An expanded description of Lophophora alberto-vojtechii

Šnicer, Bohata and Myšák recently expanded on their original description of the miniature peyote, Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, in the article The Littlest Lophophora – an article that also proposes a new key to the classification of Lophophora.

The hallmark of the new peyote species is its minuscule size, rarely exceeding 2.5 cm (~ 1'') in diameter. The Lilliputian stature is eminently illustrated by the following picture of Vojtěch Myšák (one of the persons for whom the plant is named) photographing a specimen in northern Zacatecas.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii being photographed by Vojtěch Myšák

The expanded description of Lophophora alberto-vojtechii reads:

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The stem is grayish green with a touch of mauve and is for the most part concealed below ground. The aboveground part (the crown) is flat to slightly convex and 10–50 mm wide in adult plants (average 18 mm, well under an inch). The subterranean part of the stem is cylindrical, extending 25 mm down from the base of the crown (the depth in adult plants increasing with age). The stem is distinctively small and divided into five ribs, or eight in exceptional cases. Trichomes (fine epidermal outgrowths which might be called fuzz or hair) are visible only near the growing point and drop off early, leaving the areoles inconspicuous.

The root is thick and bulbous, up to 30 mm long, and typically 16 mm in diameter where it joins the subterranean stem. It is smooth and a dirty white to creamy yellow color.

The flower is 15–35 mm (average 23 mm) wide. The style is longer than anthers and overtops them, and the petals are long relative to their width, both traits in accord with other members of the Diffusae. Filaments are white, anthers a yellowish orange. The style is white and topped by a white to yellowish or pinkish stigma. Tepals are white to dirty pink, rarely creamy yellowish, and bear a lengthwise stripe in a brownish, salmon, or darker pink shade.

The fruit, dirty white, yellowish, or pinkish, is round to slightly claviform and dries out over time.

Seeds are black, round, 1.15–1.45 mm long × 1.0–1.45 mm wide with the hilum compressed into a broad V–shape. The perimeter of the hilum consists of a pronounced edge. The testa is nodulated, and individual cells of the testa are clearly demarcated.

Type locality: northern San Luis Potosí, Mexico, 1700 meters above sea level. The type specimen was collected by GS Hinton on 1 August 2007 and is kept at the GB Hinton herbarium filed under number 28642.

We have named the plant Lophophora alberto-vojtechii in honor of two people: the late prominent Czech traveler and cactus-hunter Alberto Vojtěch Frič and the living lophophora enthusiast Vojtěch Myšák.

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Lophophora alberto-vojtechii flower visited by an unidentified diptera

Three insects (two kinds of bees, one large and one small, and an unidentified diptera) have been observed visiting flowers of Lophophora alberto-vojtechii. The plant being visited by a fly in the above picture is from the second known locality in San Luis Potosí and has exceptionally numerous tepals.

The mini-peyote grows in flat, alluvial sediments that transform into greasy mud flats during rain periods. L. alberto-vojtechii has a distinctively geophytic lifestyle, in dry periods it withers and withdraws into small cavities below ground where it is covered with dust and dry leaves by the wind, effectively protecting the plant from the harsh environment. When rains arrive, the plants absorb water and swell, pushing the photosynthetic crown back up above ground level.


Zacatecan Lophophora alberto-vojtechii plant hidden by its flower

In Zacatecas L. alberto-vojtechii flowers can on rare occasions reach over 3 cm in diameter, totally obscuring the plant below - specimens of L. alberto-vojtechii from the plains of northern Zacatecas are lighter flowered than those at the type locality.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii growing in mud flat


All pictures are taken from the article The Littlest Lophophora.

Lophophora alberto-vojtechii grafted on Selenicereus grandiflorus stock

Shortly after posting on my lone Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling I was contacted by Jacopo who is also growing L. alberto-vojtechii. Jacopo started his seeds in three different batches and had germination rates ranging from 10% (like mine) to 45%; several plants were lost to fungal infections and algae, including a variegated L. alberto-vojtechii seedling, so Jacopo decided to graft some of the plants on Selenicereus grandiflorus stock for safekeeping. Below you can find a few pictures of his plants – all photos in this post are courtesy of Jacopo Simonetto, Valencia, Spain.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii grafted on Selenicereus grandiflorus

Jacopo has five L. alberto-vojtechii plants in total – 3 grafted on Selenicereus grandiflorus stock plants and 2 on their own roots. He hopes that his two largest plants reach flowering size this summer (they are already 1 and 1.5 cm in diameter) so he can test the germination rate of verifiable fresh seeds ;-)


Two Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedlings grafted on Selenicereus grandiflorus stock plants

As an aside, I really like the carnivorous plants in the pictures – especially the Dionaea muscipula (Venus Flytrap) in the first photo that seems just about ready to gulp down the defenseless Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling ;-) Also, the Drosera (Sundew) in the second image reminded me that I need to get a few of these plants to help me control the fungus gnats that are having a feast in some of my (non-cactus) plants.


Grafted Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, top view

Jacopo’s plants were started from seed 4-5 months ago and the grafts are 3 months old at the time of writing. I hope to be able to follow the plants as they (with a bit of luck ;-) flower and set fruits in the near future.

For comparison a picture is included below showing one of the seedlings still growing on its own roots – it’s relatively small but Jacopo told me that he grafted the biggest seedlings.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling

Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling pictures

This spring I started my “virgin batch” of Lophophora alberto-vojtechii (San Luis Potosí) seeds. L. alberto-vojtechii is a recently recognized species that is not yet commonly cultivated, consequently the seeds are sold at rather steep prices – I bought my 10 seeds for 16 euro (~20 USD) from Köhres-Kakteen.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling

Unfortunately the germination rate of the L. alberto-vojtechii seeds was rather bad - only one seed in ten germinated. The seeds were sown at the same time and have been growing under exactly the same conditions as the peyote seedlings described in the previous post (which had a good germination rate by the way). So either the quality of the Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seeds were not optimal or they have different germination requirements than L. williamsii (I have to say that in general my experience with Köhres’s seed is good)


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling, top view

The seedling looks exactly like a regular peyote seedling except that it is lacking the tiny, plumose spines, but given the fact that I only have one seedling it’s too early to say if this is a general trait or not.

As mentioned above the species was only recently described and there are some doubts if it’s a good species or not - it’s going to be interesting to see more plants appear in cultivation. That being said, several authorities are vouching for Lophophora alberto-vojtechii as the fifth species of Lophophora: George Hinton collected the type specimen (and keeps it in the G. B. Hinton herbarium filed under number 28642) and in a recent presentation on Lophophora population genetics Martin Terry also treats L. alberto-vojtechii separately from the other species.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seedling with spent seed

In the above picture the spent seed can be seen at the foot of the seedling (which is also at the very limit of my macro lens’s capacity ;-)

The plant was started from seed April 5, 2010 and the pictures were taken June 14, 2010 – exactly 10 weeks later (approximately two months after the lone seed had germinated).

Expecting more seedlings to have germinated, I had planned to graft some of them but now I’m having second thoughts, not wanting to risk my sole L. alberto-vojtechii seedling.

Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seeds

Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, San Luis Potosi

Yesterday I received my first ever seeds of the newly described Lophophora alberto-vojtechii. These seeds are still rarely offered and consequently the price is quite high so I only bought one packet containing 10 seeds. I got the L. alberto-vojtechii (San Luis Potosi, Mexico) seeds from Gerhard Köhres who charges 16 euro (~ 24 USD) per packet.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, San Luis Potosi

I'm exited to see how these seeds develop and look forward to the coming growing season (I suppressed a momentary urge to plant the seeds immediately and they are now safely awaiting the coming spring in the refrigerator ;-)

If you also want some of Köhres's Lophophora alberto-vojtechii seeds you can buy them from Lophophora.info (go to the "list" submenu) or from the online shop at Köhres Kaktus. It's too early to say anything about the quality of the seeds but the delivery was impressive; the seeds arrived only 3 days after I ordered them.

The photos featured in this post are from Gerhard Köhres's Lophophora.info site (go to the "habitat gallery" submenu). You can find the original pictures here and here along with more Lophophora alberto-vojtechii photos from the San Luis Potosi habitat.

Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, a new miniature species in the genus Lophophora

In the June 2008 issue of the Cactus & Co magazine Jaroslav Šnicer, Jaroslav Bohata, and Vojtěch Myšák described a new Lophophora species, Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, characterized by its small size, adult plants typically reaching just about 2 cm (less than one inch) in diameter.


Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at the type locality. Scale is indicated by the coin that is 23 mm in diameter

The full description of the lilliputian species reads:

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The stem is a greyish green with a touch of mauve (greenish, greenish grey to mauve), for the most part concealed in the ground. The aerial part (crown) is flat to slightly convex, 18 mm wide (10 to 50 mm in adult plants); the subterranean part of the stem is cylindrical, extending 25 mm down from the base of the crown (the depth in adult plants increases with age). The stem is distinctively small and divided into five ribs (up to eight ribs in exceptional cases). The trichomes are visible only near the apical meristem; they drop off early, leaving the areoles inconspicuous.

The root is thick and bulbous, 30 mm long and 16 mm in diameter where it joins the subterranean stem, smooth, and a dirty white to creamy yellow colour.

The flower is 23 mm wide (15 mm to 35 mm). The tepals and style are long, the same as in other members of the Diffusae section. The filaments are white, the anthers a yellowish orange. The style is white, while the stigma is yellowish (white to yellowish or pinkish). The tepals are light pink with a distinctive darker stripe (white to dirty pink, rarely creamy yellowish with a stripe in a brownish, salmon or darker pink shade) on the adaxial surface.

The fruit is round to slightly claviform, and dries out over time. The fruit is a dirty white colour, ranging to yellowish or pinkish.

The seed is black, round, 1.45 mm long (1.15 to 1.45 mm) and 1.45 mm wide (1.0 to 1.45 mm). The hilum is compressed into a broad V-shape. The perimeter of the hilum consists of a pronounced edge. The testa is nodulated with protruding outer cell walls. The individual cells of the testa are clearly demarcated.

Type locality: northern San Luís Potosí, Mexico, 1700 metres above sea level.

The type specimen was collected by G. B. Hinton on 1st August 2007 and is kept at the G. B. Hinton herbarium filed under number 28642.

We are naming the plant alberto-vojtechii in honour of two persons, the late prominent Czech traveler and cactus-hunter Alberto Vojtěch Frič and the current Lophophora enthusiast Vojtěch Myšák.

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Lophophora alberto-vojtechii just finished flowering. At this size plants flower regularly

The authors place L. alberto-vojtechii within the section Diffusae (see the Kaktusy 2005, Lophophora Special) along with L. diffusa, L. fricii, and L. koehresii. Based on similarities in habitat (mud flats), growth form, body, fruit, and flower morphology, and loss of trichomes in older areoles, Šnicer et al. conclude that L. alberto-vojtechii is closest related to L. koehresii. However the two species differ in size, the color of the epidermis, seed morphology, and the number of ribs.


Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at the site in Zacatecas

Šnicer et al. argue that even though the small Lophophora alberto-vojtechii plants might look immature at a first glance they are not, as is evident by old growth epidermis at the ground level and the subterranean part of the shoot.


Lophophora alberto-vojtechii (a) Flat, photosynthetic crown (b) Subterranean part of stem (c) The root

The habitat comprises flat, alluvial sediments, as in the case of Lophophora koehresii. Lophophora alberto-vojtechii has a distinctively geophytic lifestyle, withdrawing into small cavities below ground during dry periods. Here the plants are covered with dust and dry leaves, protected from the sun until the next rains.

The type locality of Lophophora alberto-vojtechii is in the northern part of San Luís Potosí, but it has also been found growing in the states of Zacatecas and Coahuila. The flowers of the Zacatecas plants are more white than those of the plants at the type locality (see picture above).


Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at the type locality

All in all the description is credible and well argued. Adding to the credibility is the fact that George Hinton collected the holotype and stores it in his herbarium, I doubt he would do that if he wasn’t convinced that this new taxon is for real.


The flower buds are visible very early, as they are not hidden in the wool.

References
Jaroslav Šnicer, Jaroslav Bohata, and Vojtěch Myšák (2008), “Lophophora alberto-vojtechii - an exquisite new miniature from the genus Lophophora”, Cactus & Co 12 (2), 105-117

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