Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at a glance

I recently received the 2008 (2) issue of the Cactus & Co journal describing a new Lophophora species, Lophophora alberto-vojtechii. The mature plants of the lilliputian species are less than 2 cm (0.8'') wide and the flowers are said often to be larger than the diameter of the plant.


Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii

You can find more details in this post: Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, a new miniature species in the genus Lophophora

Christmas cacti

The subject line is sordidly misleading as this post has nothing to do with Schlumbergera, Zygocactus or the likes ;-) On the contrary it describes a handful of extreme xerophytes that I treated myself to as an early yuletide present.

I'm just home from Charlotte, North Caroline where I had made a last minute arrangement with Mesa Garden to deliver some plants and seeds to the hotel I stayed at. As usual Steven's plants are hard grown and exquisite.


Ariocarpus fissuratus (SB 403; Crockett Co, Texas)

The A. fissuratus plants are nice and plump – the diameter at the root neck slightly exceeds 2.5 cm (1'').


Ariocarpus fissuratus (SB 403; Crockett Co, Texas)

I hope the A. retusus plants will survive in the coldhouse. As far as I can tell the plants from Cuesta la Muralla are some of the most cold tolerant of this species.


Ariocarpus retusus (SB 310; Cuesta la Muralla, Coahuila)

I only have a few Leuchtenbergia plants but I have grown increasingly fond of this interesting species. This particular variant is alleged to have a branching habit and grow to a height of 1 m.


Leuchtenbergia principis (GL 770; Sierra de la Paila)

There is always room for one more Epithelantha in your collection so I don't think the E. bokei plants need further explanation ;-)


Epithelantha bokei (SB 416; Brewster Co, Texas)

The plants are now home with me and have been potted up. We are all eagerly awaiting the happy, sunny days of spring when the plants can be moved to the coldhouse.

Apart from the above mentioned plants I also bought a selection of seeds including Lophophora decipiens. I'm interested to see what the resulting plants look like – the description in the seed catalog is limited to an intriguing “powdery grey”.

Mumbai musings

I was supposed to have been in Mumbai this week. When visiting I stay, work, and spend my time off in the exact part of town where most of the terrorist attacks happened.

Fortunately my travel plans were changed but still I'm left with a bewildering array of feelings including sorrow, sadness, relief, anger, and fear – combined with a nagging disbelief of how scaringly few “ifs” it would have taken to place me at the scene.

I hope the city and people of Mumbai rise from this attack without giving in to the code of fear and violence imposed on them by the terrorists.