How the Penis Cactus got its name

Yet another slightly off topic and probably not entirely politically correct post, but I couldn’t help noticing the similarity of my monstrose Trichocereus bridgesii (Echinopsis lageniformis) and its more famous namesake ;-)


Penis Cactus - monstrose Trichocereus bridgesii

According to Uhlig Kakteen the German name for this cultivar is ‘Frauenglück’, IMHO a more poetic description than the English moniker.


Penis Plant - The Full Monty

These days I maybe ought to have put a “Warning: Explicit Language” label on a post like this.

The power of grafting - VI

Today I harvested the first seeds from my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx). The fruit appeared mid-September and has been maturing on the plant for some weeks. The photo below shows the fruit on September 17.


Lophophora williamsii fruit

The fruit has been dry and ripe for picking for a while now – as illustrated by the next photo, taken just before the fruit was removed.


Dry Lophophora williamsii fruit

I blame it on the self-fertilization; the fruit only contained 3 seeds that looked OK and 2 that weren’t fully developed. It will be interesting to see if any of the seeds are viable.


Lophophora williamsii seeds


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Flowering Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana

I’m finally getting on top of my jet lag and ready to blog ;-) One of my Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana plants flowered while I was in California. Unfortunately my girlfriend is neither a cactus buff nor a skilled close-up photographer (she doesn’t mind me saying so… not too much anyway ;-) so the only reasonably sharp photo of the flower is the one pictured below.


Flowering Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana

Only time will tell if the attempted fertilization was a success. Pollen from the grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) was used.


Flowering Lophophora - before and after

The before and after photos were taken at September 17 and October 7 accordingly.

Check the next post on Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana for more detailed photos.

Strombocactus disciformis (SB174)

The Mesa Garden plant catalogue has always had the same effect on me as a candy store has on a kid – I want to buy it all. EU regulations make it rather difficult and expensive to import cacti from the US to Denmark, so visiting California I took the opportunity and ordered a batch of plants from Steven Brack to be delivered at my hotel. The two Strombocactus disciformis (SB174 Vizarron, Queretaro) pictured below and a selection of winter hardy Opuntias are now with me in Denmark.


Strombocactus disciformis (SB174 Vizarron, Queretaro)

The Strombos are approximately 1.5 cm (~0.6’’) in diameter and seven years from seed.