Epithelantha micromeris -- in flower?

[Steve Johnson]

I tried growing Epithelanthas back in the early '70s, but had horrible luck with them -- too advanced for a very young beginner, I suppose. I just love their form with all that dense white spination, so I decided to try my luck again with an E. micromeris when I got one in May. Ian told me a few things about them (Craig Fry also mentioned that they can take a long time to establish), and I may finally be growing one with some success. Now here's something I just noticed at the growth point:

Epithelantha_micromeris02262013.jpg (201.5 KiB) Viewed 2044 times

Epithelantha_micromeris02262013_detail.jpg (138.84 KiB) Viewed 2044 times

Is that actually a tiny flower bud in there? I haven't seen a micromeris flower for me before, although I believe that March would be about the right time for it. If I'm right this should be the first of many, and at least for me a pretty major achievement if the plant continues to live well over the growing season.

[iann]

Might be. A bit early, but your weather now is easily nicer than my weather when Epithelanthas flower. The flower will appear as if by magic when it's ready, no need to get the microscope out.

[hoteidoc]

Well, you know how us "hovers" can be, Iann -- esp. if you're still weeks away from any "real" signs of Spring. Have a Pedio. simp. v. minor I'm doing the same! Actually have a micromeris, too, but got it over the Holidays, so not really even looking! -- Right!

[CoronaCactus]

It should flower soon, we had a few at the nursery in bloom yesterday.
Get your magnifying glass out, those flowers are super small!

[Peterthecactusguy]

lol micro means small .. so what does meris mean? lol

[Subverted]

lol micro means small .. so what does meris mean? lol

I am not sure this is correct...but -meris refers to a part of something. So combining the info given on Cacti-guide about the etymology of the genus name* and you get...a cactus with flowers, which have small parts, upon the tubercles...I think.

* -

Etymology -The generic name "Epithelantha" derives from the Greek word Epi meaning "upon, on, at, over"; the Greek word thele meaning "nipple" referring to the tubercles, and anthos meaning "flower". Thus the genus name implies: "flowers upon the tubercles".

[Steve Johnson]

lol micro means small .. so what does meris mean? lol

I am not sure this is correct...but -meris refers to a part of something. So combining the info given on Cacti-guide about the etymology of the genus name* and you get...a cactus with flowers, which have small parts, upon the tubercles...I think.

Etymology -The generic name "Epithelantha" derives from the Greek word Epi meaning "upon, on, at, over"; the Greek word thele meaning "nipple" referring to the tubercles, and anthos meaning "flower". Thus the genus name implies: "flowers upon the tubercles".

According to Cactuspedia, the species name "micromeris" means: with small parts or divisions.

[DaveW]

There is a good Italian/English article on Epithelantha here:-

http://www.atmosfera-d.it/images/storie ... _Epith.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Steve Johnson]

Dave, thanks for digging up these articles and posting them on the forum. I'm always interested in expanding my cactus knowledge whenever I can, so keep 'em coming!

[Steve Johnson]

I looked at my micromeris a bit earlier this morning, and yep -- there are a few tiny buds in there. While I don't need to bring out a microscope for it, the 3X magnifier I have sure helps. We're due for 80 tomorrow, 85 on Friday, then 80 again on Saturday before the daytimes cool down again. Let's see if that'll give me a photo op for some micromeris flowers over the weekend!

[Steve Johnson]

Oops, almost missed it -- that is a micromeris flower! First, this'll give you a little sense of scale (pun intended):

Epithelantha_micromeris02272013.JPG (150.21 KiB) Viewed 1955 times

Now to get in about as close as I can:

Epithelantha_micromeris02272013_detail01.JPG (61.2 KiB) Viewed 1955 times

Epithelantha_micromeris02272013_detail02.JPG (93.01 KiB) Viewed 1955 times

Sure tiny, and Darryl you weren't kidding were you? Although it was too late in the season to see the micromeris flower when I got it, I certainly know what the consequences were -- fruit, fruit, and more fruit! I'll expect to see more consequences over the Summer and well into Fall.

By the way, I've been using Photoshop for cropping, adjusting brightness and contract when needed, and sharpening for everything. DaveW just recommended using unsharp mask, so I post-processed after sharpening with his unsharp mask setting at 80%, radius 2 pixels, and threshold at 5 levels. So, how do those photos look to you? Good, or overdoing it?

Thanks!

[gemhunter178]

No matter how small, a flower is a flower and this one's pretty!

[Aiko]

Pollinate it, and you will get some bright red colours to look at shortly!

[iann]

Pollinate it, and you will get some bright red colours to look at shortly!

These things are very effective at pollinating themselves. Not many pollinators get in my greenhouse but these always have fruit. They probably pollinate themselves even if the flowers don't open.

[Steve Johnson]

Pollinate it, and you will get some bright red colours to look at shortly!

These things are very effective at pollinating themselves. Not many pollinators get in my greenhouse but these always have fruit. They probably pollinate themselves even if the flowers don't open.

They sure do - I got about 23 fruits last year, and it was fun to see them pop out from the end of May to about mid-October. I picked them periodically, but this year I may try to keep as many of the fruits on as I can and see what the panoply will look like in about 9 months.