My Cacti 2009

Post by **daiv** » Sun Apr 05, 2009 10:42 pm

Harald,
A real beauty - surely this must soften your wife's heart towards cacti, no?

Ian/Peterb -I get nervous with confusing species like this. I double checked the ones I have posted here and do believe that they are correct. Would you agree?

http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus ... pectinatus

http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus ... gidissimus

Daiv

CelticRose · Post by **CelticRose** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:22 am

Gorgeous flower!

A rose by any other name...

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:45 am

Hey Daiv, all look fine except the "rigidissimus" from Charles Barnum's garden. That looks like a fine E. baileyi clump. I have several habitat pics of rigidissimus if you want them.

peterb

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:26 am

Well, Daiv,
my wife actually was willing to take a picture or two of my E. pectinatus. However, she told me a few minutes ago, that when she arrived at our place the cactus blossoms were closed. Most likely it was past 5 p.m.. The weather was also a little cooler than usual.
I did take a few more shots on Sunday and here are the images, with two of the six buds open.

It looks like the plant is going to have perhaps four or even five blossoms open tomorrow. However, I might not take time off work to photograph them. I already do have shots like that from previous years.

Harald

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:45 am

Hello everyone,
I do have some additional digital images that I would like to show you.
First, a few last ones of Echinocereus pectinatus. This will be enough of them, I'm sure.

Its close relative, Echinocereus dasyacanthus, the Texas Rainbow, also did open its first blossom. I know, that Bill from Kansas does like these yellow flowers. Here are some images:

Another cactus - this one not an Echinocereus, but Echinocactus texensis aka "Horse Crippler" decided to begin its flowering on Sunday. This plant is over 20 years old, because it has been with me since 1986 or 1987 and it was already a decent sized plant then. I do have another E. texensis that is even larger, but I do not see any indication of flower bud formation. It does not even have any good amount of "wool". Well, maybe it will still surprise me at a later date.

Well, that is all for today. I did take a few images of a Gymnocalycium bruchii this evening and one of my Echinocereus fendleri plants (multistemmed) does have flower buds that may have even opened today, but nobody was homa to take a picture. Maybe I can talk my wife into photographing it. The problem is, that by the time either one of us returns home, most likely the blossom is closed. The plant does have afternoon shade. I am not sure, if it will be still blooming come Friday, my day off.

Harald

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:49 am

awesome, Harald! really beautiful flowers and great pics. It turns out, by the way, that pectinatus and dasyacanthus are not really that closely related. One of them is diploid and the other tetraploid, for one thing. There's a lot about this topic in Cacti of the Trans Pecos by Powell and Weedin.

peterb

tumamoc · Post by **tumamoc** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:48 am

Those look like some happy cactus. Great show, Harald!

birdguy34 · Post by **birdguy34** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:07 am

I love the E. dasyacanthus. TFS.
Chris

CelticRose · Post by **CelticRose** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:27 am

Beautiful flowers!

toddo · Post by **toddo** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:44 am

Great shots! Love the Echino's.

Post by **daiv** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:29 pm

Fantastic show Harald!

Peterb, thanks for the info. If you got pics....

ihc6480 · Post by **ihc6480** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:42 pm

Great looking Echino's Harald. Your right about me liking yellow flowers and those E. dasyacanthus flowers are superb

hegar · Post by **hegar** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:44 am

Many thanks for your nice comments. I too believe, that the Echinocereus genus does have a great number of very photogenic members.
Here is representative of another another genus. It is a Gymnocalycium bruchii, which I bought last year for only $3.00. This plant seems to be very floriferous. Because it receives late afternoon and evening sun I was able to photograph a blossom fully open at about 7 p.m.
Here are some images:

The next plant pictured is yet another Echinocereus - and it is a very pretty member of that genus. Its name is Echinocereus fendleri and it grows in the wild near El Paso. Here are three images, also taken at around 7 p.m., just before the blossoms closed up for the night.
Please excuse the messy shot of the close-up. Those hoodlum bees must have had a party, throwing all those pollen grains all over the inside of the blossom.

Also, it did not help that the flash fired. I may retake the photo, when the one-stemmed plant opens its flower.

Harald

birdguy34 · Post by **birdguy34** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:40 am

Those E. fendleri's are beautiful.
Chris

DWDogwood · Post by **DWDogwood** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:42 am

Great photos, Amazing what this domestic genus has to offer. I personally overlook them to my detriment in "favor" of the more "exotic" So. American types.