Cactus Explorers Journal - The Cactus Explorers Club

Cactus Explorer 

The first free on-line Journal for Cactus and Succulent Enthusiasts 

The 

Number 4 

ISSN 2048-0482 

May 2012 

White Sands Park 

Matucana comacephala 

Rebutia pulvinosa 

Echeveria nebularum 

Maihueniopsis glochidiata

The Cactus Explorer ISSN 2048-0482 Number 4 May 2012 

Regular Features 

Introduction 3 

News and Events 4 

Recent New Descriptions 8 

In the Glasshouse 16 

Journal Roundup 20 

The Love of Books 22 

Society Pages 70 

Plants and Seeds for Sale 74 

Books for Sale 76 

The two photos in the Echeveria laui article 

credited to J. Peck (The Cactus Explorer 2 

p. 37) should have been credited to M. Lesan. 

Cover Picture Echinocereus triglochidiatus at White Sands National Monument. 

Photo by Daiv Freeman. See his article on page 40. 

Invitation to Contributors 

In thIs EdItIon 

Please consider the Cactus Explorer as the place to publish your articles. We welcome contributions 

for any of the regular features or a longer article with pictures on any aspect of cacti and 

succulents. The editorial team is happy to help you with preparing your work. Please send your 

submissions as plain text in a ‘Word’ document together with jpeg or tiff images with the 

maximum resolution available. 

A major advantage of this on-line format is the possibility of publishing contributions quickly 

and any issue is never full! We aim to publish your article within 3 months and the copy deadline 

is just a few days before the publication date which is planned for the 10th of February, May, 

August and November. Please note that advertising and links are free and provided for the 

benefit of readers. Adverts are placed at the discretion of the editorial team, based on their 

relevance to the readership. 

Publisher: The Cactus Explorers Club, Briars Bank, Fosters Bridge, Ketton, Stamford, PE9 3BF U.K. 

The Cactus Explorer is available as a PDF file downloadable from www.cactusexplorers.org.uk 

The Editorial Team: 

Organiser:Graham Charles graham.charles@btinternet.com 

Scientific Adviser: Roy Mottram roy@whitestn.demon.co.uk 

Paul Hoxey paul@hoxey.com 

Zlatko Janeba desert-flora@seznam.cz 

Martin Lowry m.lowry@hull.ac.uk 

Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of the editorial team. 

Issues of the Cactus Explorer may be freely distributed whilst the copyright of the text and pictures remains 

with the authors. Permission is required for any use of this material other than reading, printing or storage. 

2 

Articles 

Some notes on Wigginsia corynodes 26 

Gymnocalycium bayrianum 35 

A Visit to Cajas Bajo, Bolivia 37 

The Largest Echinocereus in the World(?) 40 

Does Mammillaria yucatanensis still exist? 46 

Matucana myriacantha and M. comacephala 50 

A Visit to Isla Esteban 58 

Travel with the Cactus Expert (3) 62 

Echeveria nebularum at a heady height 66 

The No.1 source for on-line information about cacti and succulents is http://www.cactus-mall.com 

This issue published on 

May 10th 2012

Number 4 May 2012 ISSN 2048-0482 The Cactus Explorer 

Back to the Glasshouse! 

May is one of the best months for flowers in 

the glasshouse here in England. Thankfully, 

this last winter was much kinder than the 

previous one so heating bills were much lower. 

I always look forward to March when the 

sunshine starts to feel warm on my face and 

the daytime temperature in the glasshouse 

regularly rises above 20°C. We had an 

unusually warm and sunny March this year, 

followed by the wettest April on record! 

It is a matter of judgement as to when to start 

watering your cacti. I usually begin with heavy 

sprays and start watering the pots when the 

plants are showing signs of expansion or 

growth. I do this when we have the first period 

of bright weather at the end of March but some 

years it can be mid-April. It is important not to 

leave the soft-bodied South American genera 

(Rebutia, Gymnocalycium, Parodia etc) dry for 

too long, since they can struggle to become 

completely turgid as the temperature climbs. I 

leave watering Mexican cacti a little longer and 

some, such as Ariocarpus and other sensitive 

genera, until May. 

Again, I am very grateful to the authors who 

have taken the trouble to write articles for the 

Cactus Explorer. We have a good selection, 

although I would have liked to publish more 

about the other succulents. It appears that 

more people are visiting habitats, and many of 

these travels are in search of succulents, so I 

hope to have more reports of these in future. 

The Cactus Explorer team is pleased that 

relationships are now being established with 

other societies around the world. We are, for 

instance, exchanging advertisements so that 

our readers can see other organisations which 

may have a publication of interest. 

We want to make the information in the 

Cactus Explorer available to as many 

readers as possible. If you are responsible for 

the production of a journal and would like to 

reproduce one of our articles, then please ask. 

IntroduCtIon 

3 

As long as the author and photographers 

agree, then there should be no problem in 

granting permission. The reproduction in 

another language is especially welcome. 

If you go to the download page you can now 

download an index to the Cactus Explorer. The 

index is the cumulative index of all four 

editions published to date. I am very grateful 

to Roy Mottram for compiling this useful 

index. 

Now that the growing season has arrived 

here, I suspect that I shall receive less articles 

for the next issue. Please don’t be disappointed 

if the August issue is smaller. Unlike printed 

journals, we do not keep articles ‘in stock’ so 

the size of individual issues will vary. 

Of course, over the coming months, you may 

well see flowers on unusual cultivated plants. 

Please send us your digital pictures, with or 

without text, for use in our ‘In the Glasshouse’ 

feature, although it could be in your garden if 

you are lucky enough to have a suitable 

climate! 

The editorial team thanks you for your 

continued interest and hope that those of you 

living in the northern hemisphere have a good 

growing season. 

GrahamCharles 

The Cactus Explorers Club Meeting 

September 14-16th 2012 

Beaumont Hall, University of Leicester, UK 

See Page 7 for how to attend. 

The next issue of the Cactus Explorer is 

planned for August 2012. If you have not already 

told me and would like to be advised 

when it is available for download, please 

send me your E-mail address to be added to 

the distribution list. 

Thank you for your interest and support!


nEws and EvEnts 

Mammillaria Society Members Day 

The Mammillaria Society Members Day and 

AGM, including two short talks and plant 

displays, will be held this year at Wisley RHS 

Gardens on Saturday 26th May 2012 and 

includes free garden entry for members. 

The day starts at 10am and more details can 

be obtained from the Chairman Chris Davies 

Gymno-Meeting in Carmagnola, Italy 

The 6th Gymno-Meeting will be held from 

Friday 27th- Sunday 29th July 2012. 

This year it is planned to further discuss the 

species of the G. hossei, G. catamarcense, and 

G. pugionacanthum complex. 

Venue: Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Via 

San Francesco di Sales, 188, Carmagnola, 

ITALY. 

Details from Massimo Meregalli 

4 

Schütziana Vol. 3 Issue 1 

is available to download 

The latest issue of this free online journal for 

Gymnocalycium enthusiasts was published on 

March 16th. It contains an article about G. 

catamarcense by Jaroslav Procházka and the 

description of a new species G. meregallii, 

described by Ludwig Bercht and named for 

Massimo Meregalli, the famous Italian student 

of the genus. 

You can download this and the previous 

issues from: 

http://www.schuetziana.org/downloads.php 

GC 

It is with sadness that we report the recent 

death of Charles Craib, author of books 

about succulent plants, most recently ‘The 

Bushman Candles’ co-written with John 

Lavranos.

Photo: G. Charles 


Derek Bowdery celebrates 80 years 

5 

Family and friends met at Derek’s home on 

May 8th to share his 80th Birthday with him. 

As well as measuring him against his Saguaro, 

we enjoyed pictures of his habitat adventures 

since the early 1980’s (when he had thick black 

hair!). He is known for his love of Ferocactus, 

about which he co-wrote the BCSS book with 

John Pilbeam, published in 2005. He also likes 

columnar cacti which enjoy growing in his 

huge glasshouse. GC 

Thelocactus Website Redesigned 

My favourite website about Thelocactus has 

been updated and redesigned. Alessandro 

Mosco has done a really good job and I am 

sure you will find his new site interesting and 

useful for identifying your plants. Look at 

http://www.thelocactus.cactus-mall.com GC 

Photo: G. Charles

Caricature drawn by Neil Slater 


Another New online Journal 

A new free online journal has just appeared. 

This is the first one published in French and it 

is called Succulentopi@ 

The quality is excellent as you would expect 

from Yann Cochard and his very active team. It 

is available as a free download from: 

http://www.cactuspro.com/succulentopia 

Publisher: Cactuspro, association, 63360 

Saint-Beauzire, France, yann@cactuspro.com 

Publication Director: Yann Cochard 

Editor: Martine Deshogues 

Drafting Committee: Yann Cochard, Martine 

Deshogues, Alain Laroze, Philippe Corman, 

Maxime Leveque, and Eric Mare 

ISSN 2259-1060 

The Journal is not printed, only distributed as 

a PDF file. 

Succulentopi@ is a magazine in PDF format 

published by ‘Le Cactus Francophone’ and its 

team. Their goal is to publish it every three 

months, and to include articles, information, 

photos, etc. on the theme of cacti and other 

succulents. 

If you go to the website you can subscribe 

and receive notification as each issue is 

available. 

GC 

After his 90th Birthday event, Gordon 

Rowley invited people to visit him at his 

famous home ‘Cactusville’. The moment of 

sharing part of his extensive library with Prof. 

Len Newton, President of the IOS, and BCSS 

achivist John Cox is caught by Neil Slater in 

this caricature. 

6 

Annual meeting of the 

Tephrocactus Study Group. 

Sunday 13th May 2011 

Venue : Great Barr ex Service Men and 

Women's club, Birmingham, UK, accessed via 

the drive between houses 280 & 278 

Perrywood Road, Great Barr. B42 2BJ Tel : 

0121 357 3870 

Illustrated talks by Graham Charles and Tony 

Roberts. 

Entrance is FREE to members AND visitors. 

A warm welcome awaits you! 

Lunch will be available for £5, but must be 

pre-booked. For more information and to book 

your lunch, please contact Alan Hill by Email 

or telephone 01142 462311. 

BCSS Oxford Branch 

with the Mammillaria Society 

OXFORD BRANCH SHOW 

Sunday 15th July 2012 at 10.30 am 

at Langdale Hall, Witney OX28 6AB U.K. 

(Cacti and Other Succulents) 

Lecture by Wolfgang Plein from the German 

Mammillaria Society (AfM) at 4:30 pm 

Information: Bill Darbon +44 (0)1993 881926


The Cactus Explorers Weekend 2012 

Readers are invited to attend this year’s 

Cactus Explorers Weekend. I expect there will 

be spaces available to enable new participants 

to attend. It will be held at Beaumont Hall at 

our usual Leicester University venue during 

the weekend of 14th to 16th September [the 

weekend after ELK]. Beaumont is where we 

met in 2011, and provides all the facilities close 

together. The day’s events and the meals will 

be in Beaumont Hall and the sleeping 

accommodation is nearby. 

I have booked Davide Donati from Italy and 

Ralf Hillman from Switzerland. Each will give 

us two talks. Davide Donati will speak about 

Somewhere in Mexico.The crazy adventures of a 

botanist and a talk about Corynopuntia. Ralf will 

speak about Patagonia in Springtime, and A 

Journey to South-eastern Bolivia. 

The price for the whole weekend, including 

accommodation in en-suite rooms, all meals 

and wine with dinner, is £190. Everything you 

pay goes to the direct costs of staging the 

event. There is a private bar and time to 

socialise with like-minded people. 

You are welcome to bring plants, books or 

seeds to sell. There is no charge and plants 

from known origin are particularly 

appreciated. 

Please Email me if you are interested in 

attending. GC 

ELK Meeting 2012 

The 47th staging of this ever-popular 

international meeting of cactus and succulent 

enthusiasts will take place from 7th to 9th 

September 2012 at the usual venue on the coast 

of Belgium, a short distance east of 

Blankenberge. 

7 

As well as the biggest plant sale in Europe, 

there will be five talks given in various 

languages: 

Friday 7th 

20.00h Cacti of Peru. Land of the Incas. 

Guillermo Rivera, Argentina 

Saturday 8th 

10.30h Echinocereus. Mieke Geuens, Belgium 

15.30h Kleine Chilenen: Bodenschätze unter 

den chilenischen Kakteen. Ricardo Keim, 

Chile. 

20.00h Cacti of the Marañon Valley, Peru. 

Graham Charles, U.K. 

Sunday 9th 

09.00 Echeveria. Jean-Michel Moullet, France. 

Details of the event can be found at 

www.elkcactus.eu


rECEnt nEw dEsCrIptIons 

Graham Charles tells us more about Maihueniopsis glochidiata from Argentina 

which he described as a new species in Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives 25 (2011) 

Fig.1 The type locality of Maihueniopsis glochidiata. A gentle slope near to a deep gorge at 2755m. 

In the Cactus Explorer 3, I told the story 

of Cumulopuntia iturbicola and how the IOS 

molecular study had shown it to be a different 

species from those that were already 

described. The same study showed that a plant 

my friends and I had discovered in the Sierra 

Famatina, La Rioja, Argentina in 2000 was also 

new, an undescribed species of Maihueniopsis. 

December 1st 2000 started early for us. The 

sun was still below the horizon as we prepared 

for the day’s adventure. We had spent the 

night in the pleasant town of Chilecito, where 

a local man, Sebastian, had created a cactus 

garden. He offered to take us in his pick-up 

high into the mountains on a mine road to see 

cacti. For me, the main objective was Lobivia 

famatimensis which I had not seen during any 

of my previous visits to the country. 

We drove along Rte.40 which skirts the 

8 

mountains to the east. Somewhere near the 

town of Famatina, we took a dirt road towards 

the mountains. The traffic appeared to be 

controlled at a gate where Sebastian spoke to a 

man who then let us through. Eventually, the 

road started climbing steeply and at our third 

stop the altitude was 2500m. We were in a 

Fig.2 Early morning in Chilecito, the Sierra Famatina 

beckons us for adventure.


Fig.3 The valley where we found Lobivia famatimensis at 2500m. The steep slopes were very loose and the plants 

were only in places where rocks or the roots of the bushes made the soil stable. 

Fig.4 Lobivia famatimensis GC407.03 

Fig.5 Pyrrhocactus andreaeanus GC407.06 

9 

steep-sided valley and exploration of one of 

the slopes revealed some pretty plants of 

Lobivia famatimensis (Figs.3 &4). This place was 

also a locality for Pyrrhocactus andreaeanus 

(Fig.5), the most northerly known form of P. 

strausianus which can have pink flowers 

although they often have yellow centres. 

The slopes proved to be home to eight cactus 

species including Denmoza rhodacantha and 

large plants of Echinopsis (Lobivia) formosa. The 

other really interesting plant was another 

Lobivia which, at the time, I did not know 

occurred in the Sierra Famatina. The plant 

reminded us of Echinopsis (Lobivia, 

Acanthocalycium) thionantha. It has a bluish 

body and buds with dark hair (Fig. 6). 

This location would extend the previously 

known distribution of Echinopsis thionantha 

further south and into a different mountain 

range. I was able to collect some seeds from 

which the resulting seedlings and their 

flowers were very similar to those of E. 

thionantha and, like with that species, variable 

in colour from yellow to orange (Fig.7).


Fig.6 Four young plants of Lobivia kuehhasii GC409.01 

It was nine years later in 2009 that Walter 

Rausch published two new Lobivia names in 

the German journal KuaS, one of them, Lobivia 

kuehhasii is clearly the plant we saw in the 

Sierra Famatina and from near where we saw 

it. 

The type collection WR817b was made in 

1990 and in the WR field number list I have 

from 2008, it has the name Acanthocalycium 

thionanthum var. australis. I am not convinced 

that it is a separate species and I feel that a 

subspecies of E. thionantha would be more 

appropriate, bearing in mind its geographic 

disjunction. 

You may be wondering when I will tell you 

about the Maihueniopsis! Well, it was our next 

stop at 2755m. There was some gently-sloping 

land (Fig.1) with a track leading down the 

slope from the road to a small building. We 

parked by the building where we could look 

down into a dramatic gorge with a river at the 

bottom (Fig.8). The water was an ochre colour 

which looked as if it originated from the soft 

rocks of the ravine. 

We looked around and I was interested to see 

a plant that looked like a small Echinopsis 

(Lobivia) formosa but already flowering when 

less than 15cm in diameter (Fig. 9). Nearby we 

had seen the normal form of the plant, 

growing to a large size and becoming short 

columnar. I concluded that this miniature form 

was the plant described by Rausch (1979) as 

Lobivia rosarioana, a name he later made a 

variety of Lobivia formosa. He tells us that the 

plant is rarely found in the Sierra Famatina. 

10 

Fig.7 Seedling of Lobivia kuehhasii GC409.01. 8cm pot. 

Fig.8 The ravine with the ochre-coloured river. 

Fig.9 Lobivia formosa rosarioana A small-growing form 

which flowers when only about 10cm in diameter.

Photo: Cyrill Hunkeler 

Photo: Cyrill Hunkeler Photo: Cyrill Hunkeler 


Fig.10 Maihueniopsis glochidiata 

HUN47 Cachipampa, Prov. Salta, Argentina 3120m 





My attention was drawn to a small Opuntia 

almost flat to the ground and with small 

coppery-yellow flowers (Fig.13). I thought it 

looked like a small-jointed relative of 

Maihueniopsis glomerata which is what I called 

it in my field list. The numerous glochids on 

11 

Fig.13 Maihueniopsis glochidiata GC407A at its type 

locality, 2755m in the Sierra Famatina, La Rioja. 

Fig.14 Maihueniopsis glochidiata GC407A in cultivation 

the old segments were very prominent in 

habitat. I brought home a few joints which 

grew well and now flower regularly (Fig.14). 

For years I watched the plant develop very 

prominent tufts of glochids on its older joints. 

The joint size had made me think the plant 

might be a form of Maihueniopsis minuta, so I 

called it M. aff. minuta in my Bradleya article 

about Maihueniopsis in 2008. 

When a survey of South American Opuntias 

was commissioned by the IOS, I donated a 

number of plant samples from my collection of 

documented plants, all with exact locality data. 

Among them was a segment of this plant. Dr 

Ritz, then at the University of Giessen, and her 

assistants extracted the DNA from the samples 

and undertook the study. 

The results (yet to be published in full) 

showed that GC407A was an undescribed 

species, distinct from M. minuta and all other



Fig.15 Maihueniopsis glochidiata HUN47 in cultivation 

described taxa. In preparation for the formal 

submission of the paper to an academic 

journal, the taxonomic implications were 

published in Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives 

25 (October 2011). As part of this process I 

published Maihueniopsis glochidiata as a new 

species. 

It is now clear that the type locality is not the 

only known habitat for this plant. In Cactus 

Adventures 78 (2008), Joël Lodé published a 

picture of a Maihueniopsis from the Park of 

the Cardones, Province Salta, Argentina which 

he thought was M. minuta but which I now 

think is M. glochidiata. 

A location nearby has been confirmed by 

Cyrill Hunkeler (pers. com.) who also found a 

Maihueniopsis, HUN47, with small joints at 

3120m on the Cachipampa (Figs. 10-12). He 

also found the plant (HUN467) in the same 

mountain range as the type locality but further 

south on the Cuesta Miranda (Fig.16). This 

pass is where the well-travelled main road 

crosses the Sierra Famatina, but this is the first 

record I have seen for a Maihueniopsis being 

found there. 

Long before I found the species in habitat, I 

had been cultivating a plant of M. glochidiata, 

identified as M. minuta and said to have been 

collected by Herman Vertongen in 1992 on the 

Cachipampa. Presumably this is the same as 

HUN467, it certainly looks very similar to the 

plant in Fig.17. 

GC 

12 


HUN467 Cuesta Miranda, La Rioja, Argentina 2425m 

Fig.17 Maihueniopsis glochidiata HUN467 in cultivation 

References 

Charles, G. (2008) Notes on Maihueniopsis 

Spegazzini. Bradleya 26:63-74 

Charles, G. (2011) Maihueniopsis glochidiata 

species nova. Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives 

25:20 

Lodé, J. (2008) Illustration of M. minuta. 

Cactus Adventures 78:13 

Rausch, W. (1979) Lobivia rosarioana Rausch 

spec. nov. KuaS 30(12): 284 

Rausch, W. (2009) Zwei neue Lobivien. KuaS 

60(12): 319-321 

Acknowledgement 

I should like to thank Cyrill Hunkeler for his 

help and permission to use his pictures. His 

website is very interesting for anyone who 

likes Opuntias (German language): 

http://www.tephroweb.ch 


Photo: Cyrill Hunkeler


The discovery of Escobaria abdita Řepka & Vaško 

Finding a new species in habitat is a thrilling experience. Zdeněk Vaško tells us about how he 

discovered a recently-described tiny species of Escobaria in a flat basin which is seasonally 

flooded. 

Text and photos: Zdeněk Vaško; translation: Zlatko Janeba 

Fig.1. General view of the habitat of Escobaria abdita. 

In October 2010, I took off with two of my 

colleagues, Ladislav Vacek and Palo Jesenský, 

for a wedding ceremony of our good Mexican 

Fig.2. Fully hydrated Escobaria abdita with a flower bud. 

13 

friend. We decided to spend some time in the 

field before this happy event, and especially in 

areas we had never visited before. For some 

Fig.3. A view of the root system of Escobaria abdita.


Fig.4. Another view of the habitat of Escobaria abdita. 

five years I have had the desire to discover 

Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus somewhere north of 

Ocampo in the state of Coahuila. I used to 

have strange feelings and expectations while 

roaming various flood-plains in search of 

Ariocarpus, but I seemed to be out of luck. 

On October 16th 2010, we were exploring one 

14 

such flood-plain in northern Mexico, again 

without having any success. While slowly 

coming back to our vehicle where my friends 

were already waiting, having decided to leave 

the place, I kept searching the last few metres 

of the arid land. Some 30 metres from the car I 

noticed a tiny hole in the soil, resembling the 

Fig. 5 The flower of Escobaria abdita. Fig.6 A dry fruit of Escobaria abdita.


Fig.7 Escobaria abdita is completely sunken in the soil 

and difficult to find during the dry season. 

footprint of some small animal. 

I bent over and blew the dust layer away. For 

a moment I was left speechless , but then I 

immediately called to my friends. It was a 

wonderful sight and at the same time, an 

electrifying feeling. Although it was not my 

desired A. kotschoubeyanus, my excitement 

from discovering an apparently new Escobaria 

was so great. During a very short time of 

crawling on our hands and knees we were able 

to encounter about 50 more plants. 

In the field, the biggest of these Escobarias 

reach some 20mm in diameter and they 

evidently spend most of their life under the 

Fig.8 A grafted Escobaria abdita seedling in cultivation. 

15 

ground, in tiny holes. Their beet-like root is 

succulent, solitary or very little branched, 

about 10cm long. The spines are round in 

cross-section, ivory in colour, and pectinately 

arranged on the areoles. Flowers are formed 

from the youngest areoles on the plant apex 

and are 35-45mm long and 30-35mm wide, 

whitish with pink to brown midstripes. The 

style is green, with yellow anthers and the fruit 

is 6-8 mm long and 5-7mm in diameter, upon 

drying, becoming parchment-like. 

We named it Escobaria abdita. The name 

means hidden or concealed, because the plants 

are buried in the soil for most of the year and 

they are very difficult to find during the dry 

season. 

Reference 

Řepka, R. & Vaško, Z. (2011) Escobaria abdita 

- a new species from northern Mexico. CSJ(US) 

83(6): 264-269. 

Zdeněk Vaško,Czech Republic 

zdenek.vasko@atlas.cz 

More on Cumulopuntia iturbicola 

Following my article in the last issue of 

Cactus Explorer, Urs Eggli told me that the 

pictures I published reminded him of plants he 

had photographed in 1998 along the old RN 9, 

north of Humahuaca, about 8km south of Azul 

Pampa, Argentina. He saw all shades of flower 

colours from yellow to dark red (see picture 

above), and he thought at that time that he had 

found Cumulopuntia rossiana. In fact, I have yet 

to see an image of a genuine C. rossiana from 

Argentina .... any offers? 

GC 

Photo: U. Eggli



In thE GlasshousE 

Strophocactus chontalensis 

There is something really special about 

growing and flowering an unusual plant. It 

was my work on the New Cactus Lexicon 

which opened my eyes to the many genera 

which are rarely seen in British collections. It 

made me realise what I had been missing, but 

it has not been easy to find suppliers of these 

rare plants. 

Strophocactus chontalensis first came to my 

attention when Ralf Bauer wrote his ‘Synopsis 

of the tribe Hylocereeae’ published in No.17 of 

Cactaceae Systematics Initiatives (2003). But 

the story began in 1940 when Tom MacDougall 

first collected the plant near San Miguel 

Tenango, Oaxaca, Mexico. The description of 

the new species was delayed until 1950 due to 

the lack of flowers to complete the description. 

MacDougall wrote an article about some 

epiphytic cacti of the region in the American 

Journal (XVIII):147-150 (1946). He described 

how he re-found the plant referred to with his 

16 

field number A44, the ‘Tenango Cereus’, 

growing only on rocks, often with Epiphyllum 

crenatum. The pictures in this article, and in the 

continuation on pages 165-168, show that the 

plant makes very large tangled groups of 

stems, each up to about a metre long tumbling 

over rocks. Flowers from this visit were then 

available to complete the description. 

The plant was eventually described as 

Nyctocereus chontalensis by Alexander in the 

Photo: G. Charles



American Journal (XXII):131-3 (1950). The 

genus was chosen because of the flowers and 

the specific name refers to the Chontal Indians 

who live in the area. Ralf Bauer in CSI 17 

(2003), believing that this species should be in 

the same genus as Deamia testudo and 

Strophocactus wittii, made the resulting new 

combinations under the oldest generic name, 

Strophocactus. 

My own encounter with Strophocactus 

chontalensis in habitat happened in 2006 when I 

was travelling in Oaxaca with Ivor Crook and 

David Yetman. It was my first visit to Mexico, 

an experience greatly enhanced by David’s 

experience of the country and his fluent 

Spanish. 

I had a vague memory of reading about the 

plant and its liking of growing on rocks in oak 

forest, but I did not think I would actually find 

it. We were driving along the main road from 

Mitla to Tehuantepec, passing through hills 

covered with oak woodland. It was February, 

the dry season, and there were no leaves on the 

trees. 

As we rounded one of the endless bends, I 

spotted a hillside which looked different, with 

prominent rounded exposed boulders under 

the trees. I shouted to David to stop the car. I 

think he wondered why I should want to stop 

there, since our main interest on the trip was to 

see the remarkable columnar cacti of the area. 

We crossed the road and walked a short 

distance up the hill, through deep piles of 

brown leaves, to the boulders. There, growing 

on the tops of the rocks, were long cactus 

stems with few ribs, surely they must belong 

to S. chontalensis. There were also two other 

17 

cacti, Mammillaria karwinskiana and what I took 

to be a species of Hylocereus. David, who has 

a passion for huge cerei, was unimpressed, but 

for me it was a highlight of the trip. 

I have now had the chance to cultivate this 

interesting plant and it has been a rewarding 

experience. It grows easily and quickly, 

forming a branched clump of stems close to 

the ground, making it suitable for a hanging 

pot. I am unsure about how much cold it can 

endure, but my plants have thrived with a 

winter minimum of 10°C. So far, my only 

disappointment is that only one of my two 

clones has produced flowers, so I have been 

unable to produce fruits and valuable seeds. 

However, I shall be able to propagate my 

plants by cuttings which root easily. 

GC 

Pfeiffera miyagawae 

As I have mentioned before, working on the 

New Cactus Lexicon opened my eyes to the 

diversity and interest of epiphytic genera like 

Pfeiffera. I had the impression that the flowers 

were usually small and white which many are, 

but there are exceptions. One of those 

exceptions is the remarkable Pfeiffera miyagawae 

(see picture on the next page). 

The plant illustrated is a clone distributed by 

the ISI under their number 91-18. It is the type 

clone, HBG 50888, collected on October 19th 

1974 by Mario Miyagawa at 600m in the 

yungas of Alto Beni, near Mataral, Dept. 

Cochabamba, Bolivia. Ralf Bauer, in Cactaceae 

Systematics Initiatives 20, reports that the 

plant has never been re-found at the stated 

locality but has subsequently been found by 

Photo: G. Charles



Wolfgang Krahn in Dept. La Paz, Prov. Sud 

Yungas, south of La Asunta at 750m. It is 

thought that the original locality was near this 

place and that the stated locality in Dept. 

Cochabamba was a misunderstanding. 

The first description was published in 1987 

by Wilhelm Barthlott and Werner Rauh in the 

American journal. Mario Miyagawi had been a 

student of theirs. As they say, the flowers are 

reminiscent of Corryocactus (Erdisia). After 

some consideration, they concluded that the 

plant was best placed in Pfeiffera. The recent 

molecular study of Pfeiffera and its relatives by 

Karotkova et al. confirms its placement in 

Pfeiffera and shows its close relationship to P. 

ianthothele, the type of the genus. 

It has proved to be very easy to cultivate and 

flowers freely towards the ends of the stems. 

Propagation is also straightforward, cuttings 

rooting easily. The stems are somewhat lax and 

so a hanging pot in a part shade position suits 

this lovely plant in cultivation. 

References 

Barthlott, W. & Rauh, W. (1987) Pfeiffera 

miyagawae. A new orange flowered species 

from Bolivia. CSJ(US) 59(2): 63-65 

Bauer, R. (2005) More notes on Pfeiffera. 

CSI(20): 6-10 

Karotkova, N. et al. (2010) A phylogenetic 

analysis of Pfeiffera... Willdenowia 40: 151-172 

GC 

18 

Thelocactus panarottoanus or flavus? 

This species and its habitat have been well 

known for a long time. It can be found in the 

field lists of Lau and Reppenhagen described 

as a yellow-flowering Thelocactus tulensis. The 

first description as a new species was by Josef 

Halda (1998) as Thelocactus panarottoanus. The 

type locality was stated to be near La Hincada, 

San Luis Potosi, Mexico at 1100m. 

Alessandro Mosco and Carlo Zanovello, 

presumably in ignorance of the Halda name, 

called the same taxon Thelocactus flavus in a 

well-illustrated article in Cactus & Co (1999). 

They later decided that it was better treated as 

a subspecies of T. conothelos and made the 

combination in Bradleya (2000). So, there are 

two names for this plant. As a species, T. 

panarottoanus has priority, but as a subspecies 

the correct name is T. conothelos ssp. flavus. 

In cultivation, it is easily grown in a sunny 

locality and, for me, first flowered in a 10cm 

pot. The long spines and yellow flowers make 

it an attractive addition to a collection but, as 

yet, is not often seen in UK. 

References 

Halda, J (1998) Thelocactus panarottoanus 

spec.nov. Acta Musei Richnoviensis, Sect. 

Natur. 5(4):161 

Mosco, A. & Zanovello, C. (1999) Thelocactus 

flavus. Cactus & Co. 3(1): 20-23 

Mosco, A. & Zanovello, C. (2000) A phenetic 

analysis of the genus Thelocactus. Bradleya 

18:45-70 

GC 

Photo: G. Charles


Disocactus nelsonii 

For me, there is something particularly 

appealing about pink flowers. I became more 

interested in epiphytic cacti while working on 

the New Cactus Lexicon when we had the 

opportunity to see really good images of many 

unusual species photographed by Ralf Bauer. 

One I particularly noticed was this species and 

its beautiful flower so I asked Ralf for a cutting. 

The piece he gave me has grown well and 

now produces masses of flowers in March each 

year. The stems hang down so it is a good 

plant for a well-watered hanging pot placed in 

a lightly shaded part of the glasshouse. 

It was first described in 1913 as a species of 

Epiphyllum by Britton and Rose, but when 

they wrote their monumental work ‘The 

Cactaceae’, they erected the monotypic genus 

Chiapasia for it in Volume 4 (1923). This 

generic name refers to the Mexican state of 

Chiapas where the plant was found. 

Britton and Rose had originally described the 

new species from a herbarium specimen 

collected by E.W.Nelson in 1896 but they also 

19 

refer to an illustration of a living plant 

cultivated by Purpus and published in MfK in 

1918 as Phyllocactus chiapensis. 

The natural habitats of this plant are found in 

Guatemala as well as Chiapas where it is said 

to grow epiphytically on oak trees, as was the 

type collection. An excellent comprehensive 

account of Disocactus nelsonii was written by 

Myron Kimnach and published in the 

American journal of 1958. He agrees with the 

placement of this species in Disocactus, first 

made by Lindinger in 1942 in a largely 

overlooked paper. GC 

References 

Britton, N.J. & Rose, J.N. (1923) Chiapasia 

gen. nov. The Cactaceae IV: 203 

Lindinger, K. (1942) Bot. Centralbl. Beih. 

61:383 

Kimnach, M. (1958) Icones Plantarum 

Succulentarum 13 Discocactus nelsonii. Cactus 

and Succulent Society of America Journal 

XXX(3):80-83 

Purpus, J.A. (1918) Phyllocactus (Epiphyllum) 

chiapensis spec. nov. Monatsschrift für 

Kakteenkunde 28:118-121 

Photo: G. Charles


Journal roundup 

New Editors for CactusWorld 

The British Cactus and Succulent Society 

publish their journal ‘CactusWorld’ four times 

a year. It contains information about the 

Society’s activities and articles on a wide range 

of subjects. Following the retirement of Roy 

Mottram, the publication’s excellent editor for 

the past six years, the Society has appointed Al 

Laius as the new editor. He has the support of 

Peter Berresford, who has accepted the role of 

deputy editor. Al is known for his love of 

Sansevieria and Peter is a well-travelled 

Echinocereus specialist. 

The new editors promise to introduce new 

features and plan to modify the content in line 

with what the members have requested. So, in 

future there will be more about cultivation and 

selected taxa, but less long travelogues and 

technical articles which will be accommodated 

within Bradleya, the Society’s yearbook. 

The March 2012 issue of CactusWorld, the 

first to be edited by the new team, features a 

long article from Johan de Vries attempting to 

clarify the application of three old Cárdenas 

species names for plants now regarded as 

Sulcorebutias. 

20 

There are also articles about the Jardin 

Exotique in Monaco; the Indian distribution of 

a Caralluma; Opuntia fragilis hybrids; cacti on 

St Lucia; Mammillaria bombycina; the Luton 

Hoo garden project and a revision of the series 

Cepaea in the genus Sedum. 

The regular features ‘BCSS News’, ‘Cactus 

Talk’ and ‘Literature review’ are joined by new 

ventures ‘Plant of the quarter’, ‘In my 

greenhouse’ and ‘Succulent snippets’. This 

issue is 8 pages longer than usual at 72 pages 

and continues to be excellent value for the 

modest subscription of £15 (UK) or £20 (worldwide) 

per year (Bradleya is available at an 

additional charge). 

You can contact the editors by email: 

Al Laius editor@bcss.org.uk 

Peter Berresford deputyeditor@bcss.org.uk 

Subsciption information and everything else 

you could want to know about the BCSS can be 

found at http://www.bcss.org.uk GC 

English edition now available 

The long-running Italian journal ‘Piante 

Grasse’ is now published in an English edition. 

The quality of the pictures, layout and content 

are all excellent so I hope you will consider 

supporting this brave venture by visiting their 

very informative website: 

http://www.piantegrassejournal.it/eng/index.html


Minimus: Journal of Czech Notocactophiles 

The last issue of the Cactus Explorer 

Journal included a short article about 

Internoto, the German language journal 

focusing on the genus Notocactus. There is a 

similar journal in the Czech Republic. It has 

been published since 1970, so its history is ten 

years longer than that of Internoto. 

The Czech study group for Notocactus, 

called Notosekce in Czech, was established in 

early 1970 and its first general meeting was 

held in August 1970. Among those present at 

this meeting was also the famous Dutch 

cactophile A.F.H. Buining who had come to 

Czechoslovakia to deliver a lecture about his 

travels in Brazil. 

The number of members climbed to 123 

within a year. At the peak of the Notocactus 

craze in the late 1970s, fuelled by discoveries of 

many new species and forms of Notocactus in 

southern Brazil, Notosekce had more than 230 

members. Throughout the 1980s the number of 

members kept at just below 200 but it started 

to fall after 1990 when the attention of many 

Czech cactus lovers shifted to Mexico. In recent 

years, the number of members has fluctuated 

around 60, including several members from 

abroad (Germany). Annual general meetings 

are held every August. 

21 

‘Minimus’ was originally published monthly, 

then quarterly, and since the early 1990s two 

double issues per year are published. The 

journal has a colour photo on the cover and 

black-and-white photos inside. Articles in the 

recent issues have included travelogues of 

Stanislav Stuchlik (chairman of Notosekce) 

and Norbert Gerloff from Germany about their 

respective travels in southern Brazil, as well as 

articles on cultivation and treatises on selected 

species. Short German-language summaries of 

all articles are published at the end of each 

issue. 

The name ´Minimus´ is after Notocactus 

minimus, a rather mystical Fric name, which 

was referred to Notocactus (Parodia) 

tenuicylindricus in the New Cactus Lexicon. 

However, according to botanists Zazvorka and 

Sedivy who published a review of Fric names 

in 1993, Notocactus minimus Fric et Kreuzinger 

(1935) was validated by Buining in Succulenta 

in 1940 and thus the name N. minimus has 

priority over N. tenuicylindricus Ritter (1970). 

Rene Samek 

Czech Republic 

renesamek@hotmail.com


thE lovE of Books 

News of Recent Publications. A Reminder of Old Favourites. 

Many cactophiles enjoy reading about their plants, particularly in the winter when our 

collections are less demanding. This feature aims to provide you with inspiration. 

101 Cactus del Perú 

Peru is surely one of the most important 

countries when considering the cactus flora of 

the world. It has a remarkable diversity of 

biogeographic zones ranging from the very 

dry coastal strip to tropical rain forest. Many of 

these zones support cacti. Some species are 

small and hard to find but others are dramatic 

trees. 

Dr. Carlos Ostolaza is very well known to 

enthusiasts around the world for his work 

with cacti in Peru over many years. He has 

been a pioneer in the education of the Peruvian 

people about the importance of their floral 

heritage and the need to conserve it. In 1987 he 

founded QUEPO, the Peruvian Cactus and 

Succulent Society and still edits their annual 

journal. 

This impressive book has been printed and 

published in Peru and, being written in 

Spanish, should further promote interest 

within the country. As in many countries, the 

cacti in Peru face pressures on their survival 

from infrastructure developments such as 

dams, roads and mines, as well as the 

expansion of agriculture. The long-term 

22 

conservation of cacti depends to a great extent 

on the value placed on them by the local 

people. It is to be hoped that books like this 

will help spread understanding of the plants 

and the need for their conservation. 

The volume is hardbound, 240 x 273mm 

landscape, 256 pages. There are 546 colour 

photographs, all reproduced at a good size. 

The non-technical text is written in Spanish. 

The 101 species described are about 40% of 

the cacti found in Peru and have been well 

chosen to represent the diversity of the family. 

Many of the featured species are popular in 

cultivation and are usually illustrated in 

culture and also in habitat. A brief description 

is given for each taxon together with an 

indication of its known distribution. 

Some potential readers might be put off by 

the Spanish text but the pictures alone make it 

a valuable reference and the text is quite easy 

to follow even if you understand only a little of 

the language. 

You can watch the launch of the book on 

youtube. 

Carlos tells me that Mildred Margot Canales 

Azabache has copies of the book in Spain 

available for sale at 60€. You can contact her by 

email. 

GC 

Looking for a second hand book? 

You can search the stock of book dealers 

around the world by using one of the 

specialist web sites for example: 

http://www.addall.com/Used 

http://www.bookfinder.com 

http://www.abebooks.com


The Genus Gymnocalycium 

Another new book about this popular genus 

has just been published by the German Cactus 

Society (DKG) as the seventh title of their 

series of handbooks for the collector. In the 

Cactus Explorer 2, we reported on the 

recently published Parodia book from the 

same series. 

This attractive volume has been written (in 

German) by Detlev Metzing, well known as a 

specialist in Gymnocalycium. The treatment is 

based on recent molecular studies and agrees 

quite closely with that which I followed in my 

‘Gymnocalycium in Habitat and Culture’. 

There have been changes in the application of 

names and a number of new names published 

recently, so it is good to have a period of 

stability. 

144 pages, softbound, 240 x 170mm with 200 

colour pictures and 9 maps (German). 

Produced to the usual high standard we have 

come to expect from the DKG, the pictures are 

very well reproduced. 

As with the other titles in this series, it is 

available only to members of the DKG. The 

price is 10 € (including p.&p.) for delivery to 

Germany and 12 € for the rest of the world. 

It can be purchased from the website of the 

DKG: www.dkg.eu. 

23 

Cactus File Handbook 6 

This, the last title in a useful series of books, 

was the most ambitious. John Pilbeam had 

already written one book about Mammillaria, 

probably the single most popular of all cactus 

genera. His first volume ‘Mammillaria - A 

Collector’s Guide’ was published in 1981 and 

proved a popular reference to enthusiasts. At 

that time, the use of colour for pictures was 

limited by cost, so most species had only a 

black and white photograph. To overcome this, 

John published a series of colour pictures 

referred to the relevant page in the book. These 

were well produced and reproduced at a good 

size (17.5 x 13cm). 

The arrival of John’s Cactus File Handbook 

about Mammillaria in 1999 was greeted with 

universal acclaim. It combined his informative 

text with good colour pictures placed with the 

relevant text, so much better than putting all 

the pictures in a block within the book. It is an 

extremely useful reference and remains my 

personal favourite of John’s many books. 

New copies are still available, priced at £45 

from Keiths Plant Books or direct from John 

Pilbeam 

GC


BOOKS FOR SALE 

The Cactaceae. Descriptions and illustrations of 

plants of the cactus family, 4 vols. 

Part original, 1919-1923, & part reprint, 1937. 

Comprising Vols. 1, 2 & 4 of ed.2, large paper, with 

a large proportion of the ed.1 colour plates, plus 

Vol. 3 ed.1. 985 pages, 76 [of 107] chromolithographs, 

1120 text-figs; hardbound in standard black rexine 

library binding by Glass & Foster in 1975. 

PROVENANCE: The odd Vol.3 of the first edition 

in this set was rescued from the Abbey Garden 

Press disastrous fire of 1960, which destroyed the 

presses and most of the unsold book stocks and 

library. This set was put together to become the 

personal copy of Bob Foster (1938-2002) and it 

bears his bookplate dated 19 Jan 1970. It then 

entered the Abbey Garden Press Library, with its 

bookplate nr.388, dated 1975. On dispersal of the 

Abbey Garden Press library, it was bought by the 

Whitestone Gardens library in 1998, the present 

owner. 

CONDITION: A pleasing set comprising a Vol. 3 

from the 1st. ed. & Vols. 1,2, & 4 from the large 

paper 2nd. ed. in a very clean, hardly opened 

condition, apart from slight damage to Vol.3 

resulting from the Abbey Garden Press fire, but 

this is not obtrusive. Contains 76 original colour 

plates out of a possible 107: 19 in Vol.1, 20 in Vol. 2, 

19 in Vol. 3, and 18 in Vol. 4. Vol. 3 has a badly 

24 

soiled title page and slight tear in the lower 

margin. The first four leaves are water-stained 

along the lower margin. A few coloured and plain 

plates are loose, as though inserted later. The 

frontispiece photo of Vol. 3 is a later printing. 

HISTORY: This seminal work first appeared 

softbound in printed wrappers, at intervals 

between 1919 and 1922. It was out of print by the 

mid-1930s so Scott Haselton, the founder of Abbey 

Garden Press, decided to issue a reprint. This 

appeared in 1937 in two formats, the larger run of 

500 copies being a large paper version similar in 

size to the original. 

The Carnegie Institution had random sets of a 

little over 40 of the colour plates from the first 

edition left over, and Haselton bound these into a 

few of his second editions until stocks were 

exhausted, which were otherwise published in 

monochrome throughout. Thus, copies with 21-41 

colour plates can be found. Volumes 1,2 & 4 of the 

present set are from this source, while Vol. 3 is 

from a first edition set in the Abbey Garden Press 

library that survived the 1960 fire, so is original 

and consequently has the full complement of 19 

colour plates. 

Scott Haselton lost interest after his marriage in 

1962 and the trauma of the fire so the business 

languished until 1967 when Charlie Glass and Bob 

Foster entered into partnership and bought the 

assets of the Abbey Garden Press along with its 

library. Charlie died in February 1998, and in 

March of that year Bob Foster instructed a 

Californian bookseller to dispose of the Abbey 

Garden library. 

PRICE: Offers invited in the region of £850 or 

higher, plus postage. UK postage £25 by Special 

Delivery; Europe £57; Rest of World £115. It will go 

to the person making the best offer by 1st June 

2012. 

Roy Mottram, Whitestone Gardens, Sutton, 

Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 2PZ, UK. Phone: 

01845597467 (UK), (+)441845597467 (internl.). 

Fax: 01845597035 (UK), (+)441845597035 (internl.). 

Email: roy@whitestn.demon.co.uk. 

A free digital version of the first edition of this 

work can be viewed or downloaded at: 

http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/100137#pa 

ge/213/mode/1up 

If you have a rare book for sale, you can 

advertise it free in the Cactus Explorer. 

Please include interesting historical details.


Mesembs 

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32 trips to South Africa, and three major books 

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work, beginning with a book about 9 genera of 

the Titanopsis Group. Forty related species 

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Photo: A. Hofacker 



Some noteS on WigginSia corynodeS 

Andreas Hofacker explains the complicated history of some Wigginsia species 

names, makes a new combination and designates neotypes where appropriate. 

Fig.1 Echinocactus corynodes in cultivation. 

Fig.2 A plant discovered in Northern Uruguay, which resembles 

the first description of Echinocactus corynodes. 

In scientific literature (e.g. Hunt 2006, 

Anderson 2001), and increasing in literature 

from cactus enthusiasts, the genus Parodia 

Spegazzini is understood in a broader sense to 

include the genera Notocactus (K. Schumann) 

Frič, Acanthocephala Backeberg (= Brasilicactus 

26 

Fig.3 Echinocactus corynodes in Northern Uruguay. 

Backeberg nom. inval.), Eriocephala Backeberg (= 

Eriocactus Backeberg nom. inval.), Brasiliparodia 

F. Ritter and Wigginsia D.M. Porter. 

Albesiano & Kiesling (2009) published a paper 

where they rehabilitated the genus Wigginsia 

as separate from Parodia. There, they deal with 

different plants of the genus Wigginsia. 

Unfortunately, this paper contains some errors, 

which need to be corrected. 

In April 1905, Karl Schumann described a 

plant that he named Echinocactus (Malacocarpus) 

arechavaletai, not knowing that in January of the 

same year, Carlos Spegazzini (1905) also 

described a plant with the name Echinocactus 

arechavaletai. The latter plant is today included 

in Parodia ottonis (Lehmann) N.P. Taylor, whilst 

Schumann’s plant is included in the genus 

Wigginsia. The descriptions were based on 

different plants and therefore the name 

Echinocactus arechavaletai Spegazzini has 

priority over Echinocactus arechavaletai K. 

Schumann, because Echinocactus arechavaletai 

K. Schumann is a younger homonym of 

Echinocactus arechavaletai Spegazzini and is 

therefore illegitimate (ICBN Art 53.1). 

In the same publication, Spegazzini also 

Photo: A. Hofacker


Fig.4 The first description of Echinocactus corynodes 

from Pfeiffer. 

published the name Echinocactus acuatus var. 

arechavaletai (K. Schumann) Spegazzini. This 

plant is identical with Schumann’s Echinocactus 

arechavaletai and therefore Spegazzini 

published the first valid description of this 

taxon. Even if in the first description there is 

no provenance given, Spegazzini’s indication 

of Schumann as author of the name shows that 

it is the same plant. Schumann’s plant was 

collected by the Czech cactus-collector Alberto 

Vojtěch Frič in 1903 and originates from 

Piriápolis in southern Uruguay. Guillermo 

Herter (1930) created the new replacement 

name Echinocactus maldonadensis, the first 

correct name at specific level. Herter also 

published the combination of this taxon in 

Notocactus hence Notocactus maldonadensis 

(Herter) Herter (Herter 1943). Havliček (1989a: 

79) then created the new name Notocactus 

neoarechavaletai, referring to the same plant that 

was described as Echinocactus acuatus var. 

arechavaletai and renamed at specific level as 

Echinocactus maldonadensis. The whole history 

of the names is described in detail in Albesiano 

& Kiesling. 

In their publication, Albesiano & Kiesling 

deal with a plant that was described as 

Echinocactus corynodes Pfeiffer, today included 

in the genus Parodia. Wigginsia corynodes 

(Pfeiffer) D.M. Porter was first described by the 

German doctor and botanist Ludwig 

(Ludovico) Pfeiffer (1837a). In their paper, 

Albesiano & Kiesling try to prove that 

27 

Fig.5 Pfeiffer’s German translation from the first 

description of Echinocactus corynodes. 

Wigginsia corynodes is identical with plants that 

are known as Wigginsia arechavaletae or 

Notocactus neoarechavaletae and therefore the 

name Wigginsia corynodes must be used for 

these plants. A neotype of Echinocactus 

corynodes was designated as plate 24 on page 

243 in Arechavaleta (1905). In the protologue, 

the authors also synonymize Wigginsia horstii 

F. Ritter [= Notocactus neohorstii Theunissen = 

Parodia neohorstii (Theunissen) N.P. Taylor] 

with Wigginsia corynodes. 

Fig.6 The first published picture and neotype of 

Echinocactus corynodes in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. 

Vol. 68 [ser. 2, vol. 15]: t. 3906.


Stem shape 

Stem colour 

Pfeiffer,Echinocactus 

corynodes in„Enumeratio 

…” 

Subglobose, attenuate 

in direction to base 

Dark green Young 

plants brighter green 

Pfeiffer,Echinocactus 

corynodes 

in„Beschreibung …“ 

Subglobose 

Dark green Young 

plants bright green 

28 

Albesiano & Kiesling 

for Echinocactus 

corynodes 

Subglobose, attenuate 

in direction to base 

Shape of apex Submerged Submerged Submerged 

Spegazzini 

Echinocactus acuatus 

var. arechavaletai 

Albesiano & Kiesling 

for Echinocactus acutus 

var. arechavaletai 

Subglobose Subglobose 

Dark green Dark green, bright Dark green, bright 

Moderately 

submerged 

Moderately 

umbilicated 

Stem diameter Not indicated Not indicated 7.5–10cm 30–100mm 3–10cm 

Stem height Not indicated Not indicated 5-7.5cm 30–100mm 3–10cm 

Number of ribs 16 16 16 13-21 13–21 

Rib shape 

Areoles 

Areole separation 

Radial spine number 

Radial spine colour 

Narrow, acute, edges 

crenate 

Impressed. Younger 

ones woolly, white, 

later deciduous 

6-8 Linien Kurhessen: 

1.2cm–1.6cm Prussia: 

? 

10 in young plants, 

9 in adult plants 

first red, then brownish, 

young plants 

white 

Narrow, acute, edges 

crenate 

With white wool, 

when young 

5–6 Linen Kurhessen: 

1.0cm–1.2cm Prussia: 

? 



first red, then brownish, 

young plants 

white 

Narrow, acute, 

crenate 

Impressed. Young ones 

with abundant white 

hairs, later deciduous; 

spines rigid 

Slightly obtuse Nearly obtuse 

Not mentioned Not mentioned 

1.38–1.84cm Not mentioned Not mentioned 



5–9 5–9 

Base red, the rest dark Pale Whitish 

Radial spine length Not indicated Not indicated 1.15–1.38cm 10–15mm 1–1.5cm 

Radial spine shape 

Central spine number 

Straight, the younger 

ones setose 

Young plant: 4-6 

Adult plant: 1 

Straight, younger 

ones setose 



Straight Straight, radiating Straight 



1 1 

Central spine shape Erect Erect Erect Straight Straight and erect 

Central spine colour Brownish Brown Brown, dark 

Central spine size 

Flower diameter 

Not topping the other 

ones 

2 Zoll Kurhessen: 

4.794cm Prussia: 

7.5324cm 

Not indicated Larger than radials 

2 Zoll Kurhessen: 

4.794cm Prussia: 

7.5324cm 

Perianth tube Not indicated Not indicated 

Tepal shape 

Narrow, with denticulate 

tip 

Narrow, with denticulate 

tip 

Grey-white with 

darker tip 

15–20mm, more often 

distinctive thicker 

Grey, with brown tips 

1.5–2cm 

5 cm Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Sparsely covered with 

wool 

Linear, with denticulate 

tip 



Tepal colour Translucent yellow Translucent yellow Yellow Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Stamen filaments Red Red Red Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Stigma colour Carmine Carmine Bright-red Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Style colour Sulphur-coloured Sulphur-coloured Yellow Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Stigma lobe number 10 10 10 Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Shape and type of 

fruit 

Fruit covering 

Berry, oblong Berry, oblong Berry, oblong Not mentioned Not mentioned 

Smooth, distinguishing 

from the wool 

Smooth, distinguishing 

from the wool 

Initially covered with 

wool and then 

glabrous 


Fruit colour Dirty red Dirty red Pale red Not mentioned Not mentioned


Fig.7 Schumann’s picture of Echinocactus (Malacocarpus) 

arechavaletai in the Flora Uruguaya, April 1905. 

To prove their thesis, Albesiano & Kiesling 

compare the original descriptions of 

Echinocactus corynodes and Echinocactus acuatus 

var. arechavaletai (and also of Echinocactus 

arechavaletai Spegazzini) in a table and come to 

the conclusion that the two taxa are identical. 

Unfortunately, the table contains some errors 

which give a completely wrong picture of 

Echinocactus corynodes. 

Fig.8 Herter’s creation of the new name Echinocactus 

maldonadensis in Florula Uruguayensis, 1930. 

Albesiano & Kiesling don’t mention that 

there is also a German version of the 

“Enumeratio Diagnostica Cactearum hucusque 

cognitarum” from 1937, titled “Beschreibung 

und Synonymik der in Deutschen Gärten 

lebend vorkommenden Cacteen” (Pfeiffer 

1837b). This book contains some additional 

information about Echinocactus corynodes. 

Another point, which is not discussed by 

Albesiano & Kiesling, is the measurements. In 

1837, Germany was divided into many small 

independent states (Grafschaften, 

Herzogtümer, Königreiche, Freie Reichsstädte, 

…), all with their own currency and 

measurements. Pfeiffer lived in Kassel, a town 

belonging to the Herzogtum Kurhessen. His 

book was printed in Berlin, belonging to 

29 

Fig. 9 Parodia maldonadensis Hofacker 357 from 

Pedras Altas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 

Preußen (Prussia). 

Pfeiffer used the measurements “Linie”, 

indicated as ’’ and “Zoll”, indicated as ’. 

Depending which measurement Pfeiffer used, 

1 Line was 0,2cm (in Kurhessen), in Prussia it 

didn’t exist officially but the old Prussian 

“Linie” (only valid until 1816) with 0,21795cm 

was still in use. In Prussia, 1 Zoll was 

3,7662cm, in Kurhessen 2,397cm. In the 

protologue, Pfeiffer didn’t indicate which 

measurement he used. So, the conversion of 

Albesiano & Kiesling to centimetres is unsure, 

even if it is likely that Pfeiffer used the 

measurements of his home. 

In the table on the previous page are listed 

the information given by Albesiano & Kiesling, 

facing the information given in the first 

descriptions and their German translation 

from Pfeiffer. The main differences between 

the original descriptions and the table of 

Albesiano & Kiesling are printed in red. 

Very characteristic for the plants described as 

Echinocactus acuatus var. arechavaletai are the 

long, thick, downwards pointing, flattened 

central spines and the sub-globose stem shape. 

In the first description of Echinocactus corynodes 

it is mentioned that the central spines don’t top 

the other ones, the name of the plant 

(corynodes = club-like) indicate the stem 

shape. These characteristics are completely 

misinterpreted by Albesiano & Kiesling. 

Albesiano & Kiesling also do not mention an 

Photo: G.Charles

Photo: N.Gerloff 



Fig. 10 Parodia maldonadensis found at the type locality 

at the Pan de Azucar in Southern Uruguay. 

Fig.11 Parodia maldonadensis found at the type locality 

at the Pan de Azucar in Southern Uruguay. 

early picture of Echinocactus corynodes. Already 

in 1842, a picture of a plant named Echinocactus 

corynodes had been published in Curtis’s 

Botanical Magazine (W.J.Hooker 1841). Even if 

the provenance of the plant is not mentioned 

in the protologue, it fits the description of 

Echinocactus corynodes perfectly. 

This picture was used in several publications 

(e. g. Krook 1855, Förster & Rümpler 1886, 

Britton & Rose 1922 as Malacocarpus erinaceus). 

Pfeiffer & Otto (1845) also mentioned 

Echinocactus corynodes again, a short time after 

publication. Under Echinocactus sellowianus 

30 

Fig.12 Parodia maldonadensis in habitat near Velasquez 

in Uruguay. 

(plate 1), they wrote: “Durch Herrn Sellow 

zuerst im bot. Garten zu Berlin eingeführt, 

blieb diese Art lange Zeit sehr selten, wurde 

aber leider häufig mit E. corynodes verwechselt, 

bis endlich die ächte Pflanze durch Samen 

vermehrt und der Irrthum aufgeklärt wurde.“ 

(First introduced from Mr. Sellow to the 

Botanical Garden of Berlin, this species stayed 

very rare for a long time, unfortunately 

misidentified as E. corynodes, until the correct 

plant was propagated through seeds and the 

error could be corrected). 

It can be interpreted that Echinocactus 

corynodes is similar to Echinocactus sellowii 

(which is the correct spelling of the name of 

that species), a taxon which is today known as 

Notocactus sellowii (Link & Otto) Theunissen or 

Parodia sellowii (Link & Otto) D.R. Hunt. But 

Echinocactus sellowii cannot be confused with 

plants which are described as Echinocactus 

acuatus var. arechavaletai. This is another 

reason, why the synonymizing of Albesiano & 

Kiesling is wrong. 

Under ICBN Art 9.17(b), there is a serious 

conflict between the neotype of Albesiano & 

Kiesling and the original description of 

Echinocactus corynodes. Important characteristics 

of the protologue were not correctly appreciated. 

Therefore, the neotypification of Albesiano & 

Kiesling is superseded here. 

Gerloff & Neduchal (2004) designated several 

neotypes for plants which they classify under 

Notocactus. For Echinocactus corynodes, they 

Photo: N.Gerloff


Fig. 13 A typical habitat of Parodia maldonadensis at Velasquez in Uruguay. 

chose a collection of Walter Rausch (WR 336) 

from Uruguay, deposited in FRP. But in the 

protologue it does not include the phrase 

“designated here”. In the foreword (p. 37) is 

written “… ermöglichen es uns, bei den nun 

aufgelisteten Arten die Typen aufzustellen” 

(… made it possible for us to erect the types for 

the species listed below). In the list is also 

Notocactus erinaceus f. corynodes WR 336 

mentioned. The text itself (p. 99) contains the 

combination Notocactus erinaceus f. corynodes 

and the designation of the neotypus as WR 

336. It is doubtful whether this fulfils the 

regulations of Art. ICBN 7.11 which demands 

from 2001 for typification (lectotypes, neotypes 

and epitypes) the indication of the phrase 

“designated here” (hic designatus) or an 

equivalent. 

The neotypification is therefore done here as 

follows: 

Echinocactus corynodes Pfeiffer 

31 

Fig.14 Parodia maldonadensis in habitat near Pedras 

Altas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 

Neotypus (designated here): Curtis’s 

Botanical Magazine, vol. 68 [ser. 2, vol. 15]: t. 

3906. 

This neotype is not in conflict with the 

protologue. 


Photo: N.Gerloff



Fig. 15 Parodia nothohorstii in habitat east of Minas do Camaqua, Brazil. 

As mentioned above, Albesiano & Kiesling 

also synonymize Wigginsia horstii with 

Wigginsia corynodes. For this they studied only 

living material of a single collection of Omar 

Ferrari from Punta Ballenas (correctly written 

Punta Ballena) in southern Uruguay. This is a 

complete misinterpretation and shows the 

importance of knowing plants from their 

original habitat. Wigginsia horstii was described 

from Minas do Camaqua in the state of Rio 

Grande do Sul in Brazil, about 500km north of 

Punta Ballena. This species is different from 

both Wigginsia corynodes and Echinocactus 

acuatus var. arechavaletai. It is also the only 

Wigginsia which a non-specialist can recognize 

very easily. Typical are the small elongated 

globose to cylindric stems (9cm in diameter 

and 15cm high), the rib-number of 18-24, the 

close areoles (only 4mm apart), the very 

woolly areoles, the high number of radial 

spines (18-24), the short stigma lobes which are 

sometimes grown together like a plate and the 

small fruit less than 1cm long with only about 

32 

25 seeds. 

Albesiano & Kiesling state correctly that the 

names Notocactus neoarechavaletae Havliček 

under ICBN Art 52. 1 and Parodia 

neoarechavaletae (Havliček) D.R. Hunt under 

ICBN Art 11.4 are incorrect because the oldest 

available name at the same rank is Echinocactus 

maldonadensis Herter. 

The missing combination under Parodia for 

this species follows here: 

Parodia maldonadensis (Herter) Hofacker 

comb. nov. 

Basionym: Echinocactus maldonadensis Herter 

Florula Uruguayensis plantae vasculares 4, in 

Estudios Botanicae en la Region Uruguaya. 

Privately published, Montevideo, 1930.. 

Neotypus (designated here): Heinz Ruoff 107 

(FRP). 

The neotypification is necessary because 

there is no type designated for this taxon. Even 

if Albesiano & Kiesling indicated that Havliček



Fig.16 Parodia nothohorstii in habitat east of Minas do 

Camaqua, Brazil. 

designated a neotypus of Echinocactus acuatus 

var. arechavaletai with Heinz Ruoff 107, there is 

no such designation in Havliček’s paper. The 

typification of Gerloff & Neduchal (2004) with 

Heinz Ruoff 107 is invalid under ICBN Art 7.11 

for the same reason as mentioned above 

concerning the typification of Echinocactus 

corynodes. 

The epithet maldonadensis was used by 

Herter (1930, 1943, 1954), Havliček (1989a: 79, 

1989b: 53) and Havliček (1994) as a varietal 

name as well as by several collectors who 

named their findings with the epithet 

maldonadensis (e.g. Walter Rausch 352, Dirk van 

Vliet 11) 

However, this name didn’t assert itself, 

mainly the epithet neoarechavaletae was used. 

One should consider a proposal to conserve 

the name neoarechavaletae against the name 

maldonadensis, but this is not the aim of this 

paper. 

The author thanks Dr. Urs Eggli, Zürich and 

Dr. Detlev Metzing, Kirchlinteln for discussing 

nomenclatural questions, Graham Charles, UK 

for English corrections and Norbert Gerloff, 

Ludwigsburg and Rodrigo Corrêa Pontes, 

Santa Maria for providing photos. 

Andreas Hofacker, Neuweilerstrasse 8/1, 

D-71032 Böblingen, Germany 

email: andreas@hofacker.info 

33 

Fig.17 Parodia nothohorstii in habitat east of Minas do 

Camaqua, Brazil. 

Fig.18 Parodia nothohorstii in cultivation. 

References 

ALBESIANO, S. & KIESLING, R. (2009): 

Rehabilitation and Synonymy of Wigginsia 

corynodes (Cactaceae). – Haseltonia 15: 33-40. 

ANDERSON, E. F. (2011): Das große 

Kakteen-Lexikon, 2. Auflage. – Ulmer, 

Stuttgart. 

ARECHAVALETA, J. (1905): Anales Mus. 

Nac. Montevideo ser. 2, 5: 242–244. 

BRITTON, N. L. & ROSE, J. N. (1922): The 

Cactaceae. Descriptions and illustrations of 

plants of the cactus family. Vol 3. – The 

Carnegie Institution of Washington (US): 199. 

Photo: Rodrigo Corrêa Pontes 

Photo: A. Hofacker


FÖRSTER, C. F.& RÜMPLER, K. T. (1886): 

Handbuch der Kakteenkunde, 2. Auflage. – T. 

Wöller, Leipzig: 453. 

GERLOFF, N. & NEDUCHAL, J. (2004): 

Taxonomische Neubearbeitung der Gattung 

Notocactus Frič. – Internoto 25: 35-128. 

HAVLÍCEK, R. (1989a (“1988”)). A Notocactus 

Frič 1928 nemzetség összefoglalása a fajoknak 

alnemzetgségekbe és fajsorokba rendezésével. 

– Kaktusz Világ 18: 71–80. 

HAVLÍCEK, R. (1989b): Rod Notocactus Frič. 

– Kaktusár 16: 1–66. 

HAVLÍCEK, R. (1994): Neugliederung der 

Untergattung Malacocarpus Buxbaum (1967), 

Teil II. – Internoto 15: 126. 

HERTER, G. (1954): Flore illustrée de 

l’Uruguay. Cactaceae. – Cactus (Paris) 42: 119– 

124. 

HERTER, G. (1930): Echinocactus 

maldonadensis Herter. – Estud. Bot. Reg. Urug. 

4: 90. 

HERTER, G (1930) Florula Uruguayensis 

plantae vasculares 4, in Estudios Botanicae en 

la Region Uruguaya. Privately published, 

Montevide. 

HERTER, G. (1943): Notocactus maldonadensis 

(Herter) Herter, Revista Sudamer. Bot. 7: 216. 

HOOKER, W.J. (1841): Curtis’s Botanical 

Magazine, vol. 68 [ser. 2, vol. 15]: t. 3906. 

HUNT, D. (2006): The New Cactus Lexicon. – 

dh books, Milborne Port. 

KROOK, J. J. (1855): Handbuch zur 

Kenntnis, Fortpflanzung u. Behandlung aller 

bis jetzt bekannt gewordenen Cacteën in ihrem 

ganzen Umfange. – F. Günst., Amsterdam: 68. 

PFEIFFER, L. (1837a): Enumeratio 

Diagnostica Cactearum Hucusque 

Congnitarum. – Oehmigke, Berlin: 55. 

PFEIFFER, L. (1837b): Beschreibung und 

Synonymik der in Deutschen Gärten lebend 

vorkommenden Cacteen. – Oehmigke, Berlin: 

55, 56. 

PFEIFFER, L. & OTTO, F. (1845): Abbildung 

und Beschreibung blühender Cacteen 2. – 

Theodor Fischer, Cassel. 

34 

SCHUMANN, K. (1905): Echinocactus 

(Malacocarpus) arechavaletai in Arechavaleta, J. 

in Anales Mus. Nac. Montevideo ser. 2, 5: 242- 

244. 

SPEGAZZINI, C. (1905): Cactacearum 

Platensium Tentamen. – Anales Mus. Nac. 

Buenos Aires 11: 494. 

Notocactus was my favourite genus when I 

first started growing cacti but today it is just 

not popular, at least in the UK. However, it 

does have its followers and even a society 

dedicated to its study. You can find out about 

Internoto at 

http://www.internoto.de 

A useful softbound book ‘Notokakteen’, 

written in German by Norbert Gerloff and two 

co-authors, was published in 1995. Although 

most of the pictures are black & white, I still 

find it a useful reference because it covers the 

whole genus known at that time, including 

Eriocactus, Brasilicactus and Wigginsia. 

Notocactus are often included in the genus 

Parodia but be aware that some species had 

their names changed in the process because the 

name in Parodia was already used. GC


gymnocalycium bayrianum 

Massimo Meregalli is passionate about Gymnocalycium and regularly goes to 

Argentina to see what he can find. He sent me some spectacular pictures of a 

population of Gymnocalycium bayrianum he found in Salta Province, so I thought 

you would enjoy seeing them. Photographs by Massimo Meregalli 

Massimo visited Argentina in January with 

his friends Tomi Kulhanek and Ludwig Bercht. 

There is plenty of rain at this time of year 

when you are travelling in Tucuman and the 

south eastern part of Salta, on the eastern 

foothills of the Andes. The rain-bearing winds 

from the east bring regular precipitation to 

these hills as can be seen by the leafy shrubs in 

the picture above. 

January is a good time to see cacti in northern 

Argentina even though the rain can be a 

problem if it washes the roads away or turns 

streams into impassable raging torrents of 

35 

water. So, if you can get to the plants, they 

should be growing, flowering and can often 

have ripe fruits. 

Massimo had found a hillside with beautiful 

plants of Gymnocalycium bayrianum during a 

previous trip in 2010 and wanted to show his 

friends. It was a hill just in Salta Province, near 

to the Tucuman border, part of the Sierra 

Candelaria, Estancia San Antonio at 1245m. 

The plants grew among rocks in the clearings 

between the shrubs. 

He told me: ”This population was simply 

fantastic. I have visited the location twice, the


first time in 2010 we saw the hill, and asked the 

people at the estancia if there were globular 

"pencas" there. They confirmed and let us in. 

In the more open parts, there were only some 

Echinopsis albispinosa, then I moved to the other 

side of the hill, and there they were, just 

waiting for me! Really beautiful plants”. 

In terrain like this, the cacti are found only in 

places where they are not in competition with 

the leafy plants, for instance in rocky places, 

where their succulence is an advantage, 

allowing them to survive during the dry 

season. As you drive along the road, it can be 

36 

difficult to see places which might be suitable 

for cacti because in this region the hills are 

generally covered with a dense evergreen or 

semi-evergreen vegetation, so it can take much 

patient searching to find the plants. 

The name G. bayrianum first appeared 

(invalidly) back in 1967 but the plant is still not 

common in general collections. My seedlings 

first flowered when in 9cm pots and the plants 

get even more attractive when large. Its closest 

relatives are thought to be G. cardenasianum 

and G. spegazzinii. 

For the full story of G. bayrianum see my 

book: ‘Gymnocalycium in habitat and culture: 

p.132-133’ (2009) GC


a vIsIt to CaJas BaJo, BolIvIa 

Friedrich Ritter made a remarkable number of new discoveries. The habitats of 

some of these plants still remain to be found. Martin Lowry describes his attempt 

to find Rebutia flavistyla, R. pulvinosa and R. albiflora in the Rio Cajas valley. 

Photographs by the author 

After his arduous visit to the Paicho Gorge in 

December 1962, Friedrich Ritter spent some 

time in Tarĳa city before setting out again in 

search of cacti on 4th February 1963. This time 

he travelled east to the little village of Junacas 

close to the Abra Condor on the route to 

Villamontes. Since 2006 this has been a goodquality 

tarmac road, but in Ritter’s time it was 

probably a poor dirt road. Even now there are 

only dirt tracks leading off from this road into 

the hinterlands of Tarĳa Department. 

It appears that Ritter wanted to revisit an 

area where, in April 1958, he had discovered 

several new species of cacti. On both occasions 

he had left his Ford truck at Jucanas and 

headed north on foot. He carried very little 

with him and spent the nights in the open or in 

the huts of local people, who were also 

37 

Fig.1 

generous enough to feed him. Amongst the 

plants he had discovered in 1958 were three 

Rebutias that are now quite common in 

collections: Rebutia flavistyla, R. pulvinosa and 

R. albiflora. First descriptions of the latter two 

had been published in January 1963, so 

perhaps it was this that had prompted Ritter to 

revisit the location in search of seed. 

Few modern cactus enthusiasts have 

travelled to see these plants in habitat. I made 

my first attempt in 1997 with Brian Bates and 

Tim Marshall. We followed Ritter’s directions 

and were able to drive north from Junacas as 

far as Alto España, but there we had to stop as 

the track came to an end in a field. We did find 

some cacti in a nearby ravine (BLMT154), but 

not the enigmatic Rebutias we were looking 

for.


Fig.2 John Carr preparing supper. 

Fig.3 Rebutia pulvinosa with its small orange flower. 

It wasn’t until November 2009 that I made 

another attempt at finding these plants. By that 

time Google Earth had arrived and it was 

relatively easy to plan an alternative route 

from Tarĳa to the Rio Cajas valley. Leaving 

Tarĳa in the early afternoon, John Carr and I 

left the main road at Santa Ana and travelled 

north through Caldera Grande to Yesera. There 

we turned east and drove over the high 

mountains through dense cloud to Alto Cajas. 

By a series of hairpin bends, the road then 

made a rapid descent of around 1000m in 

about 4km, taking us down through a band of 

forest to the banks of the Rio Cajas (Fig.1, 

BLMT769). Fortunately, the river was very dry 

so, even though the light was fading, we made 

a brief survey of the area before setting up 

38 

Fig.4 Rebutia flavistyla BLMT769.07. 

camp for the night. Very quickly we spotted at 

least three species of cacti growing on the 

nearby cliffs: a Rebutia, a Parodia and a 

Cleistocactus. The Rebutia was especially 

exciting since it had very small heads, was 

offsetting profusely, and was in bud; could this 

be R. albiflora? Confirmation would have to 

wait until the following morning as it was now 

too dark to start climbing the near-vertical 

cliffs to take a closer look. We set up camp 

under some trees, cooked supper (Fig.2) and 

turned in for the night. 

After a restless night, during which we were 

awoken by a passing truck making deliveries 

and by John continually fighting off 

mosquitoes (they don’t bother with me if 

somebody else is close!), we rose with the sun, 

ate breakfast rapidly, collected our cameras 

and headed for the cliffs. A short climb 

brought us alongside the Rebutia we had 

spotted the previous night. The bud had now 

opened to reveal a small orange flower (Fig.3, 

BLMT769.08); it was R. pulvinosa, not R. 

albiflora. 

Growing with it, and unseen the previous 

night, was another quite different Rebutia 

(Fig.4, BLMT769.07) and a small Echeveria 

(Fig.5, BLMT769.03). The second Rebutia grew 

as solitary plants with heads 2–3 times the size 

of those on the clump of R. pulvinosa. 

Superficially, it looked like the ubiquitous R. 

fiebrigii, but the spines were shorter, fewer and 

all the same glassy-white colour (R. fiebrigii has 

short white radial spines and longer, dark 

central spines). We decided this second


Rebutia was R. flavistyla. The Echeveria is as 

yet unidentified and may be a new species. 

A few metres away, we investigated the 

Parodia (BLMT769.05) we had noted earlier. It 

grew in small colonies of solitary plants 

ranging from tiny seedlings to mature 

specimens up to 10cm in diameter and height. 

The body was glossy-green with about a dozen 

ribs and 10–15 short golden spines per areole. 

Many of the plants were sporting small orange 

flowers. This fits the description of Parodia 

gracilis found by Ritter on his first visit here in 

1958 but not described until 1964. Further 

exploring allowed us to confirm the identity of 

the Cleistocactus as C. micropetalus, another 

species described by Ritter and now 

considered a subspecies of C. tominensis. We 

also found a few specimens each of Cereus 

hankeanus, Gymnocalycium pflanzii and Pfeiffera 

ianthothele. 

Ritter described the location of R. albiflora as 

“a few hours on foot into the gorge in a 

tropical climate” and the cactus as having “of 

all Rebutia species the warmest habitat 

climate”. So, since it was still only midmorning 

and we hadn’t found the species yet, 

we decided to drive a little further downstream. 

There was no road so we had to pick our way 

along the riverbed over boulders and through 

the river; it was very slow going! By midday 

we had managed about 5km with no sign of 

suitable habitat for the Rebutia and realised 

that, sadly, we would have to abandon the 

search if we were to reach Tarĳa that night. 

The one or two offsets of the rebutias that we 

collected grew well and, once established, 

began to look exactly like the plants we have 

grown in our collections for many years. It is 

quite possible that the specimens of the three 

Rebutias circulating in cultivation are all 

derived from a few plants and seed collected 

by Ritter on his two visits in 1958 and 1963. 

Indeed, it has even been speculated that the 

many hundreds of plants of R. albiflora, in 

particular, are all derived by vegetative 

propagation from a single clone, since it very 

rarely produces viable seed when hand 

pollinated. In contrast, both R. pulvinosa and R. 

flavistyla readily produce significant quantities 

39 

Fig.5 Echeveria BLMT769.03, perhaps undescribed. 

Fig.6 Rebutia flavistyla BLMT769.07 flowering more 

yellow than the expected dark orange.(in culture) 

of seed, but their offspring show little if any 

variation. 

It was therefore quite a surprise when the 

collected offset of R. flavistyla produced yellow 

flowers (Fig.6) rather than the deep orange 

ones normally seen on this species. Hopefully 

this specimen will be as fruitful as those in 

cultivation and we can add a little variety to 

the cultivated stock! 

Martin Lowry


thE larGEst EChInoCErEus 

In thE world (?) 

Daiv Freeman describes the giant Echinocereus plants he found in flower at White 

Sands National Monument, New Mexico, USA. He wonders why the population 

has received so little comment and what the correct botanical name of the plants 

should be. Photographs by the author 

Fig.1 The edge of the dunes – burying plants. 

Background Story 

In the spring of 2011 at the end of April, I had 

the privilege of visiting White Sands National 

Monument in New Mexico. I enjoy the 

outdoors and visiting parks and I've always 

wanted to see the famous white sand dunes of 

White Sands N.M. I had read about the unique 

conditions that merge at this location to form 

the pure white gypsum dunes that stretch on 

for a reported 275 square miles! These 

impressive mounds of blinding-white sand are 

definitely worth the visit for anyone travelling 

through the state. However, unlike most 

visitors there, the unique geology was not my 

primary purpose for visiting the monument, I 

40 

was going to see a cactus – the dunes were just 

an added bonus. 

The cactus I was looking for in particular was 

the giant form of Echinocereus triglochidiatus. I 

knew about this population primarily from 

discussions with other cactus enthusiasts. It 

occurred to me, that I had seen the “White 

Sands” plants referred to in books, but only 

very briefly – so brief that I didn't pick up on 

any distinction at the time. Before going into 

more detail about the available literature, I'll 

first relate my own experience and 

observations from visiting these unusual 

plants. 

White Sands National Monument is


Fig.2 Blowing Sand over the White Dunes. Fig.3 Habitat overview ~4000 feet. 

southwest of Alamogordo, New Mexico. I 

came into the city from the north on Hwy. 54 

and went out on Hwy. 70 for just a few miles. 

The visitor's center is right at the entrance and 

I stopped in to look over the exhibits and pick 

up a map of the park. I had plenty of past 

experience in spotting Echinocereus growing 

in the wild throughout their range. For the 

most part, they can be found growing on rocky 

hillsides or occasionally on flat, but rocky areas 

or at least, that was how I was accustomed to 

finding them. As I drove in on the only road 

into the monument, I had my eyes peeled for 

just such a location. Before I knew it, I was at 

the end of the road and headed back – 

surrounded by pure sand dunes with little to 

no vegetation around. After exploring the 

dunes a bit, I studied the map in more detail 

trying to determine where to find these plants. 

I decided to head back to the visitor's center 

and ask a park ranger. 

The visitor's center is not built in the dunes 

and so the road passes through the edge of the 

dunes where the vegetation and sand collide. 

It is a transitional area where plants like 

Yuccas can be seen half-covered with sand; 

struggling to keep from being buried alive. 

After the last mound of sand, the landscape 

flattens out to clumps of grass mixed with 

scattered shrubs. Sparsely distributed 

Cylindropuntia imbricata from about 4 to 6ft tall 

were easily visible from the road. Passing 

through this area, I was scanning the 

vegetation for anything unusual and when I 

was almost to the entrance booth, my eye 

41 

Fig.4 A large dead Echinocereus plant. 

caught a quick glimpse of red among the drab 

foliage that I instantly recognized as none 

other than “Claret Cup” red. I came to a 

screeching halt and realized that I needed to 

get one of those “I Brake for Cactus” bumper 

stickers. 

With camera in hand, I walked out among 

the dry grass. I walked for a few hundred feet 

and could not help but think how very unlike 

Echinocereus habitat it was. Maybe all I saw 

was a red gum-wrapper or something like that. 

Aside from the C. imbricata, I started to notice 

extremely well camouflaged Cylindropuntia 

kleiniae also growing here. Then, I finally 

found a three-stemmed E. triglochidiatus, but it 

was as dead as a doornail. None-the-less, I 

now knew that the red thing I saw was a 

flower and therefore there was bound to be 

live plants around. Yet, I would encounter 

another dozen completely dead plants with as 

many as 20 stems before I finally found a


Fig.5 Typical Echinocereus plant in bud. 

living one. 

I speculated that these plants may all be 

victims of the devastating freeze that hit the 

Southwest in the winter of 2010/2011. I could 

not say for sure as a dried cactus changes very 

slowly in the desert and looks nearly the same 

after being dead for years. I later learned that 

these plants have been grown in much colder 

areas with little difficulty. Either way, seeing so 

many dead plants was depressing and I 

changed direction in the hope of finding more 

live plants that were in better shape than the 

few I had found. This move paid off and soon I 

found fully green plants covered in bright-red 

buds. As I kept going, I found more and more 

plants with many open flowers. I seemed to be 

there just prior to the peak flowering period. 

Description 

The flowers are borne below the apex around 

the top of the stem and are a cone-shape. They 

42 

are a brilliant, scarlet-red with pale-yellow 

centers, near-purple stamens and a bright 

green stigma. As with the rest of the genus, the 

peduncles are quite spiny. Flower size is quite 

large at around 4 inches in length and 2½ 

inches in diameter when open. That said, the 

flowers don't appear large in proportion to the 

size of the stems – especially in photos. Most 

stems are a good 5 inches in diameter or more 

with 8 pronounced, tuberculate ribs. Stems 

average 15-20 inches in length, but I found 

plants with stems at least 28 inches long and I 

suspect larger ones could be found. 

Thick, angled, the grey spines number from 

6-7 (occasionally 8) per areole measuring 2 

inches in length and are spaced about an inch 

apart. This makes the wrinkled, grey-green 

stems clearly visible through the spines. Most 

plants consist of multiple stems joined at the 

base. The larger the stems, the more sprawled 

out they become. There are occasional small


Fig.6 Large, sprawling Echinocereus stem 28 inches 

long (note branch near stem tip). 

branches further up along the larger stems. 

Habitat 

As mentioned above, these plants are not 

found in stereotypical Echinocereus habitat. 

The soil is a mix of gypsum and clay. 

According to one park ranger, recent core 

samples taken by the park service found that 

this type of soil extended at least 200 feet 

below the surface. Associated plants include 

Yucca elata, Chrysothamnus nauseosus, 

Cylindropuntia imbricata, C. kleiniae, Atriplex 

canescens, various grasses and other desert 

plants. 

The elevation is approximately 4000 ft. and 

temperatures can easily hit 100°F in midsummer 

and average 22°F for a low in winter. 

However, temperatures can get much colder 

than this. The park website lists -25°F for the 

lowest recorded temperature, but this seems 

extreme and I could not verify when and 

where that temperature was recorded. When I 

questioned a local park ranger about this, he 

did not think it impossible. The average annual 

rainfall is 10.5 inches with July and August 

being the wettest months. 

Literature and Naming 

Finding information about the giant White 

Sands Echinocereus is not easy. For instance, 

the latest monograph on the genus by John 

Pilbeam (2011) makes no mention of the White 

Sands plants, but lists a stem size for the 

species of 4.7 x 27.5 inches (12 x 70 cm) - 

obviously including the giant form. In the 

43 

Fig.7 Typical Echinocereus plant. 

“New Cactus Lexicon”, ssp. triglochidiatus is 

described in the text having stems less than 12 

x 3 inches (30 cm x 7 cm) and no mention is 

made of the giant White Sands plants at all. 

Yet, oddly enough, the only two pictures in the 

NCL picture atlas of ssp. triglochidiatus are 

both of White Sands plants. 

In Anderson's “The Cactus Family”, stem 

size for E. triglochidiatus is listed as 2 - 16 

inches high by 2 - 5.9 inches in diameter, but 

nothing else to suggest that even larger plants 

exist. Meanwhile in the 1998 “Echinocereus” 

by Blum et. al., we finally find mention of the 

giant form where the authors assign the var. 

gonacanthus as a specific reference to the giant 

form. Here they also mention it as being found 

in San Ysidro. They also speculate that it may 

be a variant of ssp. mojavensis. 

With that we might be satisfied to simply call 

our giant plants from White Sands – E. 

triglochidiatus var. gonacanthus, but the type of 

Cereus gonacanthus Engelmann & Bigelow 1856 

is from west of Zuni, NM (not at all near White 

Sands or San Ysidro). Furthermore, if we look 

at var. gonacanthus in Earle's “Cacti of the 

Southwest”, the first three words in his 

description are “A small plant...” quantified as 

up to 8 inches. Likewise, Weniger in “Cacti of 

the Southwest” (1970) gives a size for var. 

gonacanthus as only 3-6 inches. Here, however, 

we finally find a discussion on the White 

Sands population. 

On pages 38-39, Weniger devotes five 

paragraphs to the White Sands population. As


Fig.8 A wonderful Echinocereus plant in bloom. 

mentioned, Weniger recognized var. gonacathus 

treating it as a valid taxon of plants with 

relatively small stature. He concludes after 

making observations of both White Sands 

plants and var. gonacanthus elsewhere that the 

the two are identical in every way except for 

size. To his credit, Weniger sought an 

explanation for this. He found his satisfaction 

in two examples of transplanted plants. 

Apparently he had friends in Albuquerque 

and Colorado who took 12 inch or taller plants 

from White Sands and planted them in their 

gardens. He claims that in both cases the stems 

shrunk to half their size within one year. 

Finally concluding that the population at 

White Sands is the most amazing example of 

the variation due to environment on any cactus 

species. In Flora of North America vol 4, page 

168, the idea in Weniger's five paragraphs are 

paraphrased (repeated) in a half paragraph. 

Namely that the size is strictly due to 

44 

environment. 

There are a number of problems with 

Weniger's observations, however. First is his 

claim that the maximum size of these plants is 

a mere 18 inches. In my short visit to habitat, I 

easily found many plants over this and 

reaching up to 28 inches. However, Dave 

Ferguson reported to me that the largest 

example he found was a stem 6 inches in 

diameter and 6 feet in length. To imagine that a 

3 feet long stem is going to shrink and become 

a 6 or 8 inch specimen as var. gonacanthus has 

been defined, is quite a silly thought. 

Furthermore, a vigorously-growing large wild 

plant that is dug and moved to somebody's 

garden 100s of miles away is certainly going to 

suffer greatly from transplant shock. This is 

especially true within the the first year after 

transplant as Weniger cited. Last, but not least, 

the characteristics of seed-grown plants would 

be a far more proper test to determine the


Fig.9 Stem close-up -note the angled spines. Fig.10 Close up of the flower. 

genetic predisposition of any given 

population. 

The natural next step is to determine whether 

anyone has grown both E. triglochidiatus from 

seed and White Sands plants from seed in the 

same environment and if so, is there a 

difference in size? Indeed this has been done. 

Dave Salman of High Country Gardens in 

Santa Fe is one such grower. He has found that 

plants from seed will reach larger size than 

seed-grown plants from other sources grown 

in the same conditions. He even offers both 

plants for sale and hand-pollinates the White 

Sands plants to carry on the genes which 

produce the larger size. 

Conclusion 

Most publications ignore entirely or 

summarily dismiss the giant White Sands 

Echinocereus population. Based on my 

observations and research, it seems to me that 

these plants are, in fact, a genetically distinct 

population. Perhaps they are not so distinct to 

warrant species designation, but I think they 

are worthy of recognition at some level. 

I also got information from Dave Ferguson, 

who has much more experience in the field 

than I do with these plants. He has made 

observations, not just at White Sands, but 

throughout the region. His broader perspective 

has shown him that while these plants in the 

White Sands area are the biggest of the big, 

other locations also have populations with 

plants of very similar size. The area around 

San Ysidro, NM is one of the better known 

45 

examples. More importantly, he has observed 

that there is a gradual change in stem sizes 

from the large plants growing in the flats, to 

those in the mountains. This could likely be 

explained by simple natural selection in which 

the large plants can't survive in the harsher 

mountain areas while they dominate the flats 

due to their size advantage with bigger flowers 

and ability to compete with surrounding 

vegetation that might otherwise choke out 

smaller plants. I can only speculate at this 

point, but I hope this article heightens the 

interest in these magnificent largest-of-all 

Echinocereus. They are well worth visiting for 

anyone traveling to New Mexico. And a great 

addition to cold-hardy gardeners being readily 

available through sources such as High 

Country Gardens. 

Reference 

Heil, K.D. & Brack, S. (1986) The Cacti of the 

White Sands National Monument. C&SJ(U.S.): 

58(2):67-69, 80-81. 

Daiv Freeman 

(With special thanks to Peter Breslin, Juergen 

Menzel, and Dave Ferguson.) 

www.CactiGuide.com


doEs MaMMIllarIa yuCatanEnsIs 

stIll ExIst In yuCatán? 

We usually hear from explorers who manage to find what they are looking for. 

Readers might get the impression that finding plants in nature is easy. Here, Rene 

Samek explains that persistent searching did not enable him to find his quarry. 

Photographs by the author. 

Fig.1 Terrain at Laguna Rosada 

Nearly ten years ago I made a trip to the 

Yucatán penninsula, primarily to see Maya 

pyramids and other sights, but determined to 

look for cacti along the way. As I was travelling 

with two non-cactophiles, opportunities for 

thorough searches further from the roads were 

limited, but we had a rental car so we could 

make a stop whenever the terrain seemed 

suitable for cacti. We travelled almost the 

whole length and width of the peninsula, from 

the lowlands of Tabasco north to Merida, due 

east to Cancun. From there, we went South to 

Tulum and more-or-less retraced our steps 

back to Chiapas, making various stops and 

detours on both ways at places such as 

Campeche, Uxmal, Merida, Valladolid and 

Chichen Itza. 

One of the cacti I wanted to see in its natural 

habitat was Mammillaria yucatanensis. It is 

relatively common in cultivation, both in the 

Czech Republic and in the UK, but it seems 

that it has not been collected in Yucatán during 

46 

recent decades, since all the field numbers of 

M. yucatanensis (also listed as M. columbiana 

var. yucatanensis or M. chiapensis) are from 

Chiapas, either from El Aguacero/Cascada de 

Aguacero (L 1507, FO 304, ML 373), the nearby 

Ocozocuautla (Rep 960), or without precise 

data (FO 325 - Chiapas). 

It seems that even the great Austrian 

mammillariophile Werner Reppenhagen, who 

travelled the length and breadth of Mexico 

during his 26 expeditions to the country 

between 1959 and 1989, did not find M. 

yucatanensis in Yucatán. We know that he did 

visit the state - his four field numbers of 

Mammillaria gaumeri are a proof of that. He 

even took the effort to travel to Haiti to see 

such an ordinary plant as Mammillaria prolifera 

in its habitat (as well as to Venezuela, Curacao 

and the Virgin Islands to collect a single 

species of Mammillaria in each of these 

countries).


Thus, although M. yucatanensis is not a 

striking plant - neither the body nor the flower 

are particularly beautiful or interesting - and I 

am not a Mammillaria specialist, I wanted to 

see it in habitat. Information I had before 

departure found in books by Backeberg, Craig 

and Pilbeam (his first Mammillaria handbook, 

published in 1981) was that M. yucatanensis 

grows at Progreso, a port on the northern coast 

of the peninsula. On the return journey we 

thus turned north at Merida and followed the 

road No. 261 to Progreso. The terrain did not 

seem very suitable for cacti. Fields, palm tree 

groves, even marshes or lakes could be seen on 

both sides of the road. 

At Progreso we took the coastal road No. 27 

to the east. The road sometimes hugged the 

coast, forming the crown of a beach and 

sometimes running a hundred or so metres 

inland. Again, for miles and miles the terrain 

did not seem very suitable for cacti. The side 

with the beach was formed by sand - a 

material most cacti do not like to grow in. The 

other side was covered by a metre or two tall 

thickets from which appeared inflorescences of 

Agaves and an occasional palm tree. 

Quite frequently we could see a glint of 

water. Indeed, there were several lagoons on 

the inland side of the road, the largest of them 

called Laguna Rosada (Pink Lagoon) is a sort 

of protected area, mainly for flamingos. We 

took the opportunity offered by a wooden 

observation tower there to inspect the terrain - 

it seemed to be the same as far as the eye could 

see. Along the road at various intervals, 

especially near the beach, there were many of 

what appeaered to be weekend or holiday 

cottages. 

Could it be that all the M. yucatanensis were 

destroyed by these developments or by the 

construction of the road which runs at the 

highest point of the terrain in the vicinity? 

A few kilometres further, just before San 

Crisanto, we made our final stop of the detour 

to have some rest. It was here that we finally 

came across some cacti: on the landward side 

of the road, in a thicket, I found Selenicereus 

donkelaarii and Acanthocereus tetragonus, on the 

47 

Fig.2 Agave vivipara at San Crisanto 

Fig.3 Terrain at San Crisanto (to the right of the road - 

landward side) with Agave inflorescences. 

Fig.4 Selenicereus donkelaarii at San Crisanto


Fig.5 Acanthocereus tetragonus at 

San Crisanto 


San Crisanto 

beach side we could see an Agave growing in 

sandy ground. Both cerei were growing 

entangled in bushes, especially the 

Selenicereus. Only one Selenicereus was 

growing on a dead stem of an Agave and 

branches of this plant had a reddish colour, 

unlike the dark-green colour of stems of plants 

growing shaded by the bushes. The number of 

ribs of Acanthocereus tetragonus varied between 

three and five, but I saw one plant where a 

new shoot growing from the base of a dying 

stem had more than ten ribs. We had seen the 

same (or similar) Acanthocereus species at 

Uxmal. 

The Agave was later identified by Ms. Ivana 

Richter, the author of a 2011 book on agaves 

published in Italian and German by the Italian 

society AIAS, as Agave vivipara. There was also 

a plant which resembled very much a South 

African Cotyledon with less succulent 

leaves(Fig.9). I have not been able to identify 

that one. 

Yucatán is also a major area for growing 

Agave for fibre. I was surprised to learn later 

that the plants grown for the sisal fibre are not 

Agave sisalana as the name would suggest but - 

A. fourcroydes, a sterile hybrid long called 

henequén by the Mexicans. It differs from A. 

sisalana by having slender, dark teeth spaced 

widely along the margin of the leaf. A. sisalana 

48 


San Crisanto showing 2 growth forms 

has no teeth, or very minute ones. I suppose 

many of the plants and inflorescences we saw 

driving around Progreso belonged to these 

two Agaves. After all, Sisal, once an important 

port, lies only some 20 kilometres west of 

Progreso. Another plant we saw a number of 

times along the way was Opuntia dillenii with 

large pads, yellow flowers and huge (up to 10 

cm long and 6 cm wide) dark violet fruits. 

Having returned to Merida we made another 

attempt to find Mammillaria yucatanensis by 

driving east towards the Rio Celestún reserve 

on the western coast of the Yucatán penninsula. 

The reserve covers the estuary of Rio Celestún 

and protects mangrove vegetation as well as 

large flocks of flamingos, pelicans and many 

other birds. On the way to Rio Celestún and 

back we were driving through a dry (semideciduous?) 

forest of thin trees and tall bushes 

but during several stops we found neither the 

Mammillaria nor any other species of cacti. 

A few years after the trip I purchased ‘The 

Cactaceae’ by Britton and Rose, a book I did 

not have access to when preparing for the trip. 

There I read the original description of M. 

yucatanensis with the location given at 

Progreso and the note: "He (Dr. Gaumer) says 

that the plant is rare on the land side of the 

coastal marches". It is interesting that this vital 

information which appears just two lines


Fig.8 Acanthocereus tetragonus at San Crisanto 

below the information on the type location of 

the plant was not repeated by subsequent 

authors mentioned at the beginning of this 

article. They all stated just Progreso as the 

location of the plant. Only John Pilbeam in his 

second Mammillaria handbook (published in 

1999 and not available to me at the time of my 

trip) repeats this more-detailed information. 

I suppose most, if not all, authors write 

journal articles to show their successes. 

Unfortunatelly, I cannot report such a success 

whilst hunting for M. yucatanensis but I am 

writing this to give other enthusiasts some 

hints on where to look for the plant. None of 

my maps of Yucatán, nor the road atlas of 

Mexico nor the internet show any roads 

immediately south of the lagoons - the closest 

roads are shown to be some 15-20 kilometres 

further inland. Nevertheless, when looking at 

aerial photos of the Progreso / Laguna Rosada 

that are on the internet, one can clearly see that 

the land to the South of the lagoons seems to 

be divided into different fields and pastures or 

perhaps henequén plantations. There must be 

some unpaved access roads and paths leading 

to them. 

I also came across a 2009 study (in Spanish) 

evaluating the impact of a planned tourism 

development on the environment near Laguna 

Rosada - it seems that a "Flamingo Lakes Golf 

and Country Club Resort", may be built south 

of Laguna Rosada. While this development 

may pose some threat to the ecosystems 

aroung the laguna, it may also open access to 

the interior south of the lagunas, to the "land 

side of the coastal marches". Mammillaria 

yucatanensis may still be growing there. 

49 

Fig.9 “Cotyledon" on the beach (to the left of the road) 

at San Crisanto 

Another possibility is west of Progreso, in the 

direction of Sisal which was a much more 

important port in the past than it is now. There 

is a challenge for cactophiles who will have the 

opportunity to visit Yucatán - it seems that no 

one has seen M. yucatanensis growing in wild 

in Yucatán for almost a hundred years, since 

George F. Gaumer collected his samples in 

1918 and 1921 for Britton and Rose. Who will 

be the next person to see (and photograph) this 

unassuming plant in its habitat? 

Rene Samek 

Lesni 33 

Zdar nad Sazavou 

591 01 

Czech Republic 

renesamek@hotmail.com 

If any of our readers know if Mammillaria 

yacatanesis still exists in habitat in Yucatán, 

then I am sure Rene would like to hear from 

you and we would be happy to publish a 

postscript! 

Can anyone identify the plant in Fig.9? It 

may not be a succulent, but rather a plant with 

leaves having a downy covering. Could it be a 

Senecio? 

GC


MatuCana MyrIaCantha and 

M. CoMaCEphala arE dIffErEnt spECIEs 

The two Matucana names in the title have recently been treated as synonyms but 

this has not always been the case. Holger Wittner explains why, although they 

look superficially similar, he believes the two are separate taxa. 

All photos by the author 

Fig.1 Matucana myriacantha HFW 02.01 with one flower and one bud at Cerro Los Negros, 

high above Rio Crisnejas, 2814m 

Summary: 

Matucana myriacantha, Matucana comacephala and 

Matucana crinifera are compared. According to this 

comparison, Matucana myriacantha is recognized as a 

distinct species. Matucana crinifera is presented in a new 

combination and as a subspecies of Matucana haynei 

(Matucana haynei ssp. crinifera). Matucana comacephala can 

temporarily be seen as synonymous with Matucana 

haynei. 

Zusammenfassung: 

Matucana myriacantha, Matucana comacephala und 

Matucana crinifera werden verglichen. Danach ist 

Matucana myriacantha als eigenständige Art 

anzuerkennen. Matucana crinifera wird in einer neuen 

Kombination als Unterart zu Matucana haynei gestellt 

(Matucana haynei ssp. crinifera). Matucana comacephala ist 

50 

vorübergehend als Synonym zu Matucana haynei 

anzusehen. 

Resumen: 

Matucana myriacantha, Matucana comacephala y 

Matucana crinifera son comparados. A continuación, 

Matucana myriacantha es reconocida como una especie 

distinta. Matucana crinifera es una nueva combinación 

como una subespecie de Matucana haynei (Matucana 

haynei ssp. crinifera). Matucana comacephala 

temporalmente considerada como un sinónimo de 

Matucana haynei. 

This article is intended to finally show the 

fallacy in the statement that Matucana 

myriacantha is the northernmost form of 

Matucana comacephala, which itself is now


Fig.2 An old flowering plant of 

Matucana myriacantha KK 1041 

Fig.5 Old columnar flowering plant of 

Matucana myriacantha Lau 173 

regarded as a subspecies of Matucana haynei 

(Anderson 2001, Hunt 2006). The origin of this 

belief will probably have been the contribution 

of Donald (1974), in which he presents a 

variety of pink-flowering Matucana and 

concludes that they are all related. Whether 

such theories serve as a basis for future studies 

and are confirmed or not, they can be helpful. 

Often these statements are frequently repeated 

Fig.3 Flower of Matucana myriacantha 

KK 1041 

Fig.6 The biggest plant of Matucana 

myriacantha HFW 02.01 at Cerro 

Los Negros, high above Rio 

Crisnejas, 2814m 

51 

Fig.4 Cross section of the flower of 

Matucana myriacantha KK 1041 


Matucana myriacantha 

HFW 02.01 (look at Fig.10) 

and come to be regarded as true, without any 

further investigations to prove their truth. 

Investigations must reasonably be done in 

the habitat. Especially in inaccessible areas, 

there is often a lack of the necessary time to 

examine the plants themselves, their flowers 

and seeds in more detail. The necessary 

equipment for these studies cannot all be 

carried. So we are often left with only precisely


Fig.8 An old short columnar plant of 

Matucana myriacantha Lau 103 

Fig.9 Flower of Matucana 

myriacantha Lau 103 

documented offspring from seeds to study, 

which should include the maximum number 

of plants in order to investigate e.g. the flowers 

in culture. 

The investigations described below were 

performed almost exclusively on plants in 

cultivation. The sources for these seed-grown 

plants are indicated to make later comparisons 

possible. The investigation presented in this 

article can only be a fragmentary one. Readers 

are encouraged to review the information and 

add new, if possible. 

As a matter of fact, there exists a variety of 

forms of Matucana myriacantha found at 

various places, which were reported under 

different catalogue names and locations 

(Wittner 2004): 

52 

Fig.10 An old Matucana myriacantha 

“roseoalba” 

Matucana myriacantha 

Matucana myriacantha (Vaupel) Buxbaum 

1973 - Krainz Kakteen 54: CVb. Basionym: 

Echinocactus myriacanthus Vaupel 1913: 

Cactaceae andinae. – Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 

50(Beiblatt 111): 25-26. 

Investigated plants 

Matucana purpureoalba KK 1041 (Peru, 

Aricapampa, 2800m) - Mesa Garden 972.032; 

Matucana herzogiana var perplexa Lau 103 (Peru, 

Amazon, Chanchillos, 2300 - 2600m) - Gebr De 

Herdt 54b/77, Matucana myriacantha Lau 173 

(Peru, Cajamarca , Rio Crisnejas) - Mesa 

Garden 971.1; Matucana roseo-alba - Mesa 

Garden 971; Matucana myriacantha HFW 02.01 

(Peru, Cajamarca, San Marcos, Los Negros 

above Rio Crisnejas, 2814m) 

Fig.11 Seeds of Matucana myriacantha HFW 02.01 Fig.12 Seeds of Matucana myriacantha Lau 173


Fig.13 Flower of Matucana 

myriacantha “roseoalba” 

Matucana comacephala & M. crinifera 

Matucana comacephala Ritter 1958 - Succulenta 

37 (8): 92 

Matucana crinifera Ritter 1963 - Taxon XII (3): 

125 

Investigated plants 

Matucana crinifera KK 577 (Peru, Machac, 

2500) - Mesa Garden 970.32; Matucana lutea KK 

1299 (Peru, Uchupata, 2800m) - Mesa Garden 

970.06; Matucana comacephala KK 1711 (Peru, 

Machac, Chavin, 3800m) - Mesa Garden 970.13; 

Matucana lutea - G. Koehres No. 3675 

The names of the plants examined above 

were taken from the corresponding field 

number lists or lists of seeds. 

Fig.16 Seeds of Matucana haynei ssp. crinifera KK 1711 

Fig.14 Matucana haynei 

“comacephala” KK 577, sown 

as “Matucana crinifera KK 577” 

53 


Matucana haynei “comacephala” 

KK 577 

Seeds 

The seeds of Matucana myriacantha are fairly 

consistent, round and have a flat Hilum- 

Micropylar-Area [Figs.11 & 12]. At the 

attachment site of the funiculus, there is no 

extension to the hilum. All examined seeds of 

M. comacephala, M. crinifera [Figs.15 & 16] and 

also M. haynei have a more or less protruding 

extension in the Hilum-Micropylar-Area. They 

can easily be confused with the seeds from 

plants related to Matucana aurantiaca, but here 

they are quite differently shaped. Regarding 

this extension, there may be a parallel 

development in the hilum of M. aurantiaca. The 

seeds from the relationship of M. haynei and 

M. comacephala are more elongated. 

Fig.17 Seeds of Matucana haynei “comacephala” KK 577


Fig.18 Orange flowering Matucana 

haynei “comacephala” KK 577 

Seedlings 

All seedlings of M. myriacantha have feathery 

spines visible with a magnifying glass a long 

time after the initial spine development. This 

equally applies to the seedlings of Matucana 

spec. KK 577. All seedlings from the relationship 

of M. haynei, including Matucana spec. KK 1711, 

only have feathery spines a few days after the 

first spine development; later they are quite 

smooth. All seedlings of M. haynei need a lot of 

light and, even with stronger light intensity, 

they still have a grass-green epidermis. This 

also applies to Matucana spec. KK 1711. 

Seedlings of M. myriacantha soon develop very 

long and dense white spines. For those of M. 

haynei the spines at first remain rather short, 

just as with Matucana spec. KK 577 and KK 

1711. 

Young plants 

Up to a size of 4 to 5cm, young plants of the 

discussed taxa all look very much alike. 

Without knowledge of flowers and seeds it is 

almost impossible to distinguish one from 

another. This might be the cause of much of 

the confusion and misidentifications. All 

spines are densely white or yellowish, and 

require intense light radiation and a lot of air. 

Even greater might be the confusion when 

studied in nature, e.g. at a habitat where only 

Fig.19 Light pink flowering Matucana 

haynei “comacephala” KK 577 

54 

Fig.20 A flowering Matucana haynei 

“lutea” ex Köhres 

seedlings were found. 

Old plants able to flower 

After a few years, all plants discussed leave 

their spherical form and start growing more 

columnar. If there is insufficient water 

available the base will shrink, the areoles will 

stand close together, the ribs will break 

through the spines and turn dark brown to 

almost black. 

Matucana myriacantha: This species is the 

easiest to flower. Central spines can already be 

found on young plants. The flowers are 

produced from the areoles near the apex, after 

they have somewhat grown out of the centre. 

In general, they form a whole tuft of flowers. 

An outstanding feature of the flowers of this 

species are the few, but always present, very 

much flattened, papery spines, which spring 

from the axils of the scales on the flower tube, 

see Wittner 2004 [Fig.13]. The flower colour 

varies from light pink to dark red. The plants 

from high above the Rio Crisnejas (HFW 02.01) 

have been reported in a recent article (Wittner 

2011). 

Matucana spec. KK 577: The flower buds 

emerge from the young areoles at the apex of 

the plant. Compared with M. myricantha the 

central spines are shorter and stronger. The 

whole flower is relatively short. The flower


Fig.21 Same plant as in Fig.20, but 

two years later 

colour ranges from light-orange to almost 

purple [Figs.14, 18-21]. It lacks the strong 

flattened spines on the flower tube known for 

M. myriacantha. The nectar chamber as such is 

more obvious and much longer in contrast to 

Matucana spec. KK 1711. 

Matucana spec. KK 1711: It took 8 to 10 years 

in culture before the first flowering of this 

plant. Only then were very long spines formed 

in the apex. The growing point of the plant is 

so low, almost within the plant (similar to the 

unrelated Yavia cryptocarpa) that at first the 

areoles’ spines can only be perpendicular to 

the top. There is a growing tuft, which looks 

like a bird's nest. The flower tube is perfectly 

smooth, very long and reaches deep into the 

apex of the plant. There is no other Matucana 

which forms flowers so deep in the apex and 

nevertheless opens the way to flowers. 

Consequently, the ovary is very small, simply 

because there is no space to grow. The flowers 

are open and stepwise grow beyond the tuft. 

Another typical appearance is the tiny nectar 

chamber which is substantially wider than 

high [Fig.26]. 

Discussion 

The descriptions by Friedrich Ritter bring 

clarity. The description of Matucana comacephala 

Ritter (1958) fits the plants called "Matucana 


Matucana haynei “lutea” 

55 

Fig.24 Old, short columnar plant of 

Matucana haynei ssp. crinifera 

KK 1711 

Fig.23 First flowers of Matucana haynei ssp. crinifera 

KK 1711, sown as “Matucana comacephala KK 1711” 

crinifera KK 577" studied here and the 

description of Matucana crinifera Ritter (1963) 

fits the examined plants named "Matucana 

comacephala KK 1711". The description of M. 

crinifera Ritter with the particularly small 

nectar chamber applies to the plants of "M. 

comacephala KK 1711. 

The image of Donald (1973, p 23), the named 

type FR 587 as Matucana comacephala shows a 

typical plant with the relatively short flower.


Fig.25 Cross section of the flower of Matucana haynei 

ssp. crinifera KK 1711, note the very tiny nectar 

chamber 

These are the plants studied here with the 

name "M. crinifera KK 577 ". Ritter also shows 

in the first description a columnar plant with 

exactly the same short flower. The confusion of 

the plants collected by K. Knize is probably the 

reason for the chaos and confusion of Matucana 

crinifera with M. comacephala. Bregman too 

(1996, p 54) was not able to explain what M. 

crinifera actually looks like. 

It could be that plants appearing here to be 

Matucana crinifera (KK 1711) grow at a greater 

altitude than e.g. the M. comacephala (KK 577). 

Up to now the necessary attention has not been 

given to the altitude of the habitats of the 

Matucana species. On a home-made vegetation 

map of the Andes (see Schumacher & Wolff 

2002, IAI's inventory no. N-0030 f 86, 

unpublished), Weberbauer has impressively 

shown that with the help of detailed 

vegetation studies in Peru (Weberbauer 1945) 

the flora of Peru is bound to certain altitudes. 

It is not primarily the horizontal distribution of 

individual species that is important, but the 

ecological adaptation because of the existing 

moisture level at a certain altitude. 

56 

Fig.26 Detail of Fig.25 showing the tiny nectar chamber. 

Especially in the arid inner andine region 

along the Rio Marañon, altitude plays an 

essential role, because the available amount of 

moisture depends on it. The lower the altitude, 

the drier the area and the less rainfall is 

available. Small seedlings here are adapted 

better, the more they can absorb water, for 

instance, by using feathery spines (eg Matucana 

formosa and M. krahnii). The plants from 

altitudes above 3000 m (Matucana aurantiaca, 

M. huagalensis, and M. haynei) soon get smooth 

spines. In this way precipitation can be driven 

to the roots faster. 

Summary 

The plants considered here as Matucana 

crinifera KK 1711 can clearly be distinguished 

from both Matucana comacephala KK 577 and 

M. myriacantha. Matucana crinifera is regarded 

as a subspecies of M. haynei. It can be 

distinguished because of its long, bare, tubular 

flower that appears in the very deep-seated 

crown and has a very small nectar chamber. 

Matucana myriacantha is to be regarded as a 

separate species. The status of Matucana 

comacephala is unclear, for the time being it can 

be regarded as a synonym of Matucana haynei


together with the many different habitat forms. 

For these reasons, the following taxonomy is 

appropriate for the taxa discussed: 

Matucana haynei (Otto ex Salm-Dyck) Britton 

& Rose - Echinocactus haynii Otto ex Salm-Dyck 

1850 in: Salm-Dyck, Cact. Hort. Dyck. Cult. 

Anno 1849: 165. 

Synonym: Matucana comacephala Ritter 1958 – 

Succulenta 37(8): 92; Type FR 587, Peru, 

Ancash; Huari; Rahuapampa, east of 

Cordillera Blanca. 

Matucana haynei ssp. crinifera (Ritter) comb. et 

stat. nov. Wittner 

Basionym: Matucana crinifera Ritter 1963 - 

Taxon XII(3): 125; FR 595, Peru, Machac, 

3800m. 

Matucana myriacantha (Vaupel) Buxbaum - 

Echinocactus myriacanthus Vaupel 1913: 

Cactaceae andinae. – Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 

50(Beiblatt 111): 25-26. 

Synonym: Matucana haynei ssp. myriacantha 

(Vaupel) Mottram 1997: Cact. Consensus Init. 

3: 11. 

Literature 

Anderson, E. F. (2001): The Cactus Family. 

Timber Press: Portland (Oregon). 

Barthlott, W.; Voit, G. (1979): 

Mikromorphologie der Samenschalen und 

Taxonomie der Cactaceae: Ein rasterelektronenmikrospokischer 

Überblick.- Pl. 

Syst. Evol. Wien 132 (3): 205-229. 

Bregman, R. (1996): The genus Matucana – 

Biology and systematics of fascinating 

Peruvian cacti. – 

A.A.Balkema/Rotterdam/Brookfield. 

Buxbaum, F. (1958): Morphologie der 

Kakteen, IV. Samen. – in: Krainz: Die Kakteen. 

Donald, J. D. (1973): Variability in the 

subgenus Matucana – Some pink flowered 

forms. – Ashingtonia 1(2): 16-18 and 23. 

Hunt, D. (2006): The New Cactus Lexicon. – 

dh books, Remous Ltd. Milborne Port. 

Ritter, F. (1958): Matucana comacephala 

Ritter spec. nov. - Succulenta 37(8): 92. 

57 

Ritter, F. (1981): Kakteen in Südamerika, 

Band 4, Peru. - Selbstverlag. 

Schumacher, G. & Wolff, G. (2002): Inventar 

zum Nachlass August Weberbauer. - 

http://www.iai.spk-berlin.de/fileadmin/ 

dokumentenbibliothek/Nachlaesse/Inventar 

WeberbauerHomepage_01.pdf (15.02.2012). 

Weberbauer, A. (1945): El Mundo Vegetal de 

los Andes Peruanos. – Ministerio de 

Agricultura, Lima. [available on-line] 

Wittner, H. (2004a): August Weberbauer - ein 

preußischer Forscher in Peru - KuaS 55(1): 26- 

27. 

Wittner, H. (2004b): Zur Identität von 

Echinocactus myriacanthus Vaupel. - KuaS 55(4): 

105-109. 

Wittner, H. (2011): Matucana myriacantha high 

above the Rio Crisnejas. - The Cactus Explorer 

2: 40-43. 

Holger Wittner 

Johanna-Beckmann-Ring 37 

17033 Neubrandenburg 

Germany 

post@perucactus.de 

Rob Bregman’s 1996 book is still the only specialist 

book about the genus Matucana and 

second-hand copies can be difficult to find. It 

is still a useful reference to these fascinating 

Peruvian plants.


a vIsIt to Isla EstEBan 

Continuing our visits to the islands of Baja California, Paul Klaassen takes us to Isla Esteban 

after a period of drought. The plants certainly look like they need a drink! 

Photos: P. Klaassen except where stated 

Fig.1 Isla Salsipuedes, a rarely visited island on the way back from Isla Esteban 

What would a cactus trip in Baja be without a 

boat trip? 

It is Monday 14th February and we set the 

alarm for 5 a.m., watched the sunrise and at 

around 6:35 we were on our way to Isla 

Esteban. This is one of the more difficult 

islands to get to, half way between Isla Tiburon 

(technically part of Sonora) and Isla Angel de 

la Guarda that protects Bahia de los Angeles. 

The reason for this boat trip? To see 

Echinocereus grandis and Mammillaria 

estebanensis, two species that are endemic to 

the island. 

Kyle, the nephew of one of Eunice’s friends, 

was spending the year in Bahia de los Angeles 

as caretaker manager of the marine field centre 

of the Glendale Community College, joined us 

for the day. He had used our Capitan, Pancho, 

many times for the Field Study trips. We 

would spend some three hours on the water, 

covering 110km (66 miles) to reach a bay that 

58 

Kyle had selected on Google Earth as the most 

fertile looking site on the island. Despite the 

forecast for a nice sunny day and a sea as flat 

as a mill pond, I had taken the precaution of 

putting on a T shirt, Shirt, jumper, safari jacket 

and windproof jacket, as these boat trips can 

be very chilly, particularly first thing in the 

morning. No regrets there. 

We interrupted our journey as Kyle had 

spotted a pod of whales – not the grey whales 

that we were used to seeing on the Pacific 

Ocean side; these were sperm whales, but 

much larger and much less willing to interact 

with us. They seemed to be sun bathing, 

occasionally taking a deep breath and a short 

dive. They were not bothered that our panga 

drifted close to them. As they moved by, a pod 

of dolphins provided the entertainment by 

swimming around and underneath the boat, 

all very useful fodder for cameras – still and 

video.


Fig.2 Map showing the locations of Isla Esteban and Isla Salsipuedes Map from Google Earth 

We passed by Isla Rasa (‘Flat Island’) where 

millions of birds were amassed on the rocks, 

flying off in all directions as our panga 

approached. The island is the world's main 

breeding spot for Heermann's Gulls and 

Elegant Terns, about half a million birds nest 

on the 150 acres of rock. Royal Terns also breed 

here. We could see some cacti, Pachycereus 

pringlei we assumed, but the bird population 

was so dense that a landing did not appeal. 

Searching the internet led me to 

http://www.oceanoasis.org/fieldguide/islarasa. 

html which reports that the most abundant 

plants are two species of cholla (Opuntia cholla 

and O. bigelovii) which, together with the 

saltbush (Atriplex barclayana), cover large areas 

of the island. There are also a few dozen 

cardons (Pachycereus pringlei), and a few 

individuals of sour pitahaya (Stenocereus 

gummosus) and senita (Lophocereus schottii), as 

well as some shrubs (Lycium brevipes and Cressa 

truxillensis). 

And so we arrived at Isla Esteban, where 

Pancho found a nice bay with a beach, suitable 

for landing. We have become experienced 

enough not to expect the plants that are the 

targets for our excursion to line up and greet 

us when we arrive at a location name where 

they are said to grow. With an area of some 40 

km², should we look on the hills, half a day’s 

59 

walk away from our landing site or on the 

other side of the island, another 3 hours by 

boat? 

But Lady Luck was with us (again) and as 

soon as we were off the shingle beach – there 

they were: Mammillaria estebanensis and 

Echinocereus grandis, together with Agave 

desertii, Stenocereus gummosus, Cylindropuntia sp 

and Pachycereus pringlei. Although not reported 

from the island I had half expected to find a 

Ferocactus as well – but not this time. 

Mammillaria dioica ssp. estebanensis, to give 

Fig.3 Isla Esteban showing the landing site


Fig.4 Mammillaria estebanensis on Isla Esteban 

Fig.5 Echinocereus grandis on Isla Esteban 

the plants their currently accepted name, was 

larger than I had expected, based on plants 

that I had owned and killed in the UK. It is 

variable in spine colour from almost white to 

yellow-brown and, while some heads had 

hooked central spines, other stems on the same 

plant had straight central spines. Looking at 

weather stats on Wunderground, these plants 

had not seen rain for a while, showing very 

tight spination. With only 10.7mm rainfall 

recorded in nearby Bahia de los Angeles 

60 

Fig.6 Mammillaria estebanensis on Isla Esteban 

Fig.7 Pachycereus pringlei on Isla Esteban 

during the whole of 2011 suggests that they 

rely on fog and dews for their water needs – 

humidity recorded ranges from 1 – 98% with 

an annual average of 47.2%. There was no 

evidence of flowering but this did seem to be a 

healthy population with plants of different 

ages. 

Like M. estebanensis, E. grandis is an island 

endemic. Both have Isla Esteban as their Type 

Locality, but are also reported from nearby 

islands such as Isla San Lorenzo and Isla


Fig.8 Stenocereus gummosus on Isla Salsipuedes 

Nolasco. E. grandis looked much like the plants 

in cultivation – but a bit more battered by the 

elements. Their habitat on a rocky hillside 

made for excellent photos. As the name 

‘grandis’ implies, they can get big, although I 

don’t recall seeing any 50cm tall stems 

mentioned in literature. I have managed to 

flower these plants in cultivation and the large 

(5-8cm in diameter) white to pale yellow 

flowers are unusual among the usually much 

brighter-coloured Echinocerei. Here, there 

were only the typical scars from previous 

flowering left. 

Kyle and Eunice went on to explore just over 

a low hill and found the same plants growing 

on flat soil. They also saw and photographed a 

spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura conspicuosa) 

also endemic to the island. Other endemic 

reptiles include the spiny chuckwalla (S. 

hispidus) and the giant chuckwalla (Sauromalus 

varius). 

We were in good time and took up Pancho’s 

offer to stop at another island on the way 

home. Our landing on Isla Salsipuedes was 

less productive. Once we were off the shingle 

beach we were confronted with a solid wall of 

Stenocereus gummosus, with Pachycereus pringlei 

dotted in between, right down to the beach. We 

tried farther along on sand rather than shingle 

– same story. There was Cylindropuntia here 

as well. I took some close-ups of the hillside to 

enlarge at the hotel, but so far these have not 

revealed any small genera like Mammillaria, 

Ferocactus or Echinocereus. The Pachycereus 

looked different from their mainland brethren 

in that they branched right from the base, 

rather like Stenocereus thurberi, the Organ Pipe 

61 

Fig.9 Pachycereus pringlei on Isla Esteban 

cactus, instead of a metre or more above the 

ground. 

Back on the boat, we spotted our pod of 

sperm whales again. It may well have been the 

same group that we had seen in the morning. 

We counted 14 individuals, including at least 

one calf – the size of a boat! As you can 

imagine today’s picture count was in excess of 

600, with probably a number of rejects where 

the whale or dolphin had disappeared below 

the surface just as I pressed the shutter. 

We arrived back in Bahia de Los Angeles 

exhausted and after a meal of grilled fish were 

in bed before 9 p.m. 

References 

Velarde, E. and Ezcurra, E. (in prep.) "The 

effect of global atmospheric and oceanic 

anomalies on marine birds: The breeding 

dynamics of Heermann's Gulls in Isla Rasa" 

Hunt, D., Taylor, N.P., & Charles, G. (2006) 

The New Cactus Lexicon 

Paul Klaassen


travEl wIth thE CaCtus ExpErt (3) 

Zlatko Jabeba continues the story about his trip to the southwest of the USA with Josef Busek. 

In this episode he tells us about the cacti of the Death Valley National Park. 

Photos: Z. Janeba 

Fig.1 Scenery at The Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, California, USA. 

The next morning (April 29th 2006) we drove 

through Stovepipe Wells and stopped at The 

Sand Dunes to take some pictures of the very 

beautiful scenery (Fig.1), so typical for this part 

of Death Valley National Park. The Mojave 

Desert and Great Basin Desert meet within this 

well-known park which contains such diverse 

desert environments as salt flats, sand dunes, 

badlands, valleys, canyons, and mountains. 

The most famous place here is probably 

Badwater Basin, the second lowest point in the 

western hemisphere (86m below sea level). 

We continued on SR 190 eastwards, towards 

Furnace Creek. Southeast of Furnace Creek, 

just next to the turn-off towards Dantes view, 

we photographed the widespread Echinocactus 

polycephalus (Fig.2 & 3), flowering Opuntia 

basilaris, and some other herbs just in flower, 

e.g. quite common Desert five-spot (Eremalche 

62 

rotundifolia, Fig.4). 

Our next stop was more or less on the border 

of Death Valley N.P., some 17 miles southeast 

of Furnace Creek, where we had hoped to take 

pictures of Echinomastus johnsonii in flower. To 

our big disappointment, E. johnsonii only had 

numerous flower buds (Fig.5) and it seemed to 

me that flowering of cacti that spring (2006) 

was about one week delayed compared to 

other years. And while Echinocereus engelmannii 

had only very recently opened its flowers 

(Fig.7), my favourite Mammillaria tetrancistra, 

while usually not easy to encounter in the 

field, could easily be spotted, thanks to its 

bright red fruits (Fig.6). M. tetrancistra is a 

widespread species in the southwest of the 

USA and extends much farther into the very 

arid California deserts than any other 

Mammillaria species, but it is never numerous


Fig.2 Desert landscape S.E. of Furnace Creek with the “many-headed barrel cactus” or “cottontop cactus” 

(Echinocactus polycephalus). 

and always hard to find. Although I saw this 

interesting cactus in many places, I never saw 

its flowers in the field, but on the other hand, it 

almost always had some fruits to offer. 

Not far from here, we also encountered a 

very interesting form of Echinocactus 

polycephalus (Fig.8), with spination resembling 

more or less E. polycephalus ssp. xeranthemoides. 

This subspecies, nevertheless, grows much 

more to the east in the state of Arizona, quite 

far from here. Much to our surprise, both red 

and yellow-spined forms were seen next to 

each other at this location, especially the 

yellow-spined plants of E. polycephalus that are 

quite rarely seen. 

Upon leaving Death Valley National Park, it 

might be useful to summarize what cactus 

species can be seen in this Californian 

wonderland. I visited (although sometimes 

only passed) Death Valley at least 20 times 

during my stay in the southwest of the USA 

and I saw most of the cactus species growing 

there, and usually each species at numerous 

63 

Fig.3 Close-up view of Echinocactus polycephalus, 

S.E. of Furnace Creek, Death Valley National Park.


Fig.4 Desert five-spot (Eremalche rotundifolia) from the 

family Malvaceae, S.E. of Furnace Creek, Death Valley 

National Park. 

Fig.5 Johnson's pineapple cactus or pygmy barrel cactus 

(Echinomastus johnsonii) with flower buds, Death 

Valley National Park, California. 

locations. The most popular among park 

visitors and certainly the most widespread 

cacti found in the park are Opuntia basilaris 

(beavertail cactus) with their gorgeous 

magenta flowers, and Echinocactus polycephalus 

(known as the barrel cactus), with its attractive 

strong spination. Cactus hunters are often 

looking for more rare and less easy to find 

plants, like Echinomastus johnsonii, Mammillaria 

tetrancistra, and Sclerocactus polyancistrus. But 

there are many other taxa of the Cactaceae to 

find: Echinocereus engelmannii (including the 

form called ‘chrysocentrus’), E. triglochidiatus 

ssp. mojavensis, Escobaria vivipara var. deserti, 

Ferocactus cylindraceus (var. lecontei), Opuntia 

echinocarpa, O. polyacantha (including names O. 

erinacea, O. ursina, and O. rufispina), and O. 

ramosissima. There are also two Yucca species 

growing there, Y. brevifolia and Y. schidigera. 

Sometimes other cactus species are reported to 

grow in Death Valley, namely Opuntia 

chlorotica, O. phaeacantha, and O. (Micropuntia, 

64 

Fig.6 Although called “Common fishhook cactus”, 

Mammillaria tetrancistra is quite scarce in the field. 

Here found on the border of Death Valley National Park. 

Corynopuntia or Grusonia) pulchella. I do not 

remember seeing O. phaeacantha there and I do 

not think the other two species grow in Death 

Valley either. The distribution range of O. 

chlorotica is more southeast and O. pulchella is 

typically widespread more to the north in the 

Great Basin Desert, mainly in the states of 

Nevada and Utah. To the best of my 

knowledge, the only reports of O. pulchella in 

the state of California are from around Deep 

Springs, north of Death Valley, but on the other 

hand, not that far from there. 

With only a very few short field stops, we 

continued through Lathrop Wells and 

Pahrump to Las Vegas, where we did some 

shopping. Then we drove along I-15 to the 

north towards Utah. We checked another 

Echinomastus johnsonii population on the way, 

just next to the exit 93 to Overton (I-15 to SR 

169), but again we found only cacti with buds, 

but no flowers. Again and again, only Opuntia 

basilaris was in flower. We started to become 

desperate about whether we would eventually 

see any Echinomastus flowers during our trip. 

To be continued … 

Zlatko Janeba


Fig. 7 Engelmann’s hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) starting to flower in Death Valley National Park, 

California, USA. 

Fig.8 A very nice and very rare, yellow-spined form of Echinocactus polycephalus growing together with its red-spined 

sibling on the border of Death Valley National Park in California. 

65

Photo: D. Neville 


EChEvErIa nEBularuM 

at a hEady hEIGht 

John Pilbeam describes his adventure visiting another Echeveria in habitat. By 

continuing his explorations, he is a great inspiration to us all. Well done John! 

Fig.1 E nebularum, doing well as an epiphyte. 

A few years ago I was asked by my doctor, 

who knew that I often frequented Mexico 

looking for and photographing the plants we 

all love and care for, how high in Mexico I 

ventured. When I asked him why he asked, he 

advised me that with a recent problem I had 

had (and survived), it would be risky for me to 

go above 10,000 feet (3,050m). I thought there 

was little chance of my doing so, as most of my 

interest at that time was satisfied at a few 

thousand feet below this heady height. 

However, in the early nought years of this 

century I started thinking seriously about 

producing a book on Echeveria, a genus I had 

been in love with for many years. Myron 

Kimnach, a champion of this genus who I had 

hoped would undertake this task, had 

66 

encouraged me to do so. So, over the next few 

years the book took shape and was finally 

published in 2008 by the British Cactus & 

Succulent Society. 

A species included that I had not seen at the 

time of publication was E. nebularum, named 

for having its head in the clouds of the Sierra 

Juarez in Oaxaca, southern Mexico. 

During previous visits, in the company of 

Derek Bowdery and the late Bill Weightman, I 

had visited our hospitable friends resident in 

Oaxaca city, Mary McLenahan and Jim Peck, 

and had enjoyed several forays into the Sierra 

Juarez and farther afield in their company to 

see such Echeveria delights as E. montana, E. 

megacalyx, E. secunda, E. fulgens var. obtusifolia,


Fig.2 E nebularum, the eternal chicken and egg question, which came first the moss or the Echeveria? 

E. pinetorum, and what has been taken to be E. 

juarezensis (more of which later). But, with over 

40 Echeveria taxa reported from this Echeveriarich 

state, there were still many left to pull me 

back. 

So in 2009 with Derek Bowdery and David 

Neville in tow together with Myron Kimnach 

and John Trager from California along for 

good company, it was with delight that we 

pored over maps to plan visits to other as yet 

unvisited Echeverias. It was at this time that 

our hosts offered to take us to see E. nebularum. 

A warning bell rang in my head and I thought 

I had better check the altitude of this species, 

just in case my doctor's advice was relevant. 

The highest recorded was 9,360 feet (2,865m), 

still below the danger point it seemed. So it 

was on, and we set off once again into the 

magic of this mountain region. 

It was a good time to visit Echeverias, in 

67 

autumn, when this genus is at its most 

productive, often in flower, and growing well. 

We first paid a brief visit to see if E. pinetorum 

had yet woken up, without too much 

expectancy as this is a species which hunkers 

down for the dry season, losing almost all of 

its leaves, producing each year fresh growth 

Fig.3 E. pinetorum, just starting into growth after its 

hibernation. 

Photo: D.Neville 

Photo: J. Pilbeam

Photo: D.Neville 


Fig.4 E nebularum, a clump as big as it gets, swarming down the tree-trunk. 

from the thick stem/root lurking in the pineneedles 

and other leaf litter it favours. To our 

delight it was just coming into leaf, and the 

new leaves were posing nicely for the eager 

lenses of our cameras [Fig.3]. Having grown 

this species from seed to a good size, filling a 5 

inch (12.5cm) pot, and then clumsily dropping 

it on its head after photography, from which it 

did not recover, I was happy to add a photo of 

it in habitat for the record, as it has rarely, if 

ever, been illustrated in the wild. 

In cultivation, apart from the one that I 

dropped, I have found this species not easy to 

68 

keep from one year to another, as in the winter 

it clearly wants to become deciduous, and 

takes on a sickly appearance. Along with the 

few similar thick-rooted species of this 

inclination, I have found a little water now and 

again in a saucer beneath the pot stops the 

roots drying out completely to the point of no 

return, without triggering too much activity 

above soil level. 

Onwards and upwards we went to the dizzy 

heights of E. nebularum, which were confirmed 

when we stepped from the hot-engined 

vehicle, after a laborious climb through steeper

Photo: J. Pilbeam 


Fig.5 There’s always refreshment of some sort in Mexico 

and steeper, rougher and rougher roads to its 

chosen habitat. I was somewhat comforted to 

see Jim, even with his partly acclimatized 

lungs, also performing a slightly inebriatedlooking 

slow foxtrot up the slope to where it 

grew, matching my swaying progress at this 

head-swimming height. 

It was an area of woodland with the trees 

thickly coated with a covering of what looked 

very like sphagnum moss, and it was in this 

moss that the plants we had come to see chose 

to anchor themselves, with no evidence of 

them on the thickly leaf-littered floor of the 

steeply-inclined bosky glade. A less likely 

place and positioning of an Echeveria I could 

never have imagined [Figs.1,2,4 & 6]. 

After some time wandering in this delightful 

area, still breathless from the rarefied air, we 

descended to a more comfortable altitude a 

hundred feet or so lower, and stopped at an 

inviting, roadside shop with Cola adverts 

prominently displayed, and took our ease on a 

bench outside. It was then that for the first 

time in Mexico I was attacked by natives. I had 

got into the vehicle and sat down, when I 

thought I must have picked up an Opuntia 

spine cluster on my rear end. I leaned over and 

reached around with my hand to explore, and 

promptly was stung by a tiny wasp about a 

dozen times in less seconds. The next few days 

my hand resembled a Big Mac bap; I cannot 

report the effect of the first sting, as I was 

unwilling to have it inspected! Imagine my 

further surprise when David discovered on the 

69 

Fig.6 E nebularum, the beautiful flower of this high 

mountain species. 

other side of the road from the shop that E. 

nebularum also grew on the trees there, 

similarly in moss cladding. It has been 

reported quite widespread in fact between 

8,360 and 9,360 feet (2,550 and 2,865m) 

altitude, in Oaxaca and neighbouring Veracruz 

state. Some time after this we made another 

stop for refreshments of a different kind 

[Fig.5]. 

In cultivation I have found this species not 

difficult, but not relishing prolonged direct 

sunshine or the conditions sometimes 

prevalent in a glasshouse during the hottest 

summer months, when a position during the 

day by an open window in the dwelling house 

seems to suit it better. Given this sort of abode 

it will rapidly cluster to form a dense clump of 

rosettes, and produce an abundance of its very 

attractive flowers, well worth the extra care 

needed. 

John Pilbeam 

Photo: J. Trager


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71 


„Gymnocalycium“ 

Magazine now out also in 

English 

 

GYMNOCALYCIUM 25(1)2012: A+B 

Die schönsten Fundorte 

Teil 2 

Gert J.A. Neuhuber 

Traunaustraße 4 

A-4600 Wels 

e-mail: neuhuber@gymnocalycium.info 

 

 

 

 

Ges. Österreichischer Kakteenfreunde 



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GYMNOCAL 

GYMNOCAL 

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eichischer Kakteenfr 

eichischer Kakteenfr 

Österr 

Ges. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

25(1)2012: 1007-1012 

25(1)2012: 1007-1012 

0 We 

0 We 

25(1)2012: 1007-1012 

(Neuhuber) Neuhuber 



Gymnocalycium car 

Gymnocalycium carolinense 



Distribution and variability of 

Distribution and variability of 


. 

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25(1)2012: 1007-1012 

25(1)2012: 1007-1012 

ed in the locality list as 

d 

he east of the pr 

ecor 

San Luis, that have been r 

San Luis, that have been recor 

in the Sierra de Portezuelo, in t ovince 


d 

ed plants 

in the Sierra de Portezuelo, in t 

San Luis, that have been r 

In 1989 Ludwig Bercht and the 

In 1989 Ludwig Bercht and the author discovered plants 


author discover 


author discovered plants 

cht and the 


In 1989 Ludwig Ber 


In 1989 Ludwig Bercht and the 


ingones (Fig. 2). 

n slopes of the Sierra de Comech 

om the Sierra de San L 

the wester 

the western slopes of the Sierra de Comech 

uis to 

om the Sierra de San L 


but also 

s. l. extends fr 

s. l. extends from the Sierra de San L 

nse 

e 

n 

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l 

ro 

a 

c 

. 

G om the Sierra de San L 

rr but also 

e 

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n & R 

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t 

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rri 

) B 

ch made evident, that not only 

. 

m 


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e 


m 

L 


( 


e 

( 

(L 


L 

ei 


(L 

ill 


ei 

v 

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m 

u 

ci 

y 

cal 

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n 

m 

y 

G 


ill 


esear 

esearch made evident, that not only 

r 

ingones. Detailed 



nd at the foot of the 

found in the Sierra de Portezuelo a 

wester 






wester 

uchii (S 

(Sp 

Speg ) H could be 

s 

u 

e 

ss 

o 

) H 


) Ho 

. 


g 


e 


p 


S 


Sp 


( 


(S 


i 


hi 


c 


u 


r 

b 

m 

u 

ci 

y 

cal 

o 

n 

m 

Back in 2005 the author 

y 


m 

G 


y 

held the opinion that 


G 

species that flower pink (Fig. 1). 

populations that include considerably bigger plants and 

iderably bigger plants and 


days we know of 

populations that include cons 


ease continuously. Nowa 



populations that include cons 

tion and characteristics of 

the plant incr 

the informations about distribution and characteristics of 


+ 2005). However 

the informations about distribu 

the plant incr 

the informations about distribution and characteristics of 

(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005). However 


(Neuhuber 1994 

the informations about distribu 

eady been discussed 

YCIUM 

GYMNOCAL 

in detail in 

eady been discussed 

(Neuhuber 1994 

has alr 

has already been discussed 

, 

rr, 

e 

ub 

uh 

Ne 

ub 

uh 

Ne 

(Ne 

e 

s 

en 

in 

l 

o 

r 

ca 

m 

u 

ci 

y 

cal 

o 

n 

m 

y 

G 

The smallest Gymnocalycium 

Luis, 


G 

ovince San 

in the pr 

in the province San 


Luis, 

. 

e 

s 

n 

e 

bol 

e 

r 

t 

l 

e 

su variedad 

wi 

d 

lu 

. 

p 

s 

b 

u 

s 

nse 

e 

n 

i 

variabilidad morfológica 

l 


i 

ro 

a 

c 


l 

. 

G 


c 

establecimiento de 


G 

esultan en el 

resultan en el 


establecimiento de 

la 

Mejor conocimiento de la 

de 


la 

geográfica y 


de 

distribución 


geográfica y 

: 

men 

u 

s 

e 

R 

. 

e 

s 

n 

e 

bol 

e 

r 

t 

l 

e 

variety 

and its 

i 

i 

g 

wi 

d 

lu 

. 

p 

s 

b 

u 

s 

nse 

e 

n 

i 

l 

ro 

a 

c 

. 

G 

distribution and morphological variab 

ecognition of 


r 


G 

recognition of 


ecognition of 

ility has led to the 

geographic 


recognition of 

Enhanced knowledge of the geographic 


Enhanced knowledge of the 


: 

ct 

ra 

tra 

s 

b 

A 

- 

Gym 

ingones 

estabhangs der Sierra de Comech 

e Portezuelo und am Fuss 

des W 

eten, dass auf der Sierra de Portezuelo und am Fuss 

estabhangs der Sierra de Comech 

Autor die Meinung ver 

eten, dass auf der Sierra d 

des W 

Noch im Jahr 2005 wurde vom 

Noch im Jahr 2005 wur 

tr 

de vom 


tr 

treten, dass auf der Sierra d 



Autor die Meinung ver 

e Portezuelo und am Fuss 

de vom 



treten, dass auf der Sierra d 

Noch im Jahr 2005 wurde vom 


osa blühen. ) 

. 1 

e Pflanzen beherbergen 

b 


. 1 

b 


b 

A 


b 

( 


A 

osa blühen. 



( 

und auch Sippen die r 

lationen die bedeutend gr e Pflanzen beherbergen 

osa blühen. 

Heute kennen wir Popu 

ser 



ös 

lationen die bedeutend gr 

und auch Sippen die r 

lationen die bedeutend grös 

men indes mehr und mehr zu. Heute kennen wir Popu 

ser 

ten der Pflanzen neh 

men indes mehr und mehr zu. 

lationen die bedeutend gr 

eitung und die Eigenschaften der Pflanzen neh 


eitung und die Eigenschaf 

men indes mehr und mehr zu. 

ochen. Die 

erbr 

erbreitung und die Eigenschaf 

die V 

die Verbr 

eits ausführlich bespr Informationen über 

(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) 

ochen. Die 

eitung und die Eigenschaf 

(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) 

Informationen über 

eits ausführlich bespr 

die V 

eits ausführlich besprochen. Die 

YCIUM 

ber 

(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) 

ochen. Die 


YCIUM 

eits ausführlich bespr 

de in GYMNOCAL 

wur 

wurde in GYMNOCAL 

, 

(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) 


(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) 

(Neuhuber) Neuhuber, 

(Neuhuber 1994 + 2005) 

ovinz San Luis, 

olinense 



Das kleinste Gymnocalycium ovinz San Luis, 


in der Pr 

in der Provinz San Luis, 

Das kleinste Gymnocalycium 


. 

ebolense 

eltr 

variedad 

y su 

ense subsp. ludwigii 

olin 

G. car 


tablecimiento de 


G. car 

esultan en el es 

r 

resultan en el es 


tablecimiento de 

gráfica y de la 

Mejor conocimiento de la distribución geo 

Mejor conocimiento de la dis 

gráfica y de la 

Resumen: 

. 

ebolense 

eltr 

and its variety 

dwigii 

olinense subsp. lu 

ility has led to the r 

G. car 

bution and morphological variab 

nition of 


G. car 

ecog 

ility has led to the r 

olinense subsp. lu 

ility has led to the recog 


nition of 

: Enhanced knowledge of the geographic distri 

ge of the geographic distri 


: Enhanced knowled 


Abstract 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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- 

- 

- 

o 

ff 

n 

i 

.. 

um 

um 

eunde 

25(1)2012: 1007-1012 

ed in the locality list as 

ovince 

ed plants 

ingones (Fig. 2). 

uis to 

but also 

e 

da 

m 

ingones. Detailed 


could be 

held the opinion that 







in detail in 

) 

r) 

e 

ub 

ovince San 

y 

i 

i 

g 

esultan en el 

distribución 

and its 


geographic 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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- 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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rise, being located 

100 m higher than the adjoining 

eally any, is remarkable, it is only maximally 

le, it is only maximally 


emarkab 


eally any, is r 


. The distribution on low hills of this 

that is not r 

Sierra 

. The distribution on low hills of this 

eally any, is r 

ii 

h 

uc 

r 

b 

. 

G 

keit keine ist, da sie 

auf den niedrigen 

irklich 

Hügeln dieser Sierra, die in W 

den. Das Vorkommen 

den. Das Vorkommen auf den niedrigen 

keit keine ist, da sie 

orkommen 


in die Fundortliste auf 

den. Das V 


den. Das Vorkommen 


genommen wur 

genommen wurden. Das V 

in die Fundortliste auf 

orkommen 

ii 

G. bruch 

m Osten der Pr 

Luis Pflanzen, die als 

auf der Sierra de Portezuelo i ovinz San 


G. bruch 

m Osten der Provinz San 

entdeckten im Jahr 1989 

auf der Sierra de Portezuelo i 

Luis Pflanzen, die als 

cht und der Autor entdeckten im Jahr 1989 



entdeckten im Jahr 1989 


cht und der Autor 




Ludwig Ber 

Ludwig Bercht und der Autor 

2) 

b. 

b 

A 

( 

s. l. 

olinense 

car 

G. 

Sierra de Comechingones 

n auch die von 


G. 

eckt, sonder 

eckt, sondern auch die von 

estabhang der 

erstr 

erstreckt, sonder 


n auch die von 

an Luis 

estabhang der 

eckt, sonder 

estabhang der Sierra de Comechingones 

bis an den W 

bis an den Westabhang der 

an Luis 


von der Sierra de S 

Neuhuber 

. confusa 

var 

var. confusa 

ber 

ber var 

Neuhu 

gertrudae 

subsp. 

ocalycium monvillei 

e) Britton & Rose 

(Lemair 

(Lemaire) Britton & Rose 

ocalycium monvillei 

subsp. 

Gymn 

eitung von 

erbr 

erbreitung von 

nur die V 

nur die Verbr 

e Untersuchungen nicht 

geben, dass sich 

haben er 

e Untersuchungen 

nur die V 

(Speg.) Hosseus 

nauer 

nauere Untersuchungen 

zu finden sei. Ge 

(Speg.) Hosseus 

e Untersuchungen 

nocalycium bruchii 

i. 

iii 

h 

c 

u 

r 

. b 

s G 

ls G 

lll 

a 

c 

e 

t r 

t re 

n 

a 

lla 

s p 

iis p 

h 

t t 

a 

h 

r t 

r th 

e 

dde 

n 

o wo 

: N 

: No wo 

. 2 

g 

iig 

F 

. 

t 

kkt 

n 

e 

i d 

i de 

iii d 

h 

ch 

u 

r 

. b 

n G 

e a 

z 

n 

a 

fla 

r P 

r Pfl 

eer P 

s 

e 

iie 

i d 

i di 

ei d 

n b 

a 

n m 

n 

, we 

t 

h 

ch 

iic 

t n 

r 

e 

dde 

n 

u 

w 

r 

e 

s v 

s ve 

: E 

: Es v 

. 2 

b 

b 

A 

.gymnocalycium.info 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

> dha.gymno@aon.at < 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

www.gymnocalycium.info 

"Avonia", the quarterly journal of the German Society for other Succulents. 

Written in German with English summaries, non-German manuscripts in original 

language. Includes colour photographs, excellent drawings and articles on all aspects of 

other Succulents. See our website: www.fgas-sukkulenten.de 

Annual subscription: Germany: 30 € incl. P&P Other countries: 35 € incl. P&P 

Also available is the free colour online journal "Avonia-News", Annual seed list for 

members and much more. 

Special interest groups for Aloe (incl. Haworthia a.s.), Ascleps, Euphorbia, Mesembs 

and Yucca/winter-hardy Succulents. 

For membership and further information please contact: 

Dr. Jörg Ettelt: Morgenstr. 72, D-59423 Unna, praesident@fgas.sukkulenten.de or 

Wilfried Burwitz: 

Postfach 100206, D-03002 Cottbus, geschaeftsstelle@fgas.sukkulenten.de 

Kaktusy is an international (Czecho-Slovak) journal 

about cacti and succulents with many interesting articles 

(travel, descriptions, growing, exhibitions, books, taxon- 

omy) published since 1965. It is in the Czech language with 

summaries in English and German. 

Volume 2010 has 292 pages, 451 color photos, 54 B&W 

photos and one CD-ROM. 

Price: 180 CZK + postage 

(about 8€ + postage or about $11 + postage) 

Orders please via E-mail 

http://www.cactus.cz/english/kaktusy/kaktusy_2010/ 

The Haworthia Society 

Dedicated to the furtherance and knowledge 

of the Aloaceae, including Haworthia, 

Gasteria, Astroloba, Aloe and also Bulbine. 

Membership details are available from 

Mrs. Joyce Jackson 

E.mail: jackson.343@ btinternet.com


The Sedum Society 

Website: http://www.cactus-mall.com/sedum/ 

Download information leaflet here 

Internoto 

The specialist society for 

the study of Notocactus. 

(German with English 

summaries) 

A well-produced journal 

published 4 times per 

year since 1980. 

http://www.internoto.de 

INTE 

RNATT 

IONA 

L S A ANSEVI 

ERI 

A SO 

C CIET 

Y 

Learn about the 

enormous 

variety 

ety o 

f Sansevi 

eri as and an h ow to 

grow 

them 

by joining 

th e INTERNA INTERNATI TI ONAL S ANSEVIERIA 

SOCIETY SOCIETY. . W e have members 

world 

colour journal 

three 

times 

per subscripti 

journal 

also covers the 

related 

Dr 

Subscription 

£25 or €28 per year (UK an 

countries), 

£29 or U S$46 ffor 

or airm airmail 

d 

outside 

of 

Europe. 

For further 

details 

write 

to: Alan Butler, 

via 

della 

Campana 

7, 

00048 Nettuno 

(RM), Italy 

or e-mail 

alan-brook-side@hotm 

ail.com. YYou 

ou can also 

subscribe on line 

at www.sansevieri 

international.org 

where 

you can also fin 

local representatives. 

What is the BCSS doing this year? 

The British Cactus and Succulent Society 

produce a list of their events. It is available 

online at 

http://www.bcss.org.uk/events.php 

The major event of the year is the National 

Show, held only once every 4 years. You can 

find out the details here: 

http://www.bcss.org.uk/nat_show.php 

72 

The Tephrocactus Study Group 

Small Opuntias are very popular at the 

moment. They are generally quite easy to 

grow and many species are tolerant of low 

temperatures. You may have heard about the 

Tephrocactus Study Group which started life 

in the early 1990’s as a ‘Round Robin’ under 

the guidance of René Geissler. 

In March 1995, the group produced and 

distributed its first journal, illustrated with 

colour pictures, to just twelve members 

including Alan Hill, the present Chairman. 

Since that date, a colour publication has been 

issued quarterly to a growing band of 

members, now more than eighty strong. 

Each issue includes articles principally 

about the smaller South American Opuntias, 

including such genera as Cumulopuntia, 

Maihueniopsis, Tephrocactus and Pterocactus. 

Articles about the smaller North American 

Opuntias are also sometimes included. 

The 2012 subscription is £10 for the UK, 

€14 within the EU and $25 for the USA and 

Canada. New members are very welcome, so 

why not contact the Secretary: John Betteley, 

25, Old Hall Gardens, Coddington, Newark, 

Notts. NG24 2QJ U.K. Tel: +44(0)1636 707649 

johnbetteley@another.com 

http://www.cactus-mall.com/tsg/index.html 

See details of the 2012 Meeting on page 6


Haseltonia, Yearbook of the CSSA 

The prestigious yearbook of the Cactus and 

Succulent Society of America has reached 

Number 17 this year and has just been 

published. This, the second issue under the 

editorship of Martin Terry, has the usual mix of 

more ‘technical’ articles which have been peer 

reviewed to ensure high quality prior to 

publication. 

The majority of the pages in No.17 are 

concerned with cacti and include two articles 

about Trichocereus, three about Opuntia and 

others about Coleocephalocereus, Cipocereus, 

and Turbinicarpus. The four succulent 

offerings are about Sedum, Yucca, Manfreda 

and Rhytidocaulon. 

There is plenty to read in the 100 pages and 

the pictures are reproduced at a good size and 

to a high quality. 

All the previous issues of Haseltonia are still 

available to be purchased from the CSSA online 

shop at 

GC 

http://shop.cssainc.org/haseltonia.html 

73 

The Mammillaria Society 

It is perhaps no surprise that Mammillaria, 

the most popular of all cactus genera, has two 

specialist societies dedicated to its study. The 

German Society, AfM, was started in 1977, but 

long before that the Mammillaria Society was 

founded in Britain in 1960. 

The first journal was a simple quarto, typed 

document. The only illustrations for the first 

six years were loosely inserted black & white 

photographs of cultived plants. The journal 

continued in quarto size until 1985, after which 

it changed to A4. Colour pictures made their 

first appearance in 1989 and the A4 size 

continued until 2005 when, in a determined 

attempt to upset all bibliophiles (who hate size 

changes in journal runs), changed the page size 

again to A5! 

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this 

story is that Bill Maddams has been the editor 

ever since the first issue! Is he the only serving 

editor after 52 years? Well done Bill! 

The Members’ Day and AGM, with two short 

talks and plant displays, will be held this year 

at Wisley RHS Gardens on Saturday 26th May 

which includes free garden entry for members. 

For information and membership details see: 

http://www.cactus-mall.com/mammsoc/index.html 

GC


plants and sEEds for salE 

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Connoisseurs’ 

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John Pilbeam’s latest lists of plants and books 

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Address for corresponence; John Pilbeam, 

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aristocacti.co.uk 

Slow-growing cacti from Mexico and SW USA 

Ariocarpus, Aztekium, Geohintonia, 

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Prices include delivery to any EU address 

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please inquire 

• The majority of our plants are seed grown 

• Quarterly newsletter, cultivation articles, 

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74 

Your supplier of cactus and succulent seeds 

for more than twenty years! Order from our 

online shop with 3000 varieties. 

Specialising in South American cacti: 

http://www.succseed.com 

Copiapoa seeds with data, hand-pollinated in 

the collection of Marco Giani, Italy 

Download the PDF of his list 

A very comprehensive Gymnocalycium seed 

list and other genera, many with data: 

http://www.bercht-cactus.nl 

The famous Uhlig nursery in Germany has a 

large seed list of cacti and succulents: 

http://www.uhlig-kakteen.de 

An extensive seed list from Prochazka, strong 

on Mexican cacti: 

http://www.kaktusy.com 

A comprehensive list of seeds from the Czech 

Republic: 

http://www.cactus-hobby.eu 

Cactus and succulent seed from a long established 

German nursery: 

http://www.koehres-kaktus.de 

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Looking for decent Plants? - Try me! 

I always try to grow something a bit different 

Also Books & Stamps on the theme of Cacti & Succulents 

Postal Service for Books & Stamps only! 

S.A.E. please for list 

Serious collectors come again & again because they’re 

pleased with my plants – you will too! 

Prior call appreciated for callers please! 

Website: http://freespace.virgin.net/geissler.w/ 

(01453) 890340 E-mail: geissler.w@virgin.net 

Kingston Road, Slimbridge, Glos. GL2 7BW U.K.


Kakteen Ness 

Perndorf 108, A-8182 Puch Bei Weiz, Austria 

Interesting Website and on-line shop 

with a good selection of seedlings, 

particularly Echinocereus 

http://www.kakteen-niess.at/cms 

Brookside Nursery 

Contact address: via della Campana 7, 00048 Nettuno (RM), Italy 

Website: www.brookside-nursery.com 

E-mail: alan-brook-side@hotmail.com 

Tel: 00-39-335-6159058 

We are open to visitors 

but strictly by prior appointment. 

Visit our web site 

at www.brookside-nursery.com for more 

information and our plant list. 

We offer an efficient mail order service and 

probably the most comprehensive list 

of Sansevierias, and Aloaceae in Europe. 

We also stock a wide range of other 

succulents, especially asclepiads, 

euphorbias and caudex plants. 

the cactus man 

Proprietor : John Gander 

Good Selection of Cacti & Succulent Plants 

Opuntia Specialist 

See Website for Days of Opening & Events 

18 Bodgara Way, Liskeard, Cornwall PL14 3BJ UK 

Email : john@thecactusman.co.uk 

Web : www.thecactusman.co.uk 

ebay: thecactusmanuk 

Opuntias (plants & cuttings); large cacti always wanted 

Tel : +44(0)7899 002476 

Plant Request 

Hi all! 

I'm still trying to source some plants or seeds of 

Euphorbia sapinii and don’t mind a grafted plant. 

Also any variegated Aloes, and most of all a cristate 

Ariocarpus on its own roots (I can dream!) 

Happy to buy or swap.I have UK & USA postal 

addresses and a diverse collection. 

t.wardhaugh@open.ac.uk 

Tina 

75 

J & J Cactus and Succulents 

Joyce Hochtritt 

600 N. Pine St., Midwest City, 

OK 73130, USA 

(+1) 405-737-1831 

Cactibud@cox.net 

www.jjcactus-succulents.net 

Visits By Appointment Only 

Plantlife 

Cactus & Succulent Nursery 

Beechwood, 50, Friday Street, Eastbourne, 

East Sussex, BN23 8AY U.K. 

Stuart & Jane Riley 

Tel +44(0)1323 761943 FAX +44(0)1323 724973 

email: mailto:plantlifenursery@fsmail.net 

Cactus Shop (formerly Westfield Cacti) have been 

growing and trading in cacti & other succulents since 

1979 and guarantee speedy delivery of top class 

plants 

All plants have been grown from seed or cuttings in 

cultivation. Please note that we have just moved to 

Devon and are setting up a new glasshouse. 

http://www.cactusshop.co.uk 

Pictures Wanted 

John Pilbeam is looking for photos of Agaves 

for a tentatively projected book, in particular 

unusual species and variegates, but stunning 

photos of any of interest too. 

High-res digital preferred but high quality 

scans of slides are acceptable. 

email: jpilbeam@tiscali.co.uk


Books for salE 

Keith’s Cactus Books 

For the widest range of books on Cacti and Other Succulents 

And a wide range of other plant and gardening books 

Delivery worldwide 

Please visit www.keithscactusbooks.co.uk - As easy to browse as a paper catalogue 

GYMNOCALYCIUM 

IN HABITAT AND CULTURE 

Copies of my book are still available from 

dealers around the world or from me. 

If you would like me to sign it, please ask! 

Graham Charles Gymno Book Website 

CHUCK EVERSON, BOOKSELLER 

“Your Cactus Bookstore Specialist” 

1444 E. Taylor Street Vista, CA 92084-3308 USA 

Specializing in literature concerning cacti, succulents, 

epiphytes, deserts, bromeliads, hoyas, palms, cycads, 

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WE SHIP WORLDWIDE. VISA/MASTERCARD IS ACCEPTED. 

Check with us for the best possible times to visit. 

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Tel: 760-945-8934 

Please click on the book images for more details 

The next issue of the Cactus Explorer is planned for August 2012. If you would like to be told when 

it is available for download, please send me your E-mail address to be added to the distribution 

list. 

Contributions to any of the regular features, articles, adverts for events, plants etc. are all very 

welcome. Thank you for your support! 

76 

A 4 volume set of Britton & Rose 

‘The Cactaceae’ is for sale. See page 24. 

www.cactusbookstore.com 

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Cactus Explorers Journal - The Cactus Explorers Club

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