Spine July 2017...Spine July 2017 Page 3 Crassula James Lucas Collecting When I started growing succulents years ago my focus was really on Echeveria and Sempervivums. My rassula then

Spine July 2017

Journal of the Cactus and Succulent Society of Australia Inc.

www.cssaustralia.org.au Inc. No. A0007275Y

Page 2

Cactus and Succulent Society of Australia

Inc. A0007275Y

PO Box 4056 Box Hill South Vic 3128

www.cssaustralia.org.au

Patron

Professor Tim Entwisle

President

Wayne Robinson [email protected]

Secretary

Brett Anderson 0401 602 791 [email protected]

Committee

Val Stevenson John Roewer

David Pretyman Bob Mitchell

Memberships

Logan Thurairatnam 9803 9492

[email protected]

Librarian

Noelene Tomlinson 9889 5237 [email protected]

FRONT COVER

Euphorbia stellata . Picture courtesy of Brian Paul Designs of California USA. This one of the best staging of a plant

that you will ever see. .

ACTION PRINTING

Hawthorn Vic 3122

[email protected]

CONTENTS Page 2 - Aeonium nobile Wayne Robinson

Page 3 - Crassula James Lucas

Page 8 - Get Together CSS New South Wales

Page 19 - Mammillaria gigantea Brett Anderson

Page 12 - Australian Stamps Australia Post

Page 14 - Plant Material Loss compiled by Brett Anderson

Page 15 - xGraptosedum ‘Giselle’ Noelene Tomlinson

Aeonium nobile Wayne Robinson

I considered writing a glowing report on this plant but I chose to go with the words from the

San Marcos Growers web page as they say it all. This is the largest I have seen but, sadly, will

not be with us for much longer - read on. Quite rightly won Plant of the Month in June.

Aeonium nobile (Noble Aeonium) - A robust species that forms large rosettes to 12 to 15

inches across with thick fleshy orange to red-tinged olive-green rounded-tip triangular leaves

that form atop a stout upright unbranched stem 1 to 2 feet tall. After several years the plant

matures and in late winter to spring produces a large inflorescence that rises on a red stalk to

display a flattened capitate head over 1 foot wide and nearly as tall with many small star-

shaped red flowers with white anthers. This is one of the monocarpic species of Aeonium so it

only flowers once but then often gardeners are rewarded with many seeds to perpetuate this

beautiful plant. Grows well in shade but develops the red coloration best when grown in full

coastal sun or at least part sun inland. Here on the coast it is drought tolerant but tolerates

regular irrigation so long as the soil is very well draining. Hardy to -4 to-6C with reported leaf

damage around -6C. An easy to grow plant that is great planted in a dry succulent planting or

used as an unusual potted specimen. This species is a bit rarer than most other Aeonium and

many consider it to be the best of the genus. This plant is endemic to the Canary Islands where

it can be found growing in lava rock and experiences dry summers while the plant is dormant

From Noelene Tomlinson - ‘I did a head cut to propagate my Aeonium nobile – worked well .’

Photos of Brett Hopkins’ plant by Ian

Painter

Spine July 2017 Page 3

Crassula James Lucas

Collecting When I started growing succulents years ago my focus was really on Echeveria and Sempervivums. My Crassula then were mainly of the more well known plants. Useful and hardy but not inspiring. This changed when at a CSSA show Heinz Staude showed a beautifully grown Crassula deceptor. I thought it was incredibly beautiful. I could not help but ask if he could spare me a piece, 3 months later he gave me my first plant.

Since then I have found the smaller growing ones very difficult to obtain and possibly the best collections were only in a few hands. But I really wanted to have a go at growing them. I finally contacted Max Holmes who very generously gave my first real start. Furnishing me with a fabulous collection, many of his own hybrids for free.

Later I found Olga Okulewicz and we traded very happily. She had some different ones, also adding some quantity where I only had a single specimen. Noelene Tomlinson was adding to my growing collection as well. Now I began growing Crassula and then the collecting really began. Even last week a really nice customer sent me a new Sedum and, yes, a Crassula namaquensis, a lovely new addition for me.

I did a talk the other week for the Australian Cactus and Succulent Society. So I thought I would put pen to paper and add some pictures which I showed for all to see. I like growing and learning about Crassula, as they are suited to the Victorian climate and do well here. It is also a finite group unlike Echeveria and its many thousands of hybrids and species with mixed up names and very fine differences.

Crassula pyramidalis two forms Crassula plegmatoides

Origins Crassula originated 60 to 70 million years ago in possibly central Africa. Quite a few things began their life there. Now the Creationists amongst us had better put their hands over their eyes. Evolution is very evident in this genus as it spread and diversified long ago. It seems that the Crassulaceae group moved around and out of Africa in a similar way as it is thought early humans did.

With supposed climate change and continental drift, Crassulas moved south, some moved North to Europe then Asia becoming Sedums, Sinocrassula etc. The southern African plants also moved via continental drift to reach New Zealand now having around 10 species of Crassula. And other related African genera having close relatives here and in the Southern American continent. So most Crassulaceae are in the Southern hemisphere.

Approximately 150 Crassula species are represented in Africa, Australia, NZ and Europe. A few are nearly worldwide now for example Sedge like plants in waterways and ponds. One Australian/NZ species, Crassula helmsii, has recently been declared a noxious weed in England as it’s taking over ponds and small waterways and wet areas there.

Crassula barklyi Crassula ‘Hammer’

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Naming Plant naming or nomenclature predominantly is based on flower form i.e. all Crassula have the same sort of flowers, even though as a genera they are much more diverse growing group than many other genera.

They inhabit bogs and waterways, some have underground tubers, most being annuals (growing and flowering then seeding and dying in one season). Others are fleshy leaved, some with papillae (nodules) or tomentose (hairy), and are many perennials (living more than one year) shrubs. There are even prostrate scramblers.

Crassula deceptor 4 types Crassula ‘Fantasy’ Crassula cuttings and mother plants

Growing Tips Growing Crassula is not too difficult, the species we seem to like to grow in pot culture, the soil must be light and free draining. I use some extra gravel with plants for long keeping or showing not wanting them to grow too fast. They need more water in winter and less in summer, their dormant time. One rule of thumb I like, is when a plant sends up a flower shoot. It is getting ready to breed this is the prime season for healthy growth and fertilization and the dissemination of seed to procreate the species when water is often more available naturally. So water more in the flowering and seeding times.

Pests and Treatments All the normal offenders will occur on the Crassula group, with all being vulnerable to Aphids and Mealy bugs. The cure is Confidor. Watch out for the oily insecticides as they are not good on hairy leaves. Again, humidity worries with Rust and fungal rots, can be a problem for Crassula which have tomentose leaves which hold the water. I use Agri Fos 600 systemic fungicide, on most rots and fungal die back in other succulents or Cactus as well as Crassulas.

And Scorpio fungicide is good for rust and powdery mildew. Unfortunately, rust permanently marks the leaves so you must wait for the new growth to cover the damaged leaves before your plants look good again.

Crassula rust Crassula mealy bug damage

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Watering They really do best in cooler but dry climates becoming more difficult the higher the humidity gets. Spots (Rust) develop on the leaves during humid times ( winter in Vic and summer in NSW and QLD). Good ventilation is beneficial. If not essential During these times try watering well, but infrequently, on a warm day, giving the plants time to dry off before nightfall.

The silver and grey plants hold water for longer than the waxy leaved ones and are more sensitive to watering, getting leaf and stem rots easily in the cooler months. Also planting them with a gravel topping helps to reduce the capillary movement of water from your mix up to the lower leaves resting on the ground.

Crassula mucosa monstrous Crassula alstonii

Light and Shade Many of the species prefer shade of about 50%. I keep mine at the eastern end of my houses where there is some added shade from some trees in the afternoon. The silver and grey ones can take more sun about 30% shade. They can elongate with not enough light, watch for this. Just remember these may be desert plants that grow in the open or in cracks or fissures or between large boulders so therefore may get very little direct light. It is up to you to find this out as every growing situation is quite different and personal as to how you grow your plants.

Crassula ‘Hoshiotome’

Crassula ‘Moonglow’ six sided

Crassula Hybrids and Cultivars There are quite a few hybrids but not nearly as many as the Echeveria group. This is one of the reasons I like working with this group. It is finite enabling a complete collection. You can get your head around the whole group quite easily. Technically a hybrid is a cross between two species occurring naturally, with insects in your plant house, or with the small paint brush of a talented hybridizer.

Crassula breeding really requires some skill. The flowers are very, very small, and once pollinated it is hard to see swollen seed capsules developing or to determine when the seed is ripe for picking. If you look carefully at the hybrids around I think you will see that there is room for some interesting breeding to be done in the future. In the hybrid group I will also list some variations which can be monstrous forms, crests, mutations, cultivars and variegations.

Not all hybrids have known parents, but a few have happened naturally in the glasshouse and noticed by the observant Crassula grower. A much more comprehensive list of species hybrids and their parentage, and hybridizers is on the ICN site. See the link below.

Crassula elegans - large form on right Crassula elegans variegate

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Crassula Hybridizers and Their Hybrids Max Holmes is Australia’s own and main Crassula breeder who has worked and studied these plants for a long time Max is possibly the most prolific breeder of this Genera. Lets see. he has created these more known hybrids. There are others he felt over time did not measure up.

Crassula ‘Alice Herbert’ Crassula ‘Amulet’ Crassula ‘Bolero’ Crassula ‘Cameo’ Crassula ‘Damsel’

Crassula ‘Daphne Holmes’ Crassula ‘Gandalf’ Crassula ‘Speckles’ Crassula ‘Talisman’ Crassula ‘Tinkerbell’

Crassula ‘Gandalf’ Max Holmes looking at his hybrids Crassula ‘Damsel’

John Trager (USA) Crassula ‘Pangolin’ Crassula ‘Fallwood’

Myron Kimnach (USA) Crassula ‘Ivory Tower’ Crassula ‘Ivory Pagoda’ Crassula ‘Coralita’ Crassula ‘Buddha’s Temple’

Crassula ‘Baby’s Necklace’ Crassula ‘Jade Necklace’ Crassula ‘Jade Tower’

Dick Wright (USA) Crassula ‘Brides Bouquet’ Crassula ‘Celia’ ‘Crassula Christina’

Roger Jones Ballarat Crassula ‘Roger Jones’

Corrado Coccorese (Italy). These are some I think he has more and will update

Crassula ‘Angela ‘ Crassula ‘Falchiria’ Crassula ‘Rosa Marina’ Crassula ‘Jedi’

Some notable hybrids

Crassula Justus ‘Corderoy’ Crassula ‘Justus’ Crassula ‘Corderoy’ variegata Crassula ‘Emerald’

Crassula ‘Green Pagoda’ Crassula ‘Tom Thumb’ Crassula ‘Parsifal’

Crassula ‘Rosebud’ Crassula ‘Claudea’ Crassula ‘Davarree’ Crassula ‘Garnet Lotus’

Crassula ‘High Voltage’ Crassula exilis ssp.cooperi (picturata) hybrids Crassula ‘Rosa’

Crassula ‘Silk Variegate’ (new find by Kim Hamilton) Crassula ‘Reia’ Crassula ‘Camaleonte’ Crassula ‘Velveta’

Rudolph Schulz (AU) cultivars mutations Crassula ‘Baby’s Surprise’ Crassula ‘Dimples’. (‘Morgan’s Beauty’ variant) Crassula ‘Frosty’

Some new Japanese hybrids and cultivars the West may not know of yet.

Crassula Coramunca ‘Sindou’ Crassula ‘Fantasy’ Crassula ‘Hammer’ (China)

Crassula ‘Moonglow’ variegate Crassula ‘Moonglow’ Hexagonal Crassula ‘Morgan’s Beauty’ variegate

Crassula muscosa Ryouja (green snake) Crassula muscosa Montrose

Crassula perforata ‘Aiboshi’ Crassula perforata ‘Daruma Star’ Crassula perforata Giant Form

Crassula perforata ‘Jyuji Boshi’ variegated Crassula rogersii ‘Variegata’

Crassula ‘Shinrei’ Crassula ‘Sakuraboshi’ Crassula ‘Springtime’ variegated

Crassula volkensii ‘Variegata’ Crassula platyphylla ‘Variegata’ Crassula elegans ‘Variegata’

Crassula elegans Monster Form Crassula ‘Karasana’

Crassula ovata GK4. GR3. GPL. Atomic forms from Korea

Spine July 2017 Page 7

Crassula Umbella Mystery: Fact or Fiction. Crassula umbella. wine cup Crassula. never seen by most people or only heard about. In the wild it’s rarely seen or photographed and seems to have opposite leaves like other Crassula and not an entire circular and flat leaf . Yet in photos on the ICN and other ones among succulent collectors we seem to see an entirely entire round leaf cup shaped red underneath. Are we looking at a Saxifrage or a Crassula. or is this a regional difference? I would love to know.

Crassula umbella Collector photo

Favoured Species These species have been favoured by the collector and gardener for many years. So therefore these are the parents of most of the hybrids that are available today . Crassula schmidtii for its pink flowers, Crassula perforata and its many hybrids, Crassula rupestris, Crassula suzannae has many hybrids to its name, Crassula barkleyi (formally teres) , Crassula elegans and forms, Crassula marchandii,. Crassula columella, Crassula cotyledonis, Crassula perfoliata, Crassula pyramidalis, Crassula quadrangularis, Crassula deceptor .

Most of these species have been the subject of most of the hybridizing effort to-date Most of these lend themselves to pot culture, which is the favoured way of growing these lovely small fat leaved plants. It also fits the trend of smaller growing plants, in small pots that people can fit many in to their collection area easily often in semi or indoor situations.

Crassula barbata cuttings Crassula ‘Moonglow’ head cuts Crassula ‘Moonglow ‘variegata

Crassula umbella wild plant photo

Page 8 Spine July 2017

Propagation Propagation is rather basic just mostly its done by cuttings, which must be dried for at least a week before potting. One thing I have noticed is that some that have tightly compacted leaves like baby’s necklace, C. marnieriana rot very easily when potted before showing roots, as it’s hard to remove the leaves back to a bare stem. I have been for some time taking cuttings leave them upright along the edge of my growing trays with the bases just sitting on the gravel or potting mix. There they start to grow some new pink roots in about 2 to 4 weeks this depends on the season then I pot.

This also stops your drying cuttings turning into bananas which don’t look good, and are hard to pot. Crassula by leaf cutting is generally good. However small leaves root but are hard to handle and very slow to make a plant. I prefer cuttings for them. Plants such as Ivory tower, fine ones like Buddha’s Temple are very hard to get any to grow reliably. So therefore cuttings are best. Good subjects for leaf cuttings are Talisman Celia Morgan’s Beauty etc. the medium sized leaves. Crassula Leaf cuttings should be dried well for a week or 10 days before putting into your pots or trays. Check my photos for examples of how I do this with varying successes. Atomic forms, I will talk about next time, how it's done, and what they are.

Please don’t think this is a complete list but it is what I know about and have found out about over the last month or so May 2017

References Crassulacea network site. The most up to date definitive site on the web

http://www.crassulaceae.ch/de/home Corrado. collector,

pages on FB. Italy

Wilco Hofstrder. Collector and grower in Holland. http://www.crassula.info/indexEN.html

Succulents Australia James Lucas Crassula Album Being added to real soon

https://www.facebook.com/pg/SucculentsAustralia/photos/?tab=album&album_id=228427610628100

Japanese Crassula. these are plants that I have either seen. and or collected. I have used the names given to me at the time or are known as in Nippon.

You as the reader, please let me know. if I have made any glaring errors or omissions, of anything you think may be important, or would be a useful additional knowledge for the Crassula interested public let me know through the contact us on the shop.

GET TOGETHER 2017

Hosted by The Cactus and Succulent Society of NSW Inc

29-30 September and 1 October 2017Gosford RSL

26 Central Coast Highway WEST

GOSFORD, NSW 2250

Accommodation

Galaxy Motel

26 Central Coast Highway, WEST

GOSFORD NSW 2250

Further Information: Kim Hamilton Email:

[email protected] Phone: 0448 249 200

[email protected]

Crassula leaf cuttings

Spine July 2017 Page 9

Mammillaria gigantea Brett Anderson

Scientific Name: Mammillaria gigantea [Hildmann ex Schumann, Gesambtb. Kakt. 578 (1898); Monatsschr. Kakteenk. 8: 126

(1898). ] The scientific name gigantea is referring to its large size compared to other species in the genus. It was named by

Heinrich Hildmann ex Karl. Schumann 1898.#1

Synonym/s Neomammillaria#2 hamiltonhoytea (Britton & Rose), Mammillaria

hamiltonhoytea, Mammillaria armatissima, Mammillaria ocotillensis,

Mammillaria hastifera, Mammillaria saint-pieana, Neomammillaria

gigantea, Mammillaria gigantea subsp. Flavovirens (considered synonym of

Mammillaria magnimamma).

Mammillaria gigantea is native to the arid deserts of Guanajuato,

San Luis Potosi, Queretaro and Durango in Mexico, which is East Central Mexico (refer the attached map). It can be found at altitudes of 1750 to 2400m and, according to Pilbeam, growing over a wide area#3.

This species is found in oak forests on volcanic soils. Mammillaria gigantea is described as a solitary-growing species,

depressed globose with apex strongly sunken and woolly, to 9 - 10 cm tall and 15 to 17cm high. It reportedly can grow up to 25cm in diameter, which is large for a Mammillaria.

It has a blue-green body colouring, the tubercles bluntly pyramidal, four angled with latex. The tubercles are tipped in stout spines.

For the Mammillaria connoisseurs this species has up to 12 needle-like radial spines up to 3mm long and 4 to 6 central spines, straight or more or less curved dark yellow to brown with age, the lowermost one being the longest. The central spines vary in length from seedling to seedling ranging from 6mm to 25mm in length. This species produces copious cottony wool in the axils of the tubercles.

Apparently M. gigantea is also known as 'Devil's Head'. This species has some of the fierce and strong spines among mammillarias.

M. gigantea flowers in summer. Since the spine numbers and form are variable, the flower colour is perhaps the most important for identification. The flowers are a yellowish green, approximately 1.5cm in diameter and occur in rings at about the upper third of the plant body and are followed by dull pink to greenish fruits.

Reading the story from John Pilbeam about his M. gigantea was the motivation and the desire to own and grow one of these species myself.

Mammillaria gigantea distribution map in Mexico (from www.mammillarias.net)

Fig 1, 2 and 3. John Roewer's Mammillaria gigantea show specimen. 6 Jan. 2016. Photos John Roewer Fig 2.

Fig 3.

Page 10 Spine July 2017

John Pilbeam#3 writes of his experiences with M. gigantea.

"This is one of the largest solitary-growing species, attaining in the wild about 25cm in diameter or more. With its massive size....and greenish yellow flowers it is a wondrous sight, growing over a wide area....In cultivation it will attain this sort of size slowly but surely if potted on regularly, in about 10 years or so, and with its woolly axils and greenish flower is an impressive sight. It will flower in cultivation at about 12cm in diameter. This was among the first Mammillaria species I purchased in 1949 (in London's leaden hall Market, grown in a clay "thumb pot", about an inch 2.5cm in diameter), and I can still remember my disbelief at the name as I looked at the tiny seedling. It cost me a shilling (5p), and I had a suspicion I had been conned. but it lived up to its name and is still alive and growing well in Derek Bowdery's collection in King's Lynn, Norfolk, having got too big for me to house comfortably." NB: 50 years old in 1999.

Growing Conditions:

Habitat – Forest, Oak forest - Subtropical/Tropical Dry

Under threat from logging and wood harvesting.

There is no known use or trade of this species.

Recommended Temperature Zone: Prefers full sun, sun to partial shade and does not tolerate frosts well. For cultivation in the USA, it is said to grow in Zone 9 ( min av. low temp -6° C ) to zone 11 (10 °C) #4 ./ sunset zone : 8-24, 29, 30#5 Other reading on the topic suggested a minimum average temperature of 50°F (10°C).

Watering Needs: Regular water in summer So from this I am concluding, doesn't like

frost or low temperatures, perhaps will tolerate to -6°C if kept dry and out of frost, but

probably best in a hot house or similar shelter with a higher minimum temperature closer to the 10 °C. Perhaps morning sun, with some afternoon shade - not the late western sun?

The only M. gigantea plant I know of is one owned and grown by John Roewer, this plant winning for John in the 2015 CSSA Spring Show.

The photos of John's plant were taken by him 6 January 2016, with exception of the photo of M. gigantea taken approximately 5 years before.

I asked John for some growing advice with regard to his magnificent plant, and he was kind enough to offer the following advice. (far more valuable to date than any of the reading I have done - Thanks John.)

".......No super-secret with growing the Mammillaria. Just a commercial C&S potting mix with some added perlite, Gravel, a touch added general fertilizer and a scintilla of

lime. It lives full time in my Glass house in a well-lit location but not direct summer sun. It’s lived in its current terracotta pot for around 5 years now.

Slight winter watering and consistent watering in summer, but careful not to over-water. Diluted liquid fertilizer around twice a year.

Over the years I have found that Mammillarias are susceptible to mealy bugs and mite damage. Luckily, with the M. gigantea nothing has touched it, but I do give it an occasional precautionary spray of “Confidor” and

mite spray."

Fig 4: M. gigantea in flower. Photo by John Roewer

Fig 5: M. gigantea close-up, showing flowers, fruit and spination. Photo John Roewer

Spine July 2017 Page 11

Mammillaria wagneriana: I am still looking for a Mammillaria gigantea for my collection. A couple of years back after a search, I purchased two plants

from a reputable nursery as M. gigantea. I was and still am super excited with the purchase, continuing to cultivate the plants with frequent 'tlc'. When the plants flowered it confirmed I do not have M. gigantea- It seems the two plants I purchased are most likely M. wagneriana, which has different flowers, being off-white with pale pink midstripe and tip, stigmas pale yellowish green. Fruit is red. Still I’m not disappointed as this plant is similar, it has axils with dense white wool, it is also solitary, has a depressed-globose stem and importantly growing to 15cm tall and 20cm diameter making it a large Mammillaria. Better get growing, still a long way off, many years off being anything like 20cm diameter.

Notes:

#1. (Heinrich Hildmann was a German plantsman who owned a cactus nursery in Berkenwerder, near Berlin. He was active between 1870 and 1895. Karl Moritz Schumann (17 June 1851 in Görlitz – 22 March 1904 in Berlin) was a German botanist. Dr. Schumann was the curator of the Botanisches Museum in Berlin-Dahlem from 1880 until 1894. He also served as the first chairman of the Deutsche Kakteen-Gesellschaft (German Cactus Society) which he founded November 6, 1892. Karl Moritz Schumann participated as a collaborator in Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien by Adolf Engler and K. A. E. Prantl and in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.

#2: Note: 'Neomammillaria" -Britten & Rose. It is noted that the name Mammillaria was conserved for this genus in 1930 by a body named the International Botanic Congress, in place of Britten and Rose’s choice of Neomammillaria, which they composed because unfortunately the name Mammillaria had been used previously for a genus of Algae

#3. Pilbeam, John, 1999, The Cactus File Handbook 6 Mammillaria, Nuffield Press, Oxford.

#4 To convert °F (Fahrenheit) to °C (Celsius) = (°F-32) x 5/9

#5. The USDA Hardiness Zone Map divides North America into 11 separate planting zones; each growing zone is 10°F /6 °C warmer (or colder) in an average winter than the adjacent zone. If you see a hardiness zone in a gardening catalogue or plant description, chances are it refers to this USDA map.

Sunset Climate Zones: - A USA system. Sunset zones were developed by the Sunset Publishing Corporation and although originally developed for the West of USA, there are 51 zones to cover all fifty states and adjacent Canada and Mexico. A plant's performance is governed by the total climate: length of growing season, timing and amount of rainfall, winter lows, summer highs, wind, and humidity. Sunset's climate zone maps take all these factors into account, unlike the familiar hardiness zone maps devised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which divides most of North America into zones based strictly on winter lows.

The U.S.D.A. maps tell you only where a plant may survive the winter; Sunset climate zone maps let you see where that plant will thrive year-round.

Bibliography:

John Pilbeam (1999) - Mammillaria The Cactus File Handbook, Nuffield Press, Oxford. page 109, page 301. http://mammillarias.net/gallery/mammillaria_species.php?searchstring=gigantea&lg=uk http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Mammillaria&species=gigantea http://www.cactuspro.com/photos/Cactaceae/Mammillaria/gigantea/571.html http://www.nelocactus.org/gigantea.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammillaria_gigantea http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/12777/Mammillaria_gigantea http://www.yuccado.com/mammillaria-gigantea-guanajuato-state.html http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/links/151911/0 http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/56686/#ixzz3wRsSFlnS http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Mammillaria_ocotillensis. http://www.sunset.com/garden/climate-zones/climate-zones-intro-us-map https://garden.org/nga/zipzone/2012/

Photo showing 6 radial white and 3 central dark spines with lower one longest

Fig 6: Mammillaria Wagneriana Photo by: Valentino Vallicelli

Page 12 Spine July 2017

Australian Succulent Stamp Issue various contributors

Australia Post "Waterwise Succulent Stamps" - Australia post is issuing a series or set of stamps featuring photos of four different native plants Release date June 20th 2017.

This is an idea that Attila Kapitany has been 'campaigning' for some time.

From Attila’s website, his letter to Australia post.

Points to consider:

Ten photos of 10 different plants

All are native plants

All the states are represented

Culturally significant i.e. several have been traditionally used as a food source by aboriginal people. One is still harvested

today.

One of the above plants is among the earliest plants to be recorded by Europeans on the continent (by Joseph Banks).

Some of these plants are common and well known, but most are new to the minds of the Australian public (this therefore

offers an opportunity to introduce and educate).

Succulent plants are becoming increasingly popular and have been on the rise for the past six years. Gardeners recognize

and use mostly exotic succulents, and would be surprised that we had any so beautiful in Australia already.

Succulent plants are low maintenance and are waterwise and in keeping with Government initiatives on water conservation.

Australia is the driest continent geographically on earth. These plants that belong and suit our climate are hardly recognized.

Water is a very big issue in Australia today and receives a lot of media coverage - as with the need to cut back in the garden.

Introduced (exotic plants) which have escaped cultivation now pose a threat to the natural environment. Recent statistics and

government policy is flagging that 65% of all pest weeds in the Australian environment originated as garden escapees. The focus

will be to encourage more native plants.

A series of stamps would be most timely which reflect society's current situation and concerns, now and into the future.

This is not to discount the possibility of these stamps standing alone as a wonderful showcase of the greater diversity of the

Australian landscape than the public is currently aware of.

If you'd like to know more, please contact me when convenient.

I have enclosed a CD of the ten proposed plant images.

In anticipation of your reply, Attila Kapitany .

There was some toing and froing over the next number of years but Attila never let up and eventually the good news came

APRIL 2017 - We are very excited to announce that Australia Post has published a release date for a small series of stamps featuring native succulents - JUNE 20TH 2017.

Please visit to see pictures and more information: https://issuu.com/stamps/docs/stamp-bulletin-346

JUNE 20th - Latest update: The stamps and stamp packs available to public mention little but photo credits to us. However, our major contribution and initiation of this whole project is expanded on and explained much further at Australia Post's at the link below:

https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/articles/inside-the-wonderful-world-of-australian-succulents

Congratulations Attila on a wonderful result from your hard work.

Spine July 2017 Page 13

Australian Succulents Stamp release from Australia Post web page

Release date: 20 June 2017

Succulent plants occur through most regions in Australia and in every state and territory. They can be found in coastal, inland, temperate, subtropical and tropical environments, and prefer seasonally dry or semi-arid conditions. While the popular conception of these plants is that they are groundcovers or low-growing, this group also includes orchids, hoyas, shrubs and even the boab, or the bottle tree.

Of the 20,000 or so vascular plants native to Australia, about 400 are considered succulent, adapting to dry conditions over thousands of years by evolving the capacity for water storage in the tissue of their leaves, stems, trunks or roots. While there is some debate as to what defines “succulence”, besides water-storing capacity, two criteria for a plant to be considered a succulent are the ability to withstand long periods of dry without severe leaf loss and the ability to not only survive but continue to grow with minimal food, water and care.

The stamps: The four succulent species featured in the stamp designs are endemic to Australia. The designs show two aspects of each species: the foliage and the flower.

The photographs are from the collection of Attila and Michele Kapitany – Attila has spent the past 40 years of his professional life researching, growing and promoting succulent plants to Australian gardeners and has written several books on the topic. Read our interview with Attila Kapitany.

$1 Portulaca cyclophylla Portulaca cyclophylla has small circular brown leaves that provide a camouflage effect against its gravelly habitat. This species of the Portulaca genus is unusual in having large, showy blooms of up to 3.5 centimetres in diameter, with an extended central stigma. It is found in arid, gravel habitats of central Western Australia.

$1 Tecticornia verrucosa Tecticornia verrucosa is a low, bushy perennial shrub that grows to around 55 centimetres in height. This unusually formed plant comprises multi-segmented blue-green, fleshy stems, which turn a purplish-pink as the plant matures and develop a thin interior woody core. This species tolerates both saline sandy soils and mildly saline clay pans, as well as freshwater clay pans. It is found in north, central and south-west central Western Australia, western Northern Territory and north-western South Australia.

$1 Calandrinia creethae Calandrinia creethae is commonly known as Jelly Beans, named for its clusters of smooth, globular succulent leaves. This rosette-like annual has a diameter of around 80 centimetres, with prostrate trailing stems developing from the rosette. Its leaves vary in colour from bright green, when juvenile, through yellow to orange and red, and the flowers are pink and/or white. It grows in sandy soils in dry areas in central Western Australia.

$1 Gunniopsis quadrifida Gunniopsis quadrifida is a perennial low-growing shrub that reaches around 50 centimetres in height and 1.5 metres in width. It has rounded linear, greenish leaves and its fleshy flowers open up with four leaf-like outer “petals” and white to cream centres. It tolerates a range of soils and is found in south-western Western Australia, southern Northern Territory, northern South Australia, south-western Queensland and north-western New South Wales.

Page 14 Spine July 2017

Plant Material Loss compiled by Brett Anderson

Australian customs officers have destroyed “irreplaceable” plant specimens dating from the 1800s which were sent by the Museum of Natural History in Paris, prompting a review of the government’s apparently overzealous quarantine procedures.

The pressed plant specimens, dating back to the mid-1800s, were being loaned to the state of Queensland’s herbarium but were deemed a potential biosecurity threat and incinerated.

Michelle Waycott, from the Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, said the destroyed items were " literally irreplaceable collections and of high historic and scientific value."

“They were the first type specimens collected of a species," she told ABC News.

In a separate incident, Australian customs officers destroyed rare lichen specimens being sent from New Zealand’s Allan Herbarium. The incident prompted the herbarium, New Zealand’s largest, to ban lending such specimens to Australia.

Professor Waycott said the French were also “very unhappy” about their loss and were considering imposing a ban.

"I suspect that they're in the process of banning sending specimens to Australia now," she said.

"They haven't said that officially though, but that would certainly be my response if it was my herbarium this had happened to."

The French and New Zealand institutions were apparently not informed of the decision to destroy the specimens; nor were the Australian institutions which were supposed to receive them. The Telegraph (UK) 8 May 2017

It is common practice for herbaria around the world to swap material to help identify and understand plant species.

"We rely on sharing specimens from all over the world to be able to do our science," Ms Waycott said.

"So it may have a major impact on our ability to do our research.

"The fact that it happened twice in the space of a couple of weeks and that they were two separate ports, two separate entry points has us very concerned."

The Federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, which controls Australian biosecurity, declined a request for an interview.

However, in a written response, a spokesperson said the material from France which arrived in January was destroyed because the documents it came with did not comply with Australia's import conditions.

The department said the recipient, the Queensland Herbarium, would provide further documentation, but nothing was received until early March after a mix-up over email addresses.

When it did arrive, the additional paperwork also failed to meet Australian biosecurity import requirements and the department said it requested more information.

It was during this period that the collection was incinerated.

A review of the incident has since been carried out by senior staff, with the department implementing several changes to its procedures to improve communication and safeguard items where negotiations are ongoing.

It was meeting with representatives of Australia's herbaria on Monday to discuss the incident and look at ways to improve compliance with biosecurity rules.

"Herbarium specimens are not without biosecurity risk," the department's spokesperson said.

"They can include soil and other items that present a pest and disease risk to Australia."

The department told the ABC it was unaware of the second case involving the destruction of specimens from New Zealand and is investigating the matter. ABC (Melb) 8 May 2017

We contacted Pina Milne at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, who has previously given a talk to our Society, regarding the incident.

Pina advised

.... the very unfortunate incidents and we have temporarily suspended our international loans program. Managers of Australasian Herbarium Collections of which I am a member have been working very closely with the department. As you would be aware from one of the articles, we met in Canberra on Monday.

State Botanical Collection at the National Herbarium

The State Botanical Collection at Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (MEL) comprises a collection of approximately 1.5 million dried plant, algae and fungi specimens from all around the world. The majority of the collection is Australian, with a particular emphasis on the flora of Victoria. MEL's collection is rich in historical specimens and foreign-collected specimens: about half of the specimens were collected before 1900, and one third were collected overseas.

These specimens provide a permanent record of the occurrence of a plant species at a particular place and time and are an invaluable resource for scientists, land managers and historians. The State Botanical Collection also includes a library of botanical literature and artwork.

Collectively, the dried specimen collections and the library collections comprise a rich cultural and scientific resource in the State Botanical Collection and is a dynamic collection with new material continually accessioned, and access to the collection is assured by ongoing curation and databasing.

Both the herbarium specimens —the dried plant, algae and fungi collections —and the library collections are housed in the National Herbarium of Victoria building at the Gardens.

Spine July 2017 Page 15

xGraptosedum ‘Giselle’ Noelene Tomlinson

I received this plant from Bev Spiller in Queensland; she may have obtained it from David M. Cumming. Bev’s label was: “Echeveria fruticosa x Graptopetalum saxifragoides”, but the flowers and plant do not support this label. Graptopetalum saxifragoides has a chromosome number of n = 64 which is quite high compared with most echeverias. My G. saxifragoides is a low-growing plant, stems to only 3 cm; this hybrid however grows taller. Mine has become a shrublet 11 cm high. Parents of this hybrid would be a white flowered Sedum with green leaves and a Graptopetalum with white flowers and red dots on its petals. The stems and branches do elongate because of its Sedum parent. Leaves are bronze on green and pointed, with a rosette to 10 cm diameter depending on conditions. The structure of the inflorescence is much more compact than Graptopetalum inflorescences are. It flowers in autumn, March for me. There are not a lot of xGraptosedums published; I have named this one ‘Giselle’.

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Do you live in the West?

Of Melbourne? Or Victoria?

Ballarat has a large society that draws members from far and wide.

Ballarat Cactus & Succulent Society Inc. A0032387J Phone: 5345 2995

Email: [email protected] Website: www.cactusoz.org

Monthly meetings & newsletter, displays & excursions Meetings: 2nd Friday of each month from 7.30 pm

RORAIMA NURSERY

• Rare, unusual, exotic, and architectural plants

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• Largest range of cacti & succulents in Geelong region

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• 10% discount to CSSA members upon presentation of membership card (in store sales only)

• Cacti & succulents available for sale online

20 Swan Street, Lara, Vic. 3212

Ph: (03) 5282 8704

Email: [email protected]

www.roraimanursery.com.au

For an extensive range of cacti, succulents and other odd and unusual plants.

Available by mail order through our website: www.cactusland.com.au or visit our stall at the Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne for personalised and informative service. Visit our website and see what we have to offer, email us for

that hard to find plant. www.cactusland.com.au

Rare Succulents for Sale A wide range of succulents for the collector,

beginner or landscaper.

Specialist in Aloes, Haworthias, wide coverage of most other groups.

Collections available. Catalogue can be downloaded from www.cssq.org.au

(go to Buy Plants)

or email: [email protected] for a pdf

or send an A4 SAE to:

Paul Forster, P.O. Box 2171, Ashgrove West, Qld 4060

James Lucas

This Webpage is in the process of growing as the interest in Succulents increases Australia wide. My aim is to have this as a selling tool to the retail nursery industry, and a resource tool for the retail industry and public alike. A colourful and informative guide to Succulents available in Australia today. It will also link clubs societies, enthusiasts and col-lectors together. I am a specialist grower of Sempervivum, Echeveria and hundreds of other Succulents. Ph.: 0423307830 Fax: 0359686807

Email: [email protected] www.succulents-australia.com

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