Kew and the Titan

 Don't know if I've posted this but, its been an exceptional year for plants, here, especially at Kew, where they've had not one but two Titan Arums flower. 

I've seen both but came too early for the first, as I could only get the day off a few days before it opened, but a Facebook notification got me to see the second bloom, as they posted on a Friday and said it'll be open for the next 24-36 hours. 

So we decided to head on down to West London and have a look. A disclosure for those, I also wanted to have a butchers at their Agave montana which was also going to flower, but am far too early for that, its in the same general area but outside near the alpine house. 

Love that this is marked as the Agave Death bloom

There's another Agave in bloom this one is marked as X Leopoldii and Wiki has it as a hybrid between filifera and schidigera. You can see that outside the front of the Princess of Wales conservatory.

x leopoldii in bloom

The Titan itself is of course inside the tropical zone and while over now, is huge. I'm guessing at most 3m / 10ft 5 tall but can see it easily over 2.5m 8ft. I couldn't determine a smell but supposedly its bad, and the typical rotten meat stench to bring in the pollinators. More on that below. 

Amorphophallus titanum 

You can't go all this way and not check out the arid zone, especially if your a cactus nut like myself. A few mesembs are out including a Lithops and one of the shrubby Cephalophyllums but the two I'm singling out are the popular starfish flowered Stapelia grandiflora and the unknown Pyrenacantha malviflora.

Couldn't smell this one either, but you get the idea.

I'm guessing this is what was going on inside the titan arum, but made more clearer to see from this Asclepiad (and on a much smaller scale). The flower attracts flies to pollinate it and while it doesn't have the size advantage of the titan or broadcast range, this will still bring them in the dry South African desert. 

Not to be confused with Pyracantha or firethorn

This Pyrenacantha was also flowering, but this weird caudiciform hasn't got much in the way of flowers, those long catkins are what passes for its bloom. You can see the fruit form in the corner and from what I've read could be viable. It may need a male and or female or its flowers could be Bisexual (having male and female blooms on the same plant) its not clear.

With the main halls done, I had a look outside before taking the long bus ride home back to the suburbs. 

Jackdaw, not common in London

Pinya De Rosa again

 This is a place I have been to twice. The last time was when we took part in a garden bus tour a good ten years back, and cost us 10 euro to travel to two gardens and had to deal with holding a parrot! to get in. only to find that it had declined from when we were here last.  Why bring this up now, well I have found a new article from the 1960's in the old Cactus Society of Great Britain Journal, describing its creation and such. If I'm checking old Hard drives I'll put up a few photos from there to tide you over, but for now have a reprint of the article. 

Acclimatisation garden "Pinya De Rosa" Juan Panella Bonastre botanist at the Barcelona Gardens.

A meeting of a few friends, lovers of the vegetable kingdom and specialising in the study of succulent plants, held at Zurich (Switzerland) in September,  1950, afforded a personal touch to found the I.O.S. (International Organisation of the study for Succulent plants). Further, they duly arrived at certain agreements regarding the task to be undertaken concerning this significant group of plants.

One of the problems to be resolved was to arrange certain groups of succulent plants in Europe, in the open air, so that they might be able to retain as much of their natural characteristics as possible, which is not possible with plants cultivated in greenhouses. To succeed in the study of these characteristics it became necessary to have the use of a garden in a place with a mild climate, on a ground large enough to embrace several hundred of species, chiefly large ones, belonging to this interesting vegetable group. 

Thanks to the magnanimous contribution of Mr. Fernando Riviere de Caralt, member of the I.O.S., owner of grounds on the shores of the Mediterranean, at the touristically well known Costa Brava, Catalonia, Spain, this lack, which was the preoccupancy of all specialised lovers of these plants, has been satisfied; the Acclimatisation Garden called 'Pinya de Rosa' is maturing and developing its activity. The garden is still young, but already well advanced throughout the field of activities regarding succulent plants.

'Pinya de Rosa' lies about 70km, north of Barcelona at Blanes, Costa Brava, Catalonia, near the first cliffs, between the sea and mountains. Its position is the best for the realisation of our project. Plantations are in the open air, protected against north winds, facing south, and meet with the demanded requirements, so that their growth emulates that of their native countries. Winters are normally near 0 C, but a few days of January and / or February they reach sometimes to -1 or -2 below 0 C. Notwithstanding, it has been noticed that most plants are still growing perfectly. But last winter was extraordinarily abnormal and, at 'Pinya de Rosa', the thermometer recorded -8.5 below 0 C during these three or four days. Though some plants have not withstood this temperature, many of them are still standing and beginning new vegetation. The ground now arranged for garden has a surface of about eight hectares (nearly twelve acres), and is still able to be considerably enlarged in proportion to plantation needs.

Plants growing at 'Pinya de Rosa' embrace about 4000 distinct species; a great part of them belong to groups of succulent plants. Although there are many kinds included within this group, the garden is specially adaptable for those succulent plants which are not able to be grown in a greenhouse. Special gardens have been built for this purpose, so that  systematically planted Opuntias, Agaves, Aloes and Mesembryanthemums may be actually observed growing. All these grow, flourish and fruit perfectly, showing it was fortunate to be able to house them at such a place. After these collections have been completed, the establishing of other types of succulent plants and their acclimatisation will be undertaken for study purposes.

Material that exists there now has been received, largely, from friends and amateurs in several countries who specialise in the study of succulent plants. We trust to their help to complete and develop our projects.

At present, the systematic collections contain the following species; about 300 Opuntias, 80 Agaves, 90 Aloes and 500 Mesembryanthemums. With a view to increasing  their number, we are now in touch with people in the native countries of these plants. We are constantly receiving seeds and small plants, which are being planted in suitable places, at the right time, according to their growth.

The management of 'Pinya de Rosa' would be very grateful to all, whether professionals or amateurs for species of Opuntias, Agaves, Aloes and Mesembryanthemums. All species are worthy of interest, as they will be examined and compared, so as to enlarge the collection, which, in the end, should be of the utmost assistance, internationally, to the study of succulent plants.

The Final Duchess of Beaufort's Flowers

 

Orbea Variegata

This is the last of the succulent prints from the Duchess of Beaufort's flowers, and it depicts what would be then a Stapelia from the Asclepiadaceae, but is now better known as Orbea variegata from the much expanded Apocynaceae. Cottesloe writes:

Frankcom painted two very different plants which he called apocynum, the cactus-like one in this picture and in another illustration a convolvulus like plant. Both, however, have the same star-like flowers differing only in size.* Apocynum is also known as dogbane, from apo, 'away' and kyon 'a dog', in other words 'keep away from dogs as it is poisonous'.** All this family have poisonous milky sap but some are treated so that they can be used for emetic and cathartic purposes. The latex of some species has also provided a substitute for rubber when for some reason the latter was not available. 

This particular plant is often called the carrion plant, for it has the foetid smell of rotting flesh*** which  nevertheless appears to attract insects. The five-petalled star-like flower is quite characteristic with its green centre and purple-brown spots on pale yellow. The cactus-like leaves are actually thick fleshy stems, four-angled and deeply toothed, with perhaps an incipient leaf on the ends of some. They are found in South Africa as low-growing succulents on sand and need greenhouse protection in Britain.

The flower has a curious habit of folding over its petals when an insect alights on it which is clearly seen in the flower on the left of the painting****. The insect is trapped and is probably an aid to fertilization as this plant is not recorded as a carnivorous one. 

At a later date this species was given the name of Stapelia by Linnaeus after a seventeenth-century horticulturalist from Amsterdam called Van Stapel, who edited Theocrates' works. It belongs to the genus Asclepidaceae called after the god of medicine Asclepius, who was generally shown supported by Hygeia, the goddess of wise living and Panakeia, the goddess of cure-alls. It is interesting to note that curative methods of medicine today always advocate good hygiene and sometimes the use of pink pill as a panacea, so the goddesses could still be considered as supports for medicine. 

*Would love to know what the plate used, this unknown "sclep" is depicted on. I have a feeling its a Hoya of some kind but star-like flowers could be anything. Only the age of its discovery will narrow it down. 

** Pretty much this, its now placed in with the Oleander family of plants so if not lethally poisonous then its not the wisest to eat. The link up on the top paragraph links to the wikipedia page with its uses.

*** I used to grow this and can vouch that it does smell a bit, but unlike many of its ilk you'll need to get in close to smell it. Trust me, there are far worse smelling plants in this family.

**** No it just means that the flower has gone over. Orbea like many in this family have a massively complex means of pollination, I've heard of people using cats whiskers in order to pollinate several of these species. With seed set the plant will set out two horn like fruit which will split open to release some masses of seeds attached to cotton-like fluff.

The Duchess of Beaufort's flowers pt5

Mammillaria

 We come to the penultimate entry, labelled as an Echinocactus, when it clearly is a Mammillaria, replete with its ring of fruit. Gordon Rowley, of course, has this down as Mammillaria mammillaris and as I know and grow few Mammillaria's beside the most commonest ones, I'll agree with our former society chair here. Some real "comedy" here as the text claims that its a species of Lithops when you can plainly see its been bisected to show it internals. Gordon puts it much more succinctly, below.

This unusual picture shows examples of flowering plants on a scree or base of rocks, obviously indoors* for these are xerophytic plants which only thrive in hot dry climates.

**Echimilocactus is the name given to the round cactus in the centre, probably now called Echinocactus grusonii***. Echino means 'like a hedgehog' which is an  apt designation. The spines are numerous and are arranged like white stars with a spacing reminiscent of the geometrical pattern found in fir cones and pineapples****. These spines protect the plant from animals but have the power of  collecting any moisture that may be around and delaying transpiration from the epidermis, the thickened skin of the plant. There are deep ridges which help with the storage of water; the moist milky inside of the plant allows it to live a long time without rain, especially as it is an economical spherical shape. The red flowers and fruits***** are decoratively arranged around the plant's equator. 

The white flower****** below the cactus is probably another example of a xerophyte in full flower, a daisy-like Lithops flower from South Africa. Lithops is a species of Aizoaceae; its name means 'like a stone'. It is indeed difficult to distinguish them from  the stones and pebbles among which they grow, especially the Marmorata or marbled type. 

According to the description written by Frankcom, the small succulents on the right came from America and had milky-white flowers and red pyramid-shape fruits. Most of the cacti came from tropical America and would have been collectors' pieces in the seventeenth century. 

*My stupid brain thought that this would have been a sketch from real life, but it seems that its a copy of a copy of a painting by Commelijn. Rowley talks about an Orangery where this was grown and I'd hope there was some sort of bed and rock arrangement where these where grown, or at least some terracotta pots.

** Echimilocactus is a name I haven't heard before, and neither has the internet it seems. Maybe valid in the 18th century but not now. 

*** So wrong, its Mammillaria mammillaris Ironically, although the golden barrel cactus is mentioned it's now in its own species as Kroenleinia rather than Echinocactus. A species I think is spectacularly ugly. 

**** See Fibonacci  for what is going on here, and yes, Mammillaria has tubercles rather than ribs so it works.

***** Only the fruits are red in this and Frankcom's description below of the plants is correct. The plant comes from the Caribbean islands and down into Venezuela and I wonder what the extent of it is in that benighted country. 

****** Wrong its been cut in half to expose the stem and show how where the milky sap comes from.   I have seen photos of cross sections of Lithops stems to show the leaves and stem as well. As for tropical America its more like the dry deserts of the Americas both south and north along with Mexico. 

The Duchess of Beaufort's Flowers pt4

Finally my room is back to what it was and this time  we have an Aloe arborescens in flower as our subject. The text has states:

There are over a dozen pictures in the manuscripts of the plant, *Aloe. The one illustrated here was painted by Frankcom who chose to paint the flowering specimens. Those painted by Kychicus were representative of the plants grown from seed which came from the Cape of Good Hope, some still in seedling form. 

Wild Aloes are shrubby xerophytes which are able to adapt themselves to dry conditions by thickening their leaves to hold reserves of water as does the cactus. The leaves form a rosette around the stem out of which the flowers grow, bur some have a stalk or trunk** which can reach a height of twenty or thirty feet in their native country. Those the Duchess grew may have come from South Africa, but at a later date they were imported from Abyssinia and Madagascar, where it is said the juice of tree aloes is used medicinally as a purgative.

It is popular as a house plant as the rosettes of thick fleshy leaves are very varied, often with a triangular section and prickles on the margin which may be crowded or few, green white or yellow. The leaves may have white patches or stripes. The flowering stems may be branched and the flowers can vary from a drab olive green and yellow to a bright pinkish orange***. They are mostly They are mostly tubular and clustered rather like a small red hot poker (Kniphofia). The one depicted by Frankcom has flowers with a green tip to the orange incurving perianth. Frankom describes it in the index as having a stalk below the rosette, leaves encircling the stem, plain not spotted, and states that he painted it in 1703 and it came from Africa. It comes early in his book so perhaps it was one of his first paintings hence his more than usually detailed note.

Gordon Rowley writes in Bradleya that the notes to this were confused with an Agave, with is massive terminal flower spike in contrast to the more regular annual flowering of Aloes.

Incidentally I'm not sure who the Frankcom mentioned as artist in this could be. A search brings up a watchmaker and engraver of the same name but not an artist.

* Rowley logs this as ten instances of 7 different species.

** These tree Aloes are now treated as a separate species, Aloidendron. Indeed, looking at the list on Wiki, they do indeed, come from South Africa, Arabia and parts of east Africa. 

*** Aloe flowers range from yellow and orange to pink and a brickish red, with albiflora a rare outlier with white flowers. They all have green tips to the flowers, which remain straight rather than in Gasteria which is allied to them, but who's flowers are bent like a stomach and remain in a line unlike Aloes whose flowers are shrubby and branching.

The Duchess of Beaufort's Flowers PT3

 

So this plate which has two Sedums in it as well as a Snowdrop and Thorn Apple (Datura) main focus. The Sedums shown are a bit of mystery and Gordon Rowley has it as either Dasyphyllum or Sedum Acre, both of which are a poor fit.

The main text referring to this plate also has it as:

On the right are two Sedums, one merely a cluster of leaves and the other in flower. Sedums belong to a large family widely distributed over the northern hemisphere. The majority of the species grow in temperate regions but when they are found in latitudes nearer the equator, they appear on mountain slopes. They have the ability to use cracks in the rocks and to cling to the surface, whether in the rock garden or in the wild. They were known to the Ancients and also to the medieval herbalists, but they were not listed until Linnaeus wrote his Species Plantarum fifty years after these paintings were completed. Then there were only fifteen known species but now over *five hundred have been identified, mainly due to the plant hunters' explorations of Mexico and western China. For this reason it is difficult to decide which species Kychicus has painted, so perhaps it is as well to leave it with his designation- 'Sedum with a white flower'. 

The elongated flower spikes are throwing me a bit on this and the general oddness of the rosettes, I seriously thought the other plant not in flower was an Echeveria. I'm pretty sure due to its age and that the other plants are European in nature that the flowering plant is Sedum album the white stonecrop. The other plant that is just a rosette (if we infer that its also from Europe) is a form of Sempervivum, probably tectorum.

* Kew puts this at 488 species scattered across the world  

The Duchess Of Beaufort's Flowers pt1

 

Happy new year. This is going to be a series for most of the coming month ahead if not leading into February. I picked up this book at a boot-sale last year and have just gotten round to reading it. It's an old flora with some commentary on what the various species are grown by Mary Capel, the first Duchess Of Beaufort.

As a cactus fan, we'll only cover that which depicts succulents and I'll give a commentary on what I think the plants are as the people writing are unfamiliar with what they are. I note that there is a write up in an old Bradleya by Gordon Rowley, if I can find it for download or sale I'll see if we agree. (He was BCSS president so he'll be much more right than I ever will). Anyway this is the entry for plate 7 as seen above.

Plate 7 Ficoides and Statice.

Ficoides is the name  given in the index to no fewer than seventeen plants painted by Kychicus, mostly small daisy-like flowers with succulent leaves shown at the base of a group. The word "Ficoides" means literally 'like a fig' but there is no resemblance to the fig leaf or family in the plants painted nor is there a plant called by that name in horticulture now. Kychicus, however, also records that they were from South Africa. Now there is in that country a plant called vygie in Afrikaans which means "little fig" and refers to the edible fruits of the mesembryanthemum which is also called Hottentot fig and fig marigold. Both the fruits and the leaves of this plant have a slight narcotic content and act as a stimulant. In East Africa the crushed fruit is used in the making of bread and the ash as a source of washing powder. 

It is indeed a very large family of curious plants both recumbent and tall but each having a daisy-like flower and yet not of the daisy or Compositae family. The family Aizoaceae is called after the iceplant whose fleshy leaves have innumerable translucent dots which shine like dew drops in the shade but in the sun appear as brilliant crystals, and whose leaves seem always cold to the touch.

Mesembria means 'midday' and anthemon is a flower, thus the name describes the flower's  habit of only opening in full sun. Dorotheanthus* and Livingstone daisy are other modern names for the plant painted by Kychicus. They grow in this country from seeds or cuttings taken from the thick leaf and if placed in a sunny position provide flowers useful for bedding designs in vivid colours including crimson, purple, orange, blue and yellow. The illustration shows their versatility. The centre plant is a tall white mesembryanthemum with slim yet succulent leaves; on the right are two with yellow flowers, one a tall plant with a rough stem almost like a trunk of a tree and the other a recumbent variety with a larger flower. On the left are two not in flower but with an interesting and different leaves. 

So a rather nice potted history on the genus Aizoaceae. She's wrong on a few points here and doesn't drill down species shown. There are no blue flowered mesembs, but all other colours mentioned are correct as are the uses. Sceletium and Psilocaulon used to be used for a mild narcotic and as ash in lye making and are now treated as part of the much expanded Mesembryanthem genus. 

*Dorotheanthus is now treated as part of Cleretum another annual species. 

Finally you can grow them from cuttings and indeed seeds which I have done in the past. though the more stemless varieties are better off grown from seed. Finally I'll give you my definition of what I think these species represent. 

Across from the top left is:

A statice or sea lavender.

An unknown shrubby mesemb, which I thought was a species of daisy but now I'm looking at it properly, seems to be a white flowered Lampranthus. It's not Ruschia as its not pink. Though it could conceivably be a Delosperma.  EDIT. Finally its Delosperma Ecklonis.

Some unknown Asteraceae species. Due to its composite flower I'm going to guess a fleabane or likewise. I know it by sight but not by name. 

From the bottom row.

Orbea Variegata. A well known Asclep, with its starfish flowers and bad smell. Some of you may know it as a Stapelia. 

Glottiphyllum.  Although they couldn't place this in the book. Its obvious to me with its huge fleshy leaves and big yellow flowers that this is a Glottiphyllum. Helps that last quarter's journal had a guide to the species, but this doesn't help narrow it down, as they are notoriously hard to tell apart.

Nolina at Lullingstone

 So via the BCSS eNews letter we only learned about this on Tuesday when July's newsletter was emailed out. 

Tom Hart Dyke's World Garden, has the first flowering of Nolina hibernica  A big non spiky relative of Agave, along with Dasylirion (more later) makes up most of the succulent flora of Mexico and the Southern US states.

Donated by Paul Spracklin (who, not mentioned in the article, has his own cactus garden in Essex) it was collected from the mountains of Mexico. And as the hot weekend in September falls when we're away next, is most definitely worthy of a field trip.

Wish I'd have known it was flowering from May as when I visited it was past it's prime, still impressive but would love to see it in all its glory. 

A few things I'd mention before getting to the point, there is a new footpath leading down from Shoreham road via the farm ending up at the Roman Villa. It cuts off the need to go down the increasingly busy road and cut through the woods. The other thing is the main Cafe at county park seems to be gone now. Unless I'm being blind and stupid as usual, your only chance for a cuppa is in Lullingstone castle grounds.

Hogweed along the river.

Anyway it doesn't matter that the Nolina had flowered, there was much better stuff to make up for it. Looking around the church at the tombs and memorials, I notice that the Elizabethan equivalent of the current owner was also a well travelled man. Would like to know more about Sir George Hart Knight, but find no info online. 

Sir George Hart Knight

The main World garden is of course well worth a visit along with the Hot and Spiky greenhouse. Where as I've mentioned several times that the Nolina had flowered it seemed that several things adjacent to it were also in bloom. This includes a Cylindropuntia and Dasylirion berlandieri which is coming into bloom. 

 

As for the Nolina well after talking about it judge for yourself.  

Still impressive though. 

We had a look around the hot and spiky greenhouse before catching the train back home. All in all well worth it. 

Steel coloured Eryngo 

Is Aloe Vera, Vera?

 I'm asking this weird question because, well is what we grow as Aloe Vera, really Aloe Vera. Because I've seen pretty much a variety of leaf styles on what purports to be Aloe Vera.

It all began in the week when someone threw out a perfectly good Aloe along with a totally unsuitable ceramic planter complete with zero drainage holes. Took all the soil off it and repotted it at home, but before I did so I gave it a virtual I.D. in an app I use, and it says its Aloe Vera, when I can tell that the former is true, the latter wasn't. 

To me Aloe Vera is a plant that is medium sized with no maculation on the leaves, a uniform grey colour with either orange or yellow flowers.

Some pics I've seen here has it with saw edged leaves (surely Arborescens) or maculate and green in colour with orange flowers. 

Or if you want a link to what I mean, this is a great example. I have a sneaking suspicion that this could be a juvenile form as the spots in this seem to be on smaller plants. I could well be wrong, though.

I've still drawn a blank on what it my Aloe may be, AI doesn't help and a look through society books and journals will be of some use. I'm pretty sure it's not a Haworthia, though the real acid test will be if it flowers. If its has a typical Aloe flower (large stem, straight, either yellow, orange, pink or red) I know its not a Haworthia (small stem, green and white striped flower). To me it seems too large a plant for it to be a Haworthia. I will add a photo and see it either Google image or Tineye will know. Failing that I'll have to ask at club if any of the old heads will know what it is. 

RARE and EXTINCT at Kew

Nice day out to Kew for the first time since our disastrous trip last year. A dull day to look around the gardens and for once in a blue moon a Facebook ad that wasn't auto blocked was relevant to my needs. 

An exhibition on plants that are endangered or now extinct in the wild from a variety of sources. Its on till the 17th of November in the small octagon bits between the main Temperate house, if you're interested. With a few overspill bits in the main Temperate house. We went on the Friday and like I said it was a dull day. As I'm not a member I had to pay £15.50 to get in (the cheapest I've had for ages) and had a look round. 

First impressions. Not mentioned really but there is quite a healthy Jackdaw population here that I've never seen elsewhere in London and the most Jays I've seen in one place too. The main exhibition is free to enter (it takes up the whole temperate house) and shows a variety of plants that are either extinct in the wild or critically endangered. This includes various island flora such as St Helena and a few taxa from South Africa (Conophytum and a Whorled Heath) along with the Lady's Slipper Orchid which is nearly extinct here in the UK. I'm not sure about there being 200 species of Conophytum but thanks to the Chinese they are being collected to extinction, which is not good.

St Helena Redwood.

Something doubly rare. Aloe Albiflora a white flowered Aloe, which if you know Aloes , are vanishingly rare as a flower colour. 

Racist plants.

 This article turned up in the paper on Wednesday, via the Beeb's Gardeners World magazine. Its a pretty poor version of the one as it gives six plants that are supposedly racist. Mostly that they were found by people who at one time owned slaves. 

That's it, the only people with the funds to explore in the nineteenth century, were also the ones bringing back plants to the UK and Europe. Stuff like Camellias and Wisteria, which are the epitome of suburban gardens round here. 

The other thing is things called Hottentot. Which is supposedly a racist name for a certain race of San Bushman. So it's not things like the actual Hottentot Fig Carpobrotus Edulis, an invasive succulent naturalized in many areas around the world, but something not actually flagged up. The Jade Necklace plant which I never knew as anything but Crassula Jade Necklace. Crassula Rupestris X Marneriana to give its proper Latin binomial.

They also don't mention Mother In Laws Tongue now sadly retconned to Snake Plant or Mother In Laws Cushion (Kroenleinia Grusonii) which we know now to be a weird Ferocactus / Echinocactus hybrid. Which is weird, but understandable, as it comes under sexism / Les Dawson jokes.

Offbeat oddities. Samh

We are reading through Panorama of Saudi Arabia, a badly edited book on, well, Saudi Arabia. Its a mish mash of Islam and poetry and black and white photos of various bits and pieces of Arabian life. There is however a list of plants with Latin names and their corresponding names in Arabic. 

The upshot of this is, well we have a mesemb, Mesembryanthemum Forskahlei (now Cryptanthum or Opophytum Cryptanthum according to my trusty Hartmann pdf.). Along with a few Asclepiads and Glassworts. Its Arabic name is Samh and seems to have some sort of medical potential for ulcer control and a ethnobotanical use for controlling blood sugar. It also seems to be used in cooking as the seed is ground to make flour. I quote 'and samh, a wild seed, is collected in northern Arabia to make coarse bread. 

Mesembryanthemum is now this weird mix of annual and non annual plants now. Can remember the BCSS journal when it proposed that the species Aptenia Phyllobolus and Browannthus were part of it now along with Sceletium which is used for chewing tobacco in South Africa. Opophytum as it was, is one of the weird annuals that nobody grows. I'll probably side with Heidi Hartmann that they are separate from Mesembryanthemum proper, as its an annual and such. But I'm willing to reconsider if we get a big DNA analysis showing familial lines

The book, well the best thing I can say about it is that it needs a bloody good proof read. So that you don't get stuff like this sneaking through on every page. 

Edit. Pic working now. 

Necrolog John Pilbeam

 Sad to say we lost our branch founder early in September. I was on holiday and only found out about this now. 

He was a great writer and speaker, who travelled to many places in search of cacti. He had a place out in Chelsfield where he sold cacti and where I went for our first fish n chip supper. Most of all, he could write and his books were readily available for sale either at shows or at our meetings. 

I'll link to the only book I ever had of his as a beginner back in 198x or so.  But it wasn't just books for beginners, there were species specific guides for Stapeliads or some of the genera of  the Cactaceae.

 

Kew

This day has sucked balls. Supposed to go on  trip out to Kew via our local Cactus club. Meet up 10:30 outside the gate. Decide to get up in time leave house at 9 walk into town get the DLR and jump a  few tube trains and make it in time.

Reality is this. We pass 2 Jehovah's witness stalls which is instant bad luck and not only miss my slot but come in late and miss the tour (back ends of Kew) which suck. I get trains cancelled and bus drivers changing. And worse of all realize I could have just gone on cross rail and exited at Ealing to get a bus there, instead of the mad dash I had to do just to get there 15 minutes late.

The upside of this is I saw a few good things such as a prickly pear in flower and the Ghost Orchid from Florida, thanks to glare though no photos.

Edit. OK have this air plant instead.

Holiday pt2 Beasts and plants

 Last weeks blog was all about the stuff I watched on television. From Crimen in Parasio (Death In Paradise) to an insincere robot on This Morning. This week, fauna.

That area around Alcudia, Santa Margalida, is known for its wildlife and area's of natural beauty. From the public farmlands of Finca Son Real,(ES) to the pinewoods and bird sanctuary at s'Albufera. You are pretty much spoiled when it comes to nature here. Some pretty dramatic weather meant we couldn't really go swimming in the sea, but we did manage to go hiking about, which more than made up for it. 

Weather wise, it wasn't all that, typical English summer, with a few nice days, a storm and a few overcast and windy days. The best of the weather was when we went home. Which is always the way. Put it this way Burgos got snow for the first time ever. Granted its Northern Spain, but its still strange and unseasonal weather. 

Anyway, what did  I see. Along with the small river, with its ducks and coot. There was a small egret and cormorants by the see along with an Audoins gull with its call that sounded like Geoff. A few nice bugs including a Mole cricket, a regular cricket and a tortoise. Also a really long millipede. 

A weird one here. We saw a Two Tailed Pasha Charaxes jasius butterfly drinking the cuckoo spit from a froghopper nest. If anyone knows quite what it's gaining from this I'd love to know. 

Plants

Thanks to the near alpine like conditions on the sea front there is quite a range of plants. Mostly dominated by Felty Germander and Helichrysum but there are a few other species there as well. Sea Holly, Long Horned Poppy and four types of Rockrose. Up in the hills I saw a Gladiolus in bloom for  the first time and a  few other things I can't place, including a nice Speedwell type down by the river.

Lithops mix

 Was going to do a few things as a round up today, but as its mothers day today, we went to a garden center for the first time in ages. More importantly, they had a selection of cacti and succulents for sale.

Don't know if this is available in every shop but we'll give props to Polhill for not being so bad and the fact that their farm shop is the absolute bomb, we came away with a Fentiman's Dandelion and Burdock and a half price pot of Lithops seedlings, seeing as most of them were dead.

Back home I did the usual transplant. Which is knock them out, weed out the dead one's and then repot into 2"/ 5cm pots. 

I know I've done this before on this blog, but for those who've bought one of these, and feel like pricking out 100 seedlings into individual pots. Here is my list. 

You'll want some: 

Small pots 

Soil based compost. Not peat or coir. We use John Innes 3 here in the UK. It's probably called something else, elsewhere in the world.

Small gravel. About 1mm in size. Fish tank grit is ideal. 

Small pots. 2" / 5cm are ideal. 

Labels. If you know what Lithops you have.

You'll need about a handful of compost and a handful of grit and mix together. You can add more grit if it doesn't seem open enough. Then fill all pots, make a small hole in the soil and put your Lithops in. Finally add more grit as top dressing and then you can if dry enough, water. 

These instructions also work if you've grown your own mesemb seed either MSG or another society seed and are potting on from the initial pot. 

Days out.

Had a few nights out, including a talk and our annual Xmas dinner.

The talk was by Paul Hoxey, and covered new avenues down the Mantaro river Peru. Largely due to new roads opening up the area, and largely because of mining reasons that this can be explored now.

He reckons he's found a few new species, including a short flowered Cleistocactus and a few species of Corryocactus he can't place. Also a Lymanbensonia with red flowers which looks boss.

My other day out was our Xmas meal at a pub down in Petts Wood. A lovely old building, that sadly was quite cold and such. We were in a back room that had high ceilings which didn't help, the upside of this was the food was nice and unlike work I don't have to pretend not to drink to fit in. Which is nice.

Ilford trip and cactus news

 This is just a few lines to basically say, I've decided to cross over back to the other side of the river again. I haven't been down that way in ages, and every time I go there there seems to be less charity shops and more nutters out.

The way  I go is via Gants Hill tube. You can exit and walk through the park to end up on Ilford high street. Occasionally you'll see a rat in the park, but mostly its all about the ducks and geese and of course the squirrels.

This time they seemed to have their squirrel spawner set up to 11 as there was an absolute load of them scurrying around. Setting still for a moment gets you at least three come up to see if you have any food for them and kinda felt bad not having any monkey nuts for them to hand out. By my counting I must have seen 30 or so of them just walking through. After that Ilford wasn't all that.

This sort of thing.

New species to be split from Antimima.

I'm part of a Facebook group dedicated to the more popular Mesembryanthemaceae  such as Lithops and Conophytum. These get most of the photos, but sometimes we have posted things from the stranger, more shrubbier mesembs.

Antimima was part of Ruschia a supergroup of shrubby pink flowering bushes native to South Africa, they basically made up a group in the group of more mat-forming, or dome shaped colonies. A guy posts a photo of a white flowered plant in flower and says its from MSG (Mesemb Study Group) seed, does anyone know what it is:

The reply is from Peter Van Wyk.

It is Antimima pilosula. I had the species DNA sequenced in 2020 by Dr Klak. The strange morphology does not fit with Antimima and so did the DNA also showed, it falls in a clade with 5 other species from three other genera in the eastern Richtersveld and Boesmanland and will be placed rightfully into a new genus in the future.

If I get any update on what the outcome of this research or what this new taxon will be called, I will of course update this post. 

Kew Japan Month

 So this is a thing, Kew has its own Momijigari trail along with a Japan festival for the whole of October, so if you want to explore the garden and have an interest in Japanese culture then this will probably do it. 

A warning though, book online, its a good £2 cheaper and they do not take cash at the main gates, card only sadly. Also I only got to see some of the permanent things there, including the gravel garden and Chokushi mon gate, as there was a massive queue to get in to the main event in the temperate house.

On the other hand though, those events are strictly optional and included in your entry fee. In fact over half term 16 - 31st Oct there's a Gruffalo event as well, which is worth mentioning for families.

What did  I actually see then?

Mostly quite a bit of the lower garden, including the Palm House, Princess of Wales Glasshouse and the Chokushi Gate and Yoshino Cherry pathway. Mental note, come back in spring time to see if they are in full bloom for sakura season.

Palm house is the main tropical house, holding palms and cycads but also many tropical trees such as Tamarind and a Banana in flower when I was there. Holds the oldest pot plant a massive cycad; the last of its kind.

Princess of Wales Greenhouse is not named after Princess Di but Princess Augusta although it was opened by her in 1987 and she has a memorial Maple in the garden which I also saw. making this the only Momiji of the trip.

They have a reasonable selection of cacti as it's my prime interest might actually be there for mesemb season. Caught a few conos in flower along with one of two Lithops. There were a few Opuntia in flower also. Mostly though a few odd species were in flower including a Plectranthus, an Elephant's foot yam and a Stoeberia, which can get to about 8ft making it the worlds biggest mesemb species.

Outside I saw a Jay as well as the usual crows and Magpie common to London. The chestnuts were in fruit and I saw the Gingko as well. Topped it off with a walk around the gate before going home.

Banana Flower

Dioscorea Elephantipes Flower

Stoeberia Frutescens bloom.

Paulownia Crests on the Chokushi gate.

Unknown Hoya in the Orchid section

Mexican Weekend

 This weekend is Lullingstone's Mexican Weekend, a two day event covering all things cactus and succulent. 

It's ten quid to get in, (half price for BCSS members) and that gets you a look around the world garden as well. I've been to a few events there, and its always been good. But never really on my own.

The first thing was working out how to get there without a car, I don't drive, and if Lullingstone has a station or bus service (both answers are no and no although there is a viaduct that passes over near the grounds if trains are your thing.)

The good news is that there is a station close by, Eynsford, from which you can walk. Looking on the online map, it definitely seemed doable, and while I'm not the fittest, I will walk most places if in range.

The next easiest bit was the bus connections, seeing as its my bootsale route and that we would be going on a Saturday, they should be more frequent than the Sunday service. Plus 2 trips in an hour means its a flat £1.55 fare, each way. 

The train was the tricky bit, looking on South Eastern's network map it seemed we needed the Sevenoaks train, and that it ran from Blackfriars via Swanley. Want to know why we don't travel by train much, an off peak return fare is £4.10 and that is one stop from Swanley to Eynsford. 

Main trip planned out, it all went swimmingly, I managed to get both connections and failed only on the train front as it was in the station as I arrived and had 30 minute wait for the next train. Pro tip get there on the hour or half hour and you'll only wait a few minutes.

The next step was the walk down to Lullingstone, which was not so harsh as its right in the middle of where I wanted to go. Tried the route I'd plotted online the find the gate closed, so retraced my steps and went the other route which passed through the infamous ford there and along by the Roman ruins and the eagle centre.

Paid my way inside, and had a look at the stalls, the Haworthia society were selling bare rooted Haworthias for £10 upwards. Our secretary had a stall selling plants from our late treasurer. Alongside him, John Pilbeam had his stall selling his books. Hadn't seen him in ages, so it was nice to catch up.

New branch Rother valley had a bunch of good things for sale, including some seedlings and such so got a bunch of stuff including a Haageocereus and a few Mesembs.

There was a massive Begonia for sale which was cool and by the time I had finished the Auction was getting going so decided to look around the world garden. 

There was  a small kid in there picking up stone which reminded me as a kid. (Used to do that.) Had a look around the main garden and the most incredible scent was there. Do not know were it came from, my guess its the Salvia's as they were in full bloom. They had a Colletia which smelt of butterscotch, though as its a spiky boi, the challenge was getting close enough to tell, and a there was a mint which had a liquorice scent to it.

Had a look in the hot and spikey house, there was an Opuntia in bloom along with a few other nice things. Another Begonia, a Kleinia and a few other things such a Clerodendron from Kenya.

By that time I decided enough was enough and went home, this time via the country park and found the road I should have taken the first time. It's about a kilometer in distance to the station from Lullingstone castle that way and seems the shorter route.

Plectranthus

Not the Begonia for sale but still nice.

Horse.

Europa statue.

Opuntia possibly Engelmanni.