Showing posts with label Fruits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fruits. Show all posts

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Fruiting Epithelantha micromeris

Contrary to my Epithelantha micromeris v. greggii plants that have flowered intensively this summer, I have not seen any flowers on my regular Epithelantha micromeris (SB1327; near Belen, New Mexico), but judging from the fruits they must have snuck out some flowers while I was not watching ;-)

Epithelantha micromeris (SB1327; near Belen, New Mexico) fruits
Epithelantha micromeris (SB1327; near Belen, New Mexico) fruits

The fruits are a very bright pinkish red - the color almost defies description but it is the kind of screaming color that would seem fit for jelly beans ;-)

Fruiting Epithelantha micromeris (SB1327; near Belen, New Mexico)
Fruiting Epithelantha micromeris (SB1327; near Belen, New Mexico)

Epithelantha micromeris fruits seen from the top
Epithelantha micromeris fruits seen from the top

I scanned one of the fruits to get an up-close look at it and the seeds within.

Epithelantha micromeris fruit, close-up
Epithelantha micromeris fruit, close-up

The seeds are not surrounded by pulp, they just sit inside the "dry" outer skin of the berry. The fruits have a bland, uninteresting taste - I wouldn't grow them for marmalade.

Epithelantha micromeris fruit, cut open
Epithelantha micromeris fruit, cut open

The Epithelantha micromeris plants are grown in my coldhouse and they don't seem to mind the cold winters at all - according to Steve Brack this variety of Epithelantha micromeris is from the northernmost known locality of the species.

Read more about the (dry) fruits in this post.

Monday, April 21, 2008

The power of grafting – 4th anniversary

Four years ago today, I grafted a tiny Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) seedling onto a robust Trichocereus pachanoi stock. The Lophophora scion has since grown to a width of 8 cm (~3.2'') and set 6 offshoots - the total width including the offshoots exceeds 13 cm (~5.1'').

Grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx)
Grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx)

The plant flowered throughout summer last year and many of the resulting seed pods are ready to be harvested. This season's first flower already appeared last week and the remains can be seen in the photo below.

Lophophora williamsii - ready for seed harvest
Lophophora williamsii - ready for seed harvest

Last year's flowers were allowed to self-pollinate with minimal human intervention. Today I harvested all freely exposed fruits and left the rest to fully mature. So far the result seems good as the plant set a lot of seed, time will show if it is viable.

Dried Lophophora williamsii fruit
Dried Lophophora williamsii fruit

Many of the fruits have a dry and brittle husk that is easily ripped and some of them almost spilled open when harvested. I probably ought to harvest the seeds sooner and not allow the fruits to sit and dry on the plant for too long.

Ripped Lophophora williamsii fruit with seeds exposed
Ripped Lophophora williamsii fruit with seeds exposed

As mentioned the plant has set lots of (selfed) seeds: the initial harvest totalled 101 seeds and there are still a few fruits left on the plant to be harvested later.

101 home grown Lophophora williamsii seeds
101 home grown Lophophora williamsii seeds

For comparison you can check the posts on the same graft as one, two, and three years old.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Flowering Lophophora williamsii – III

My Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) graft has gone on a flowering spree and is currently flashing its 7th and 8th flower this season.

Flowering Lophophora williamsii
Flowering Lophophora williamsii

Like other species of Lophophora, L. williamsii has sensitive stamens, closing around the style when touched.

L. williamsii stamens closing around the style
L. williamsii stamens closing around the style

In this flower the anthers are actually brushing the stigmas when the stamens react to a touch, i.e. the thigmotropic reaction will assist the flower to self-pollinate. I have to test if this is sufficient to pollinate the flower (in a previous post I also wondered if it was necessary to manually self-pollinate the Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) flowers or if they could cope without any help ;-)

For comparison you can check a photo of thigmotropic behavior in Lophopohora jourdaniana. In this case the stamens fold in below the stigmas, apparently not touching them.

The fruits (or berries, pods, whatever;-) from the plants first two flowers this season have just appeared.

Lophophora williamsii fruits
Lophophora williamsii fruits

I’m looking forward to see how many of the flowers will actually result in a fruit.

< previous |

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The power of grafting – VIII

My grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) is growing its last fruit this season. The fruit looks ripe and fat so I'm hoping for lots of seeds even though the flower was self-pollinated.

Lophophora williamsii - ripe fruit
Lophophora williamsii - ripe fruit

Yesterday I harvested the dried fruits produced by the plants second and third flower – both of these flowers were also self-pollinated (I didn’t have a whole lot of plants flowering last year ;-)

Lophophora williamsii - harvested fruits
Lophophora williamsii - harvested fruits

The fruits are approximately 1 cm (~0.4'') long, only the upper half is containing seeds. The yield from these fruits, each contained 6 seeds, is much better than from the first fruit I harvested.

Lophophora williamsii - seeds
Lophophora williamsii - seeds

If the seeds are viable I hope to come full circle, growing new seedlings in less than two years after the mother plant was sown!

< previous | next >

Saturday, November 26, 2005

The power of grafting – VII

Most of my plants are now dormant and I hadn’t expected much activity to report on these pages – but 5 days ago I noticed a budding fruit on my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx).

Budding Lophophora williamsii fruit
Budding Lophophora williamsii fruit

The fruit is now ripe and slightly longer than 1 cm (~ 0.4’’) with a diameter of 4.5 mm (~ 0.2’’) at the widest section. The color is best described as a pinkish magenta segueing into a lighter pink on the surface not directly exposed to the sun.

Lophophora williamsii with ripe fruit
Lophophora williamsii with ripe fruit

Lophophora williamsii fruit – close-ups
Lophophora williamsii fruit – close-ups

While examining the plant it became apparent that another fruit is breaking out. If this one ripens as abruptly as the last, it will be fully extruded within a week.

Fruiting Lophophora williamsii
Fruiting Lophophora williamsii

< previous | next >

All Time Most Popular Posts