I took the pictures for this time-lapse video of a flowering Lophophora diffusa in early May, 2008. I can't quite remember why I decided to not publish it back then – I was probably disgruntled by the glitches (a couple of seconds into the movie you can see the plant shift a bit, and after 14 seconds there's an abrupt change in focus) and decided I could do better. Anyways, I never got around to doing that and now, after all these flowerless winter months, the small errors don't seem to matter ;-)
The L. diffusa flower opened amazingly fast. The time-lapse video covers a time span of only 45 minutes and is made from 154 still photos taken at intervals of 15 seconds; the photos are played back at a rate of 10 photos per second (the attentive reader will notice that the above numbers don't add up – the focus change 14 seconds into the video indicates a problem that resulted in loosing images for a period of approximately 6 minutes)
Flowering Lophophora diffusa, time-lapse video
The plant was bought just a couple of months prior to these pictures being taken, as described in my post on a Lophophora bargain.
Update - March 28, 2009
You can now watch the flowering Lophophora diffusa in blazing high-definition ;-) I cropped the photos used for the time-lapse video to a size of 1280x720 in order to make the 16x9 HD movie shown below.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Flowering Lophophora diffusa, time-lapse video
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, a new miniature species in the genus Lophophora
In the June 2008 issue of the Cactus & Co magazine Jaroslav Šnicer, Jaroslav Bohata, and Vojtěch Myšák described a new Lophophora species, Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, characterized by its small size, adult plants typically reaching just about 2 cm (less than one inch) in diameter.
Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at the type locality. Scale is indicated by the coin that is 23 mm in diameter
The full description of the lilliputian species reads:
The stem is a greyish green with a touch of mauve (greenish, greenish grey to mauve), for the most part concealed in the ground. The aerial part (crown) is flat to slightly convex, 18 mm wide (10 to 50 mm in adult plants); the subterranean part of the stem is cylindrical, extending 25 mm down from the base of the crown (the depth in adult plants increases with age). The stem is distinctively small and divided into five ribs (up to eight ribs in exceptional cases). The trichomes are visible only near the apical meristem; they drop off early, leaving the areoles inconspicuous.
The root is thick and bulbous, 30 mm long and 16 mm in diameter where it joins the subterranean stem, smooth, and a dirty white to creamy yellow colour.
The flower is 23 mm wide (15 mm to 35 mm). The tepals and style are long, the same as in other members of the Diffusae section. The filaments are white, the anthers a yellowish orange. The style is white, while the stigma is yellowish (white to yellowish or pinkish). The tepals are light pink with a distinctive darker stripe (white to dirty pink, rarely creamy yellowish with a stripe in a brownish, salmon or darker pink shade) on the adaxial surface.
The fruit is round to slightly claviform, and dries out over time. The fruit is a dirty white colour, ranging to yellowish or pinkish.
The seed is black, round, 1.45 mm long (1.15 to 1.45 mm) and 1.45 mm wide (1.0 to 1.45 mm). The hilum is compressed into a broad V-shape. The perimeter of the hilum consists of a pronounced edge. The testa is nodulated with protruding outer cell walls. The individual cells of the testa are clearly demarcated.
Type locality: northern San Luís Potosí, Mexico, 1700 metres above sea level.
The type specimen was collected by G. B. Hinton on 1st August 2007 and is kept at the G. B. Hinton herbarium filed under number 28642.
We are naming the plant alberto-vojtechii in honour of two persons, the late prominent Czech traveler and cactus-hunter Alberto Vojtěch Frič and the current Lophophora enthusiast Vojtěch Myšák.
Lophophora alberto-vojtechii just finished flowering. At this size plants flower regularly
The authors place L. alberto-vojtechii within the section Diffusae (see the Kaktusy 2005, Lophophora Special) along with L. diffusa, L. fricii, and L. koehresii. Based on similarities in habitat (mud flats), growth form, body, fruit, and flower morphology, and loss of trichomes in older areoles, Šnicer et al. conclude that L. alberto-vojtechii is closest related to L. koehresii. However the two species differ in size, the color of the epidermis, seed morphology, and the number of ribs.
Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at the site in Zacatecas
Šnicer et al. argue that even though the small Lophophora alberto-vojtechii plants might look immature at a first glance they are not, as is evident by old growth epidermis at the ground level and the subterranean part of the shoot.
Lophophora alberto-vojtechii (a) Flat, photosynthetic crown (b) Subterranean part of stem (c) The root
The habitat comprises flat, alluvial sediments, as in the case of Lophophora koehresii. Lophophora alberto-vojtechii has a distinctively geophytic lifestyle, withdrawing into small cavities below ground during dry periods. Here the plants are covered with dust and dry leaves, protected from the sun until the next rains.
The type locality of Lophophora alberto-vojtechii is in the northern part of San Luís Potosí, but it has also been found growing in the states of Zacatecas and Coahuila. The flowers of the Zacatecas plants are more white than those of the plants at the type locality (see picture above).
Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at the type locality
All in all the description is credible and well argued. Adding to the credibility is the fact that George Hinton collected the holotype and stores it in his herbarium, I doubt he would do that if he wasn’t convinced that this new taxon is for real.
The flower buds are visible very early, as they are not hidden in the wool.
References
Jaroslav Šnicer, Jaroslav Bohata, and Vojtěch Myšák (2008), “Lophophora alberto-vojtechii - an exquisite new miniature from the genus Lophophora”, Cactus & Co 12 (2), 105-117
Monday, February 02, 2009
Flowering Lophophora decipiens
Flowering Lophophora decipiens
In 2005 I sowed my first Lophophora decipiens seeds bought from Pavel Pavlicek. The plants grow in my coldhouse and flowered for the first time in the summer of 2008 where these pictures were taken.
Flowering Lophophora decipiens viewed from above
I'm not quite sure what to make of the long, flimsy, pink petals, and the plants are still too young to tell what the adult body morphology will look like so for now I can only say that the plants live up to their name (decipiens meaning “deceiving” ;-)
Leon Croizat's description of Lophophora williamsii var. decipiens stated that the vegetative body of this variety was basally tubercled or with distinct podaria rather than ribs, and that the flower extended out of the top of the plant to a greater extent. This description was based entirely on an illustration in Britton and Rose, The Cactaceae volume 3, plate 10, figure 4 (see below). Some researchers, e.g. Anderson, have argued that these characters are not consistent enough in occurrence to justify separate taxonomic status while others, including Gerhard Köhres, state that plants corresponding to Croizat's description grow near El Amparo in the state of Coahuila, Mexico and should be counted to the Lophophora fricii complex.
The Cactaceae, Volume III, Plate X
I have recently bought some Lophophora decipiens seeds from Steve Brack and look forward to see how they develops.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Flowering Lophophora koehresii
Flowering Lophophora koehresii; close-up
Back in August this year my grafted Lophophora diffusa var. koehresii (RS 1182; El Sabino, San Luis Potosí) flowered for the first time.
Flowering Lophophora koehresii grafted on Trichocereus pachanoi stock
Despite the difference in size of the two Lophophora diffusa var. koehresii scions in the above photo they were both started as part of the same batch of seeds March 3, 2007. The largest of the scions was grafted June 7, 2007 and when the Trichocereus pachanoi stock grew an offset I grafted another seedling on it May 5, 2008.
Flowering Lophophora koehresii (RS 1182; El Sabino, San Luis Potosí)
Lophophora diffusa var. koehresii is described as being of smaller size than the other Lophophora species (possibly with the exception of the newly described Lophophora alberto-vojtechii), and having a dark green epidermis and pinkish-white flowers with a light brownish mid stripe. The flower and epidermis of my plant fit the description while it might be difficult to say anything useful about size as the plant is grafted. As mentioned above the plant is still very young but I'll watch it closely as it matures.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Flowering Gymnocalycium calochlorum
One more flowering cactus of the summer past. I don't have many Gymnocalycium plants in my collection but find the ones I have quite interesting – especially the large flowers and the naked calyx are fascinating (the genus name Gymnocalycium comes from the Greek for "naked calyx").
Gymnocalycium calochlorum flower buds
I bought this Gymnocalycium calochlorum (Mina Clavero, Córdoba, Argentina) a couple of years ago and it has been growing in my coldhouse since. It is coping well in this environment and is showing off a wealth of flowers each summer.
Gymnocalycium calochlorum flower buds; close-up
The pale pink flowers with the burgundy throat are quite beautiful and almost hide the plant.
Flowering Gymnocalycium calochlorum
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Flowering Matucana madisoniorum
I was sorting out my photos and found a few pictures of plants that flowered this summer.
Flowering Matucana madisoniorum
This Matucana madisoniorum plant was bought earlier in the summer from Kakteen-Haage to experiment with growing it in my coldhouse. The species is said to be pretty cold-tender so the chances for survival are probably not the best - it would be sad, though, not to see it display its beautiful orange-red flower again.
Flowering Matucana madisoniorum – close-up
The species was originally described as Borzicactus madisoniorum by Hutchison in the journal of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America (vol 35 (6), pp. 167-172) and later transferred to the genus Matucana. The description was accompanied by the plate below.
Plate description: Borzicactus madisoniorum. Composite plate by May Bios, 1958, from different plants under cultivation, all of the type collection. 1, 2. Apical views of spiny and spineless plants. 3. Lateral view of flower. 4. Apical view of flower. 5. Longitudinal section of flower. 6. Stigma. 7. Funicles. 8. Ripe fruit. 9. Dried fruit. 10. Lateral view of seed. 11. Bottom view of seed. 12. Lateral view of seed, the dotted lines showing the extent of invagination of the hilum. 1-5, 8, 9, natural size. 6, x 4.5.10, 11, x 70. 7, greatly enlarged.
Matucana madisoniorum has its natural habitat in Amazonas, Peru with a very limited distribution, it has been heavily collected and faces an unknown future in the wild.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Lophophora alberto-vojtechii at a glance
I recently received the 2008 (2) issue of the Cactus & Co journal describing a new Lophophora species, Lophophora alberto-vojtechii. The mature plants of the lilliputian species are less than 2 cm (0.8'') wide and the flowers are said often to be larger than the diameter of the plant.
Flowering Lophophora alberto-vojtechii
You can find more details in this post: Lophophora alberto-vojtechii, a new miniature species in the genus Lophophora
Friday, October 03, 2008
How soon after your Lophophora flowers can you expect a fruit?
I was asked this question in a comment a while ago. I could not give an answer that was more precise than flowers pollinated early in the growing season would set fruit later the same year so I decided to investigate the question further.
Freshly pollinated flowers marked with yellow cotton
Friday July 18 I marked 5 freshly pollinated flowers on my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Texas) with yellow pieces of cotton - the cotton was attached to the spent flowers using nail polish. The flowers were all pollinated 1 and 2 days prior to being marked.
All I had to do now was lean back, relax, and wait for the fruits to pop out.
Wednesday September 10 – less than 8 weeks after pollinating the flowers – all 5 fruits had appeared.
Lophophora williamsii fruits
Lophophora williamsii fruit up close
The first fruit (in the right hand side of the photo below) appeared more than a week earlier than the others and consequently looks a bit withered.
Offset with fruits
Another offset with fruit
So a more precise answer to the question above is that you can expect your Lophophora williamsii plant to set fruits within 7-8 weeks after pollination. At least that is the case for a grafted plant in good growth.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Copenhagen Botanical Garden revisited
The first weekend of September I visited Copenhagen Botanical Garden again. As described earlier the garden has a cactus house open to the general public as well as a propagation house that you can't enter. Flowering and otherwise interesting plants are put on display close to the entrance of the propagation house so even though you can't enter you still have a chance to enjoy some of the gems hidden away inside this house. An example is the beautiful flowering Ariocarpus fissuratus pictured below.
Flowering Ariocarpus fissuratus
Ariocarpus fissuratus flower
Lots of interesting plants are on display inside the publicly accessible cactus house. I especially fell for the lone Ariocarpus retusus tucked away among some larger plants.
Ariocarpus retusus
Ariocarpus retusus seen from above
Another beauty growing among much larger plants is a (slightly dehydrated) Astrophytum asterias.
Astrophytum asterias
The cactus house holds a large collection of Mammillaria as for example this Mammillaria prolifera var. texana that certainly lives up to its name.
Mammillaria prolifera var. texana
Back in the propagation house a group of Strombocactus disciformis was also on display. The plants are growing in rocks mimicking their natural habitat.
Strombocactus disciformis
My previous post on the Copenhagen Botanical Garden & Museum featured several pictures of the greenhouses so I won't bring any here except for a photo showing the top of the main greenhouse reflected in the water lilly pool in front of it.
Greenhouse reflected in the water lilly pool
Monday, August 11, 2008
Coldhouse grown Lophophora williamsii - the next generation
Four years ago I started my first batch of coldhouse grown Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Texas) from seed. I've lost a few plants to frost during the years but the survivors have coped surprisingly well, enduring the Danish winters in an unheated greenhouse without problems (that being said, I still worry a bit for the plants every winter ;-).
Flowering Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Texas)
The plants are now old enough to flower and have been doing so freely all summer. The above photo was taken late June and today the plants are still flowering.
I have pollinated as many flowers as possible - if more plants flower at the same time the flowers are cross-pollinated, otherwise selfed. A cotton-tipped swab can be used for transferring the pollen from the anther and deposit it on the stigma.
Lophophora williamsii pollinated with the help of a Q-tip
Lophophora williamsii with pollen deposited on the stigma
The plants have already set the first fruits (the picture below was taken at the end of July) - I can't say if these fruits are the result of the flowers being pollinated 5 weeks before, but I'm currently conducting some experiments to get a better understanding of how much time passes between a flower is pollinated and the resulting fruit appears.
Fruiting Lophophora williamsii
As mentioned above I cross-pollinate my Lophophora williamsii plants when possible (I don't cross plants from different locations though). This might be a waste of time as preliminary studies by Martin Terry indicate that outcrossing is close to zero (i.e. selfing is virtually 100%) in natural populations and all individuals in a given population are clones. The study is based on data from three Texan populations, including Starr County, and the results are not definite - but if the results are correct it would also mean that my surviving (Starr County) plants are not more fit for the coldhouse, genetically speaking, than the ones that died off as they are/were all clones... and I thought I was witnessing a live "selection of the fittest" drama. Anyway, I'll harvest the seed soon to start the next generation of coldhouse grown Lophophora williamsii ;-)
----------------------
Read the comments for a discussion on the use of the word "clone".
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Lophophora flower fest
Several of my plants are flowering right now, including many of the large undetermined Lophophora plants I bought earlier this spring. The plants were sold as Lophophora williamsii but body morphology and flower color suggest that many of them are actually Lophophora diffusa. Even though they flower, it is still difficult to determine the species of some of the plants conclusively, so I suspect them to be of hybrid origin. A handful of flower photos are included below.
Flowering Echinocereus reichenbachii
I have been growing Echinocereus reichenbachii in my coldhouse for a while but never seen any flowers until last week. Several of the plants flowered for the first time - an impressive sight.
Flowering Echinocereus reichenbachii
The flowers are excessively beautiful with their silvery pink to magenta petals, bright yellow anthers, and the fresh green stigma in the center of it all.
Echinocereus reichenbachii flower, close-up
The flowers seem rather variable both in the number and color of the petals. The flower pictured below has fewer, larger, and darker petals than the one above.
E. reichenbachii flower with a slightly darker hue
I outcrossed the flowers and hope for seeds next year.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Time-lapse video of a flowering Lophophora williamsii
I've been away on a short vacation and it seems my grafted Lophophora williamsii (SB 854; Starr Co, Tx) has spent its "lone time" wisely and grown three flowers.
Lophophora williamsii displaying three flowers
Even though the flowers were already quite open when I returned home, I decided to attempt a time-lapse video showing the flowers open fully. Unfortunately I forgot to disable the cameras autofocus function which gives the video a shaky appearance as the camera continuously changes focus slightly.
That being said, I'm impressed by the agility of the Lophophora stamens - they seem almost to be dancing around the style. A dazzling display of thigmotropic behavior is shown 50some seconds into the video; the stamens are disturbed and fold rapidly in around the style only to resume their perpetual wiggle shortly after. In contrast to this Epithelantha micromeris v. greggii stamens never seem to move during flowering.
I yet haven't managed to create a time-lapse video that is fully satisfying (the flower must be shown from bud to full bloom, the image must not shake/autofocus, no drop outs must occur in the stream of images, etc). I'll keep trying though, but I'll bet that when everything is set for the perfect time-lapse the shutter of my good old D70 gives up the ghost just before the shoot is finished ;-)
The photos for the time-lapse were shot at intervals of 15 seconds during a period of 160 minutes. The pictures are played back at a rate of 10 frames per second, i.e. the flowering is speed up by a factor of 150 resulting in a video running for 64 seconds.
Time-lapse video of a flowering Epithelantha micromeris v. greggii
Most of my coldhouse grown Epithelantha micromeris v. greggii (Cuesta la Muralla, Coahuila, Mexico) flowered big time this week. The plants were started from seed in 2004 and are flowering for the first time.
Flowering Epithelantha micromeris v. greggii
The small creamy, off-white flowers are not spectacular but still quite a beautiful sight, especially when several are blooming at the same time. The following time-lapse video shows a flower going from bud to full bloom.
The pictures used for the time-lapse were taken every 15 seconds over a two hour period. The pictures are played back at a rate of 10 frames per second, i.e. the flowering is speed up by a factor of 150 resulting in a 48 second video. The camera was placed on an old wooden floor resulting in a couple of "wobbly" sequences. The photos were taken using natural light only, the shifting light levels are caused by drifting clouds.
I attempted to cross-pollinate several of the plants and are hoping for seeds next year.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Time-lapse videos of a flowering Lophophora jourdaniana
I’ve previously made an attempt at a stop-motion video showing the thigmotropic behavior of Lophophora stamens. It so happened that the Lophophora williamsii var. jourdaniana plant flowered again during my summer vacation, leaving me plenty of time to experiment with time-lapse videos.
The first video shows the Lophophora williamsii var. jourdaniana flower unfold (I’m not exactly an early bird so I missed the first part of the unfolding ;-)
The above video covers a time span of approximately 90 minutes, i.e. playback is sped up by a factor of 150. This is my first attempt at a time-lapse “flower movie”, as can be seen by the quality of the film. The first 11 seconds were shot while the camera was in auto-focus mode, resulting in a “wobbly” feel. I then disabled auto-focus (and lost a couple of frames in the process, which can be seen as a “jump” 11 seconds into the video) and later had to re-focus (28 seconds into the video), so it's not perfect, but not bad either. The frames were shot with the sun as the only source of light.
Next, I wanted to make a better (i.e. more frames per second) version of the thigmotropic stamens video but ended up with a version looking a lot like the original one.
The playback of the above video is sped up by a factor of 12. Unfortunately I stopped taking pictures just as the stamens started to revert to their original position. In an attempt to achieve more frames per second I played around with my cameras continuous shooting mode. Suddenly the flower was visited by an industrious bee beautifully illustrating the purpose of the touch sensitive stamens ;-)
I guess the last 2 clips would be more illustrative if they had been filmed with a regular video camera instead of an SLR, but they’ll have to do for now. Unfortunately my camera ran out of power effectively putting an end to the filming of this particular flower.
Finally I have to mention the Hydrocactus – cactus video page as the main inspiration for these experiments and the best source of cactus videos I’m aware of.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Flowering Lophophora jourdaniana, take two.
One of my Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana plants is flowering again – this time with the full cooperation of the sun, resulting in a much more well-developed flower compared to the previous one.
Flowering Lophophora jourdaniana
My two Lophophora williamsii v. jourdaniana plants are almost in full compliance with Habermann’s description (rose-violet perianth, pistil, and filaments; persistent spines on young areoles) but the open flower clearly contradicts Habermann’s claim of cleistogamic flowers (i.e. flowers that do not open and are self pollinated). Apparently Habermann misunderstood or used this term incorrectly as the photo accompanying the type description also shows a plant with an open flower ;-)
Lophophora jourdaniana – thigmotropic stamens
Like many other species of cacti (including the other Lophophora species/varieties) L. jourdaniana has thigmotropic stamens, i.e. stamens that when touched fold in around the style (as is evident for the front stamens in the rightmost picture).
The following stop motion video provides a better illustration of the thigmotropic mechanism - I'll try to make a higher quality movie the next time the plant flowers.
References
Vlastimil Habermann (1975), “Lophophora jourdaniana Habermann species nova”, Kaktusy 11 (1), 3
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