Contents of the summer 2009 Northants News

Some Flowers in July                                                  Roland Tebbenham        

Following from my piece ‘A Colourful June Morning’ in an earlier edition of NN, I recommend some more plants that will reward you with their interesting shapes, different body colours and (particularly for me) nice flowers. All require good light to perform at their best, but otherwise are not demanding.

First is Adenium obesum, which the unwary can confuse with Adenia from the family Passifloraceae, or even Monadenium from the large family Euphorbiaceae. It is a pachycaul shrub, a member of the family Apocynaceae, which also includes lianas, trees, shrubs, herbs, stem succulents and caudiciforms. Other well known genera are Mandevilla and Plumeria (very good house-plants) and the sculptural stem-succulents Pachypodium. Adenium obesum was described in 1819 and is known in many subspecies and cultivars, all with striking flowers in white, pink, red and their combinations. It inhabits a broad swathe of south west and east Africa, Socotra and Arabia; also it has been introduced to south and east Asia. Look for plants in flower if you are searching for particular colours and flower sizes. It needs winter warmth so it enjoys my east-facing bathroom window sill.

By contrast Cleistocactus strausii is a Bolivian cactus with tubular flowers that do not open entirely, hence the generic name from the Greek kleistos meaning closed. They are adapted for humming bird pollination. The plants make nice columns to at least 1 metre tall with white spines and silky hairs. It likes gritty, slightly acid composts and plenty of water in the summer.

I do recommend Echinopsis plants for their flowers, both the true species and many fine hybrids notably ‘Paramounts’ and ‘Schicks’. They were raised (respectively) by Harry Johnson (1894-1977), who ran the Johnson Cactus Gardens at Paramount, California, and Bob Schick, who from 1977 tried to improve on the ranges of colour, size and flowering time of the Paramounts.

The genus was erected in 1837 and named from the Greek echinos, a hedgehog or a sea-urchin. Echinopsis obrepanda is another Bolivian plant with large (10-20cm diameter), white flowers slightly scented of parsley. The flowers show the distinct long, hairy tube symptomatic of the genus.

Echinopsis ‘Sunset’ is a Paramount hybrid; the original is described as bearing reddish to orange flowers, however Bob Schick observed that the petal colours do vary with ambient temperature and frequently change as the flowers age. Echinopsis flowers are fleeting, generally opening in the evening and fading within one or two days. Whether my specimen is correctly named or not, I hope you agree that its flowers are well worth waiting for.

Now I offer you a favourite plant of mine from Chile. Eriosyce taltalensis is a chunky plant with strong brownish spines. It was formerly described as Neoporteria taltalensis until Fred Katterman revised the taxonomy of a broad group of earlier genera in 1994. The small, wide-opening flowers are whitish, cream, pink or red and are followed by reddish-purple, persistent fruit so the plant is colourful for many months. It is a reliable plant for your collection. There was a variety E. taltalensis paucicostata, which is taller and recently recognised as a distinct species. Despite the name changes, the old genus Neoporteria includes many nice plants with dark body colours, good spination and reliable flowers: who could ask for more?

Now I take you to Salta, Argentina and a plant with more than seventy synonyms! Parodia microsperma is a generally solitary, globose, grey-green plant with spiral ribs and nice reddish, hooked central spines. Though it is handsome out of flower, its dense ring of bright, golden-yellow flowers top it off with a fine splash of colour. There are also orange and red flowered forms. It is easy and fairly quick to mature given the ‘standard’ slightly acid compost I use for many South American cacti.

The last cactus in this piece is another Argentinean plant. Gymnocalycium ritterianum is a flat, globose, pale-green plant with distinct ribs, prominent areoles and strong, greyish spines. The flowers, borne near the apex, are shiny white with a brownish, pinkish tinge on their reverse; the subtle gradation from bud to open flower being particularly attractive. The fruits are blue-green and pear-shaped. Like many others in the genus they grow steadily, but do not demand too much bench space!

I finish as I began with a well-known succulent found by Alfred Lau in 1974 on sheer cliffs in Oaxaca, Mexico and named in his honour. Echeveria laui makes a short-stemmed rosette of pinkish-red leaves each covered with a thick, white farina. Though it is arresting in growth, inviting stroking with consequent annoyance of the grower owing to the removal of the farina, it comes into its own when in flower. The gentle arc of the inflorescence with each flower opening in sequence from base to tip completes this wonder of nature. It resents overwatering and will rot if kept too damp. One experienced Branch member always double-potted his show-winning specimens, using a broad pan to prevent neighbours in the greenhouse and show visitors from touching its leaves. It is such a beauty you should have two or three to ensure at least one good mature specimen for the show bench, where it competes with the Dudleya sp often favoured by contemporary Judges in the classes for plants of the Echeveria Sub-Group.

I hope that you have enjoyed these eight plants and that our less experienced readers will try some of them. Those with more experience may have been reminded of some less demanding, but colourful subjects you might reconsider. I will continue to record other selections from my collection from time to time.

Roland

I acknowledge source data from ‘The Cactus Family’ by Ted Anderson, ‘The New Cactus Lexicon’ compiled ICSG, ‘Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants - Dicotyledons’ Ed Urs Eggli and ‘Echeveria’ by John Pilbeam. We are very fortunate to have many so excellent books available for us to enjoy.

 

back to contents of Northants News