Rory’s Lophophora collection

Some time ago Rory contacted me to discuss cacti and mycorrhizal associations (an interesting subject that might be brought up in a later post). During our conversations Rory revealed himself as an avid Lophophora grower with an impressive collection of mature and well-grown plants. Rory has kindly allowed me to share some pictures of his plants.


Flowering Lophophora williamsii, close-up


Large pot of Lophophora williamsii

The largest of the L. williamsii plants in this pot are approximately 25 years old. One of the plants in the central group (a bit above and to the left of the center) has been decapitated and set 4 offshoots. One of these has not yet developed a central growing point and appears somewhat cristate, but Rory expects it to develop as normal with time. The removed top was rooted and is also growing in the central group of plants (slightly below center; wool removed from areoles), and is flowering regularly.


Large pot of Lophophora fricii

According to Rory the compost used for the L. fricii plants are not drying fast enough. Consequently the plants are kept on the dry side which accounts for the red coloration shown by some of them. The largest of the plants (with a total of 9 offsets) has only grown 1cm (~0.4'') in the past 9 years so Rory is planning on repotting the plants in a new mix and expects this to speed up growth.


Lophophora diffusa about to flower

The above L. echinata diffusa plant is just about to flower - unfortunately it’s too overcast for the flowers to open properly.


Large pot of Lophophora williamsii v .caespitosa

To top things off (or just to make me completely envious ;-) Rory also threw in a photo of a nice, mature Ariocarpus fissuratus specimen.


Flowering Ariocarpus fissuratus

I hope you enjoyed this “guest appearance” - I for one would like to see more of Rory’s plants. If you have pictures or information you would like to share, you can drop me a mail at “lophophora [dot] blog [at] gmail [dot] com”.