December 2011 Lobivia westii
Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2011 9:38 pm
Lobivia westii Hutchison
Growth Habits: Solitary as a young plant but will branch from the base to form large clumps with age.
Scientific name: Echinopsis maximiliana.
Common names: None found.
Synonym: Lobivia maximiliana, Lobivia caespitosa, Lobivia corbula, Lobivia corbula, Lobivia hermanniana, Lobivia westii, Lobivia charazanensis, Lobivia cariquinensis, Lobivia pseudocariquinensis, Lobivia miniatiflora, Lobivia cruciaureispina, Lobivia sicuaniensis, Lobivia intermedia
Etymology: Lobivia :- an anagram of the country Bolivia where most of the now defunct genus come from.
westii :- after James west well known Californian horticulturist.
Origin: Northern Bolivia, southern Peru.
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Compost: Usual free draining cactus mix.
Water: Regular water from spring to autumn, as with most Lobivia it will benefit from a little liquid feed from time to time (I use 1\2 strenght tomato food).
Flower: Multi coloured with an unusual shape from most other cacti (see image below)
Min temp: Sources quote anything from frost tender to -5 deg C, i tend to store mine at +5 deg C just in case.
References.http://cactiguide.com
http://www.cactus-art.biz
http://www.desert-tropicals.com
Comments. Quite an easy plant to grow, worth growing just to see those strange flowers.
Reasonably easy to grow from seed but young plants are prone to being destroyed by spider mites.
Flower image
- P1210934.JPG (58.9 KiB) Viewed 10403 times
Scientific name: Echinopsis maximiliana.
Common names: None found.
Synonym: Lobivia maximiliana, Lobivia caespitosa, Lobivia corbula, Lobivia corbula, Lobivia hermanniana, Lobivia westii, Lobivia charazanensis, Lobivia cariquinensis, Lobivia pseudocariquinensis, Lobivia miniatiflora, Lobivia cruciaureispina, Lobivia sicuaniensis, Lobivia intermedia
Etymology: Lobivia :- an anagram of the country Bolivia where most of the now defunct genus come from.
westii :- after James west well known Californian horticulturist.
Origin: Northern Bolivia, southern Peru.
Light: Full sun to light shade.
Compost: Usual free draining cactus mix.
Water: Regular water from spring to autumn, as with most Lobivia it will benefit from a little liquid feed from time to time (I use 1\2 strenght tomato food).
Flower: Multi coloured with an unusual shape from most other cacti (see image below)
Min temp: Sources quote anything from frost tender to -5 deg C, i tend to store mine at +5 deg C just in case.
References.http://cactiguide.com
http://www.cactus-art.biz
http://www.desert-tropicals.com
Comments. Quite an easy plant to grow, worth growing just to see those strange flowers.
Reasonably easy to grow from seed but young plants are prone to being destroyed by spider mites.
Flower image
- P1230205.JPG (39.4 KiB) Viewed 10403 times