 [left] The flower of Aylostera deminuta VG10-

Photo: Victor Gapon

Photo: Victor Gapon

Rebutia pseudodeminuta var. albiseta Aylostera pseudodeminuta var. schneideriana