By Pat Mahon – Just when we thought there couldn’t be any more cacti to be found … another species pops up in Jalisco, Mexico. Described in November 2020, Acanthocereus paradoxus has the slender stems of the similar-looking Peniocereus greggii, sporting a tuberous caudex base and even bearing a large night-blooming flower of similar shape. …
By Chris Deem – The back porch faces the morning sun. The wood is old, but sturdy. A 10-pound bag of onions hangs near the door. In this place, a flower box would seem out of place, but there is a hanging basket. The small chains are slightly rusty, but the weight is held firmly by a large bent nail. In the basket …
By Barbara Rengers – Michael Scheidweiler, a Belgian botanist and horticulturist, first named Ariocarpus in 1838. The name comes from the Greek “aria,” a type of oak, and “carpos,” meaning fruit. It is a small genus of only six or seven species, depending on where you get your information. Ariocarpus are …
By Chris Deem – Long ago, somewhere in northern Mexico, in our continent’s most isolated desert, the Chihuahuan, my ancient genus of cactus evolved with a difference. We grew under the hot sun, half-buried and covered with dust or under the protection of tough desert brush, as we spread north to Texas. We grew at the …
By Chris Deem – It is a dark refuge. The musty scent of the hard earth is intimate, comforting. This is the burrow of a small female echidna. She has the appearance of a creature from another time. Her heart is pounding, and she is waiting. Her short brown spines scrape against the side of the burrow as she turns to …
By Chris Deem – For the longest time, it seemed to exist as little more than a slowly growing, swollen and pale, grayish root. Darkness and heat had eventually given way to intense light and blowing sand. For a time, when the tiny green tubercles first started to become recognizable, the sandy flatland, though rather …
By Pat Mahon – Who can deny that the genus Ariocarpus is one of the most atypical cacti in the family? Often mistaken as fake, a succulent or a stubby agave, these plants are truly a pinnacle in people’s collections. Ariopcarpus can range from the size of a quarter to filling out a 10-inch pot. Their versatility and …
By Chris Deem – It is another lonely flight on an autumn day, and from her perspective, the sky is deep. The clarity of a brilliant light fills the crisp, cool air. Her brief life has been regimented since her birth, a life that will last for only one more week. Some call her a “killer,” but she is only a worker bee. …
By Pat Mahon – One very unusual cactus genus that blooms this time of year is Astrophytum. At the society’s summer show in 2017, there was a beautiful Astrophytum myriostigma that had an unopened bud that eventually opened up and bloomed in the sun on the show floor. This genus is known for large, silky-sheened, highly …
By Eric Driskill – During the first half of the 19th century, in 1839, Charles Lemaire described Astrophytum. The name Astrophytum is derived from the Greek aster, “star”; and phyton, “plant.” Lemaire described the genus from a specimen of A. myriostigma from northern Mexico. Britton and Rose listed four …