Succulent Essex Review€¦ · Colin has been growing cacti and succulents for nearly 50 years joining the National Cactus and Succulent Society in 1969. Today he has a collection

SucculentReviewEssex

Volume 53 Number 3 September 2016

In this issue

Like it or lump itMadagascan caudiciformsby Al Laius

Eriosyce, etc:A symphony of synonymsby Graham Evans

SucculentReviewEssex

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The Essex Succulent Review ispublished quarterly in March,June, September and December.

It is available on-line free ofcharge. Just send an email [email protected] receive a pdf of each issuewhen it is available.

Past issues are archived atwww.essexsucculentreview.org.ukEditor Sheila Cude

Address 25 Macleod RoadLondon N21 1SW

Phone 020 8340 1928

[email protected]

EditorialWelcome to the Essex SucculentReview.

I have only recently realised that amistake crept into the June issueof the Essex Succulent Review.Part of the final paragraph of JohnWatmough’s account of the CactusCrawl had disappeared from thefiles which were emailed to you. Itshould have read: ‘Also,experience indicates that theorganiser needs five assistants:Nicky and the driver obviously, but also a nursemaid, a policeman anda magician. Thanks to James andto those who fulfilled those roleson this trip.’ My apologies to John,and to everyone who read this, andthought it ended a little abruptly.

Now just my usual reminder thatback issues of the EssexSucculent Review are archived atwww.essexsucculentreview.org.ukThe more recent issues are at aslightly higher resolution than theones emailed to you.

If you do not already do so, andwould like to receive the EssexSucculent Review as a pdf as soonas it is ready, please email me andI will add you to the notificationlist. This is completely free and youcan unsubscribe at any time.

Sheila Cude

Zone 15 – NewsCongratulations to Colin Parker, from the Southend Branch, whogained most points in the BCSS National Show, held on 20 August2016, and was awarded an RHS Banksian Medal.

Colin has been growing cacti and succulents for nearly 50 years joining theNational Cactus and Succulent Society in 1969. Today he has a collectionof over 2,000 plants, approximately 70% of which are cacti and theremainder other succulents. He exhibited a number of superb plants, but Ihave chosen just one to illustrate here with some notes provided by Colin.

Cyphostemmabetiforme –awarded firstin Class 117,Adenia group,pot limit140mm

Cyphostemma betiforme is a native of Somalia. It is regarded as one of themore desirable cyphostemmas because of its moderate size. The caudexonly gets to approximately three feet across in the wild! To give a sense ofscale my plant is four inches in diameter and seven inches tall. There weresome much larger cyphostemmas in the unrestricted pot size class at theshow – although these were not the C. betiforme species.

I cannot recall ever seeing this species offered for sale as seedlings. Ipurchased my plant from the late, and much lamented, Specks nursery inGermany about eight years ago. I have not found it difficult but it is veryslow growing and needs a high winter temperature.

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Like it or lump it –Madagascan caudiciformsby Al Laius

Madagascar is the fourth largest island inthe world and, owing to its geological

history and present geographical position, itsvegetation is characterised by a highpercentage ofendemic plants (andanimals). About 80%of all flowering plantson the island areendemic to it.

A recent trip to theGaloko mountains innorth-westMadagascar insearch of the rareand elusiveSansevieriasambiranensis endedin failure. With ourLand Rover stuck indeep mud (Fig. 1)and the waters of themangrove swampsrising above the levelof the exhaust pipe,being eaten alive bymosquitoes, stung bywild wasps andattacked by whatseemed like the

fastest moving leeches on planet Earth, wejust did not have the time or resources thento climb higher than we did, where we mighthave had a chance to find the plant. Still we

Fig. 1 Difficult drivingconditions

Fig. 2 Ravenalapalms and secondary

forest in northernMadagascar

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Like it or lump it continued

reached high enough to experience one ofthe last vestiges of the natural primevalforest of the ‘Great Red Island’.Madagascar has lost almost 90% of itsnatural forest cover over the last fewhundred years due to deforestation andslash-and-burn practices. Of the tallergrowing plants only the Ravenalamadagascariensis palm (not a true palm butactually a member of the banana family)can survive fire and it is easy todifferentiate between primary andsecondary forest by the number of thesepalms present (Fig. 2).

So, not having seen a succulent plant inover five days, we decided to head furthernorth and visit the Ankarana National Parkand surrounding area. On the way there, astop-off at Ankify was essential in order tosee the only other Sansevieria on theisland, S. canaliculata (Fig. 3). Although notendemic to the island, being anintroduction from Mozambique many yearsago, it has already evolved there over timeand differs mainly by having up to fiveflowers per tuft (as opposed to three).

The Ankarana plateau consists of a mixtureof dry deciduousforest and limestonekarst pinnacles knownas ‘tsingy’ (Fig. 4).Tsingy is theMalagasy name forthe bizarrely erodedlimestone formationsfound here and inseveral other placesin Madagascar. Its500 foot thicklimestone is riddledwith caves andcanyons, and theknife-edged pinnaclesrise 3–4 feet high. The limestone is sohard and uniform that,on the surface orinside the caves,blades left in theerosion processproduce melodioustones when struck –making a ‘tsing’ likesound.

Above: Fig. 3 Sansevieriacanaliculata nearAnkify

Fig. 4 View over thetsingy at AnkaranaNational Park andFig. 5 Crownedlemur (Eulemurcoronatus) on tsingy

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Like it or lump it continued

Apart from the adorable lemurs (Fig. 5) itwas the euphorbias and variouscaudiciform plants that caught my eye, andwhich form the basis of this short article.Plants of Adenia epigea (Fig. 6) were notdifficult to find as their large caudices,ranging in shape from round, globular,flattened or irregular, and often reaching upto one metre in diameter, were in plain viewabove the ground. They were often foundgrowing together with other ‘lumps’ suchas Cyphostemma pachypus (Fig. 7) andEuphorbia ankaranensis (Fig. 8). This

Euphorbia is only found in northernMadagascar where it grows in pockets ofhumus on limestone escarpments indeciduous forest. We were lucky to catch itin flower during the dry season. Thecyathia often appear in such large numbersthat they form a globose head. After thefruits ripen, the cyathia drop off and newleaves emerge at the start of the rainyseason. The other Euphorbia frequentlyencountered in this area is E. pachypodioides (Figs. 9 and 10). This isan attractive plant which derives its

Above left: Fig. 6 Adenia epigea

Above right:Fig. 7 Adenia epigea(left) andCyphostemmapachypus (right)

Fig. 10 Euphorbia pachypodioidesclinging perilously to lifeFig. 9 Euphorbia pachypodioidesFig. 8 Euphorbia ankarensis

specific name from the columnar,unbranched stems which look like thejuvenile form of Pachypodium geayi or P. lameri.

Other caudiciform plants include Adenialapiazicola (with a liana in the shape of ademijohn in juvenile growth) which wasonly described as recently as 1997 byMartine Bardot-Vaucoulon, and is foundgrowing in cracks in the limestone (Fig. 11);

Cyphostemma rutilans(Fig. 12); Trochomeriopsissp., a cucurbit (Fig. 13)and of course no article onMadagascar would becomplete withoutmentioningpachypodiums. One of therarest and also the leastspiny species of the genusis Pachypodium decaryi(Fig. 14). This is a bottle-shaped species whichgrows on limestoneplateaux in just a coupleof locations in northernMadagascar. The flowersare also supposedly thelargest in the genus, andwe were fortunate to bethere during flowering timewhich is mainly between

April and June (Fig. 15). Gordon Rowley inhis book ‘Pachypodium and Adenium’(Cactus File Handbook No. 5) suggests thatthis species is of great botanical interest asit could be a bridge to the genus Adenium,from which it differs mainly in the narrowerflower tube and tail-less anthers.

Wandering around in the tsingy was athrilling experience and succulent plantdiscoveries were round every corner.Wherever you looked there were ‘lumps’just lying around! (See front cover.)

After a couple of days in the National Parkwe decided to explore some other areas inthe region. We had already seen someexamples of tall tree-like pachypodiums inthe distance on our drive north, so it wastherefore essential to set off on foot inorder to get closer to them. These werePachypodium rutenbergianum (Fig. 17), atree-like species which is widespread in thenorth in deciduous forests, savannah andon limestone rocks. These plants can reachup to 12 metres high although the averageis around 3–6 metres. Young plants havespiny trunks and the branches, even onlarge mature plants, are also spiny. Thescented white flowers appear after theleaves have fallen (Fig. 18). We alsophotographed two other Euphorbia specieswhich did not occur in the National Park –E. alfredii and E. neohumbertii. E. alfredii

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Like it or lump it continued

Fig. 13 Trochomeriopsis sp.Fig. 11 A particularly large example ofAdenia lapiazicola

Fig. 12 Cyphostemma rutilansgrowing in a most unlikely place

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Like it or lump it continued

(Fig. 19) is very close to E. ankarensis but ithas thinner stems and both the leaves andcyathophylls differ. E. neohumbertii (Fig. 20)is a very attractive plant both with orwithout flowers. The plants are usuallyunbranched and can reach up to one metretall. The epidermis is a bright green colourand the corky grey leaf scars are arrangedacross the stem – this is particularlyevident in younger plants.

While some of these photos may whet yourappetite and you may be keen to acquirethem for your collections, please bear inmind that much of the flora of Madagascaris endangered and that wholesalecollection of plants from habitat, forthe export market, still occurs.Obviously this is not sustainable

and, as many of these plants are difficult incultivation, it is surely better to grow themfrom seed or acquire vegetativepropagations (where appropriate) than topurchase habitat plants. Please developthe habit of always asking the source ofany plants you buy and remember thatoften plants from habitat are grown on ingardens in Madagascar and then shippedoverseas as so-called nursery-grown stock.Let us try to conserve these plantsby not buying habitat collectedmaterial.

Fig. 14 Pachypodium decaryi, and

Fig. 15 P. decaryi flower

Fig. 17 Pachypodium rutenbergianum, and

Fig. 18 Close up of the flowers of P. rutenbergianum

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My trip would not have been possiblewithout the expertise and botanicalknowledge of Christophe Quénel, aresident of Madagascar and botanical touroperator. A Frenchman, he also speaksEnglish and a few other languages and hiswife Nadia (who often accompanies tours)is Malagasy. Christophe can offer fixeditineraries or will put together specificplant-orientated circuits depending on yourpersonal interests.

For further information contact ChristopheQuénel at: [email protected] orvisit his website: www.madabotanik.com n

Photos: Al Laius

Like it or lump it continued

Above:

Fig. 19 Euphorbia alfredii

Above right:

Fig. 20 Euphorbianeohumbertii

E A Bowles – horticulturist and cactus growerby Sheila Cude

E A Bowles is well-known to gardeners as ahorticulturalist, writer, artist and creator of themagnificent gardens at Myddelton House which washis lifelong home.

Myddelton House, located near Enfield, (north London)was built by E A Bowles’ great-grandfather from 1812–1818, replacing an earlier Tudor property. It was namedMyddelton House in honour of Sir Hugh Myddelton, theengineer who created the New River in 1613 to supplyLondon with fresh water. E A Bowles (EdwardAugustus, Gus or Gussie to his friends, but alwaysknown professionally as E A Bowles) was born there in1865. He was one of five siblings, although his eldestbrother died in infancy. Edward Augustus waseducated at home, as he was considered too delicatefor public school, and later attended Jesus College,Cambridge hoping to enter the Church. In 1887however, one of his brothers contracted tuberculosiswhile serving in the army in Sudan. He came home, to Aloe plicatilis in the small conservatory

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be nursed by their younger sister, who also contractedthe disease. Following their deaths, E A Bowlesabandoned his studies and returned home to be withhis parents.

In 1890 his father allowed him to take over theextensive garden, which was then mainly lawn andsome fine trees, including a line of ancient yews whichcould well date from the 16th century. He started workon the rock garden, which was always a favouritelocation with him. Also in 1890 he made the first ofmany trips to the Alps to collect plants and regularlymade plant hunting trips each year after that. He wasalso an avid collector of many other things rangingfrom statutory (including Enfield’s old market crosswhich still stands in the gardens) tofossils and a small museum in thegrounds of Myddelton House housedcollections of insects and stuffed

animals and birds. He diverted an arm of the New Riverto run through the gardens, where it remained until1968 when it was filled in with rubble from the Victorialine, and laid to lawn.

E A Bowles’ first plant loves were probably alpines andbulbs, but he was interested in unusual plants of allkinds, including cacti and succulents.

He grew a number of cacti on a specially preparedcactus bank forming part of the rock garden. It faceddue south and was prepared with “brick rubble” and“coarse gravel” with a system of drain pipes andgullies to carry off excess rain. He described the soil as“chiefly turfy loam mixed liberally with old mortar

rubble, silver sand, sandy peat , andsome well-weathered cinders from thefurnaces”. He also recommendedfeeding his cacti with a little guano, (E A Bowles, Hardy Cacti andSucculents, RHS Garden Anthology).

The plants were sheltered over thewinter by “glazed lights” which wereplaced over them resting on posts,

E A Bowles continued

Kalanchoe beharensis or Elephant EarKalanchoe

A fine old cactus (unlabelled)growing in the conservatory

Looking into the small conservatory. Theplant on the right is a Furcraea

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meaning they were protected from above but open atthe sides. Most years this presumably worked well, butthe winter of 1907–8 seems to have been particularlyunpleasant with temperatures in the gardens falling to26°F (about –3°C) and many plants were lost. Theremaining plants probably succumbed to the evenworse winter of 1939–40. At present the rock garden atMyddelton House is being renovated but there is noindication of where the cactus bank was located.

However, there are still a number of cacti andsucculent plants ondisplay in thegardens

at Myddelton House. Some of these are housed in asmall conservatory and include some fine old plants. Itis tempting to imagine that some of them might havebeen grown originally by E A Bowles.

As well as the cactus bank E A Bowles grew cacti andsucculents in a greenhouse in the kitchen garden.When the kitchen garden was restored the foundationsof the original greenhouses were discovered, and newones were built following Victorian designs. There are anumber of cacti and succulents housed in one ofthese. Some of these are old plants, and some look alittle neglected, but there are also some smaller plantswhich are possibly more recent acquisitions.

A number of cacti and succulents are planted outduring the summer, but return to the protection of a

greenhouse during the winter. These include a finedisplay of Aeonium, which appears in variousplaces each summer; this year they are standingon some steps next to the conservatory. There are

E A Bowles continued

Inside the greenhouse in the kitchen garden. The spiral plant on the far left was labelled Cereus forbesii (spiralis)

The magnificent pan of Adromischus cooperi seen inthe bottom right hand corner of the picture below

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also pots of agaves and other succulents which standon the wall above the kitchen garden.

E A Bowles died in 1954. The gardens weretransformed, although the house remained as it hadbeen in his parents’ time with no gas, electricity ortelephone. The gardens passed to the Royal FreeHospital School of Medicine and the London School ofPharmacy who used the kitchen garden to growmedicinal, poisonous and narcotic plants includingopium poppies and cannabis for research purposes.No sign of those today of course.

The estate is now managed by the Lee Valley RegionalPark Authority which is restoring the gardens, as far aspossible to E A Bowles’ original layout. In themeantime the gardens are open to the public free ofcharge which I think is what E A Bowles would havewanted. n

Reference

1 Bowles E A, (April 1908) Hardy cacti and othersucculents, collected in RHS The garden anthology ed.Ursula Buchan (2014) Frances Lincoln Ltd

Websites

1 Lee Valley Park History for images of Myddelton Houseincluding a picture of the old cactus house. (Please note this site may not work on older browsers.)

2 E A Bowles Society for information on E A Bowles andMyddelton House

E A Bowles continued

The side of the kitchen garden greenhouse

Summer display of Aeonium and other succulents next to the conservatory

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Euphorbia unispina is my favourite plant, no, I mean E. poissonii, or do I mean E. venenifica?…read on.

Initially, I started growing E. unispina and found out thehard way that it likes to be very warm all year round. I replaced it with what I thought was the same plantonly to find that it was labelled E. poissonii. This plantlasted for many years, onlyto collapse mostunexpectedly, during awarm spell one summer. I tried for some time toreplace it and thought Ihad, with the current plantwhich, when I checked thelabel, read, E. venenifica.

Curious that I had nowgrown three plants withdifferent names but whichall looked remarkablysimilar, I made the fatalmistake of trying to makesense of it all.

The E. venenifica labelstated quite clearly that itoriginated in Benin. Beninis a little off the tourist trailso I consulted my maps oftropical west Africa. Afterseveral attempts to rubout a pencil mark, Irealised I was trying to rubBenin off the map. It is athin vertical strip of landthat dips its southern-most end into the SouthAtlantic Ocean. Tocompound my surprise, Iam led to believe that thepopulation isapproximately 11 millionpeople, most of whom liveby the ocean. Perhaps it isthe narrowness of thisstrip of land, combinedwith some sort ofDarwinian survivalmechanism, which givesrise to these tall narrowplants?

I then consult my trusty ten-volume ‘The EuphorbiaJournal’ to read the following piece from Len Newton,in Volume 7: “One of the triumvirate of species that arecommonly confused with one another, E. venenifica isprobably the least common of the trio, the other twosimilar species are E. unispina and E. poissonii… E. venenifica is a striking species from West Africa,

particularly the IvoryCoast. In habitat, it formsa succulent shrub 1–2mhigh, branching basally.Stems are cylindrical,2–3cm in diameter, withtubercles arranged inmany spiralled rows.Spines are solitary (twofused), about 1cm long,and bear no spine shield.The remarkably beautifulleaves are clustered at thebranch tips”.

From my initial research Iwas pleased to realise thatI am not the only one whothinks they all look verysimilar. However, Volume 8of the above refers to a“number of errata” andstated that E. venenificadoes not occur in westtropical Africa.

So, even among theexperts, there is noconsensus. While Iapplaud advances inscience and take aninterested layman’sinterest in DNA samplingand so on, none of itkeeps me awake at night. I just enjoy the plants forthemselves – and keepthis trio (or one) very warmall year round. n

ReferenceThe Euphorbia Journal, Vols. 7&8, Strawberry Press

Photo: James Gold

The day of the Triffidby James Gold

Readers of ‘The Cactus Crawl Reunion Tour’ in the June 2016 issue of the Essex Succulent Review willremember that James bought a ‘triffid’ – otherwise known as Euphorbia venenifica.

Euphorbia venenifica

In this article we finish our look at smaller succulents.

AizoaceaeBroadly (and with a few extras thrown in) these are theMesembryanthemums, usually called mesembs forshort. A vast group of plants, almost (but not entirely)exclusively from southern Africa, that come in allshapes and sizes. Many make excellent garden plantsand can now be easily found in the alpine plant sectionof larger garden centres – a testament to theirhardiness and ease of culture.

Bergeranthus A compact group of succulents that have triangular,finger-shaped leaves that spread to form a mat. Theplants I have grown are possibly (or possibly not) nowin the genus Hereroa, but it is under the nameBergeranthus that they will be found for sale.

Bergeranthus glenensis: – deep green, succulentthree-sided fingers, to around 3cm long, that will slowlyspread to fill a rock crevice. Yellow flowers, tipped withpinky-red on the reverse, open in the afternoon sun(assuming we get any) in late spring and early summer.I find these incredibly charming, discreet little thingsthat go quietly about their business with little fuss. I have never lost one to cold or wet in 20 years here. I have a white-flowered form and also a larger growingtype which may or may not be a different species.

Delosperma A genus of (mainly) spreading, mat-forming plants,sometimes with a swollen tuberous rootstock and oftendistinguished from some other trailing mesembs by theglittering appearance of the leaves. The two speciesbelow should be reliably hardy throughout most of theUK and, in recent years, there has been a lot of

hybridisation with many colour shades of flowersavailable.

Delosperma cooperi: – spreading stems of long,flattened leaves form extensive mats of apple-greenfoliage that tints pink when stressed by cold ordrought. Huge magenta daisies are produced allsummer long. Invaluable and bullet-proof evergreenground cover. There is a plant offered called D. cooperi‘Compactum’ but this is a different species.

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Gardening with succulentsPart 5 – More smaller succulentsby Paul Spracklin

Bergeranthus glenensis

Delosperma nubigena

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Gardening with succulents continued

Delosperma nubigena: – spreading dense mats ofapple green, almost triangular leaves that often flushattractively with red when drought-stressed. Thefoliage can be completely covered by bright yellowdaisies for weeks in summer. A cultivar ‘Basutoland’ isoffered but in my garden appears identical to the type.

DrosanthemumA genus of short-lived, slightly shrubby and scruffyplants with strongly glistening leaves and, often,immense flower-power.

Drosanthemum micans: – for my money this has themost spectacular flower of all the mesembs. Brightgolden daisies are tipped with maroon – an absolutelywinning combination. Which is a shame as I have alsofound it one of the more difficult species to keep forany length of time!

Drosanthemum hispidum: – denser foliage than manyDrosanthemum species, this has smallish mauve daisyflowers.

FaucariaThe common name of ‘Tiger Jaws’ gives a goodimpression of these cute little succulent plants. Fatpairs of leaves are armed at the edges with what looklike fearsome teeth and the leaf surface itself is often

beautifully marked and furrowed. Rosettes will offset togrow into quite a substantial clump in time. Yellowdaisies are produced from between the topmost leavesin autumn/winter. I grow a few species here,superficially similar but varying in size and colouration.

Faucaria tigrina: – I have been growing this one forthe longest, surviving for 15 years grown vertically in acrevice between rocks and flowering reliably througheven the worst weather. Like many of these littlesucculent plants, keeping it dry is the key

TitanopsisA genus of small, mat-forming succulents that haveblunt tipped leaves that feature rough, warty ‘tubercles’and a marbling of reddish-brown and grey colours thatcan give the plant an appearance of being a pile ofgravel.

Titanopsis calcarea: – the only species I have kept inthe garden long-term, even flowering in some winters.As with Faucaria, this must be grown planted verticallyin a crevice to keep the weather from direct contactwith the rosettes.

LampranthusOstensibly similar to Delosperma but with smooth,cylindrical leaves, some Lampranthus flower colours

Faucaria tigrina Titanopsis calcarea

Delosperma cooperi Delosperma compactum

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are amongst the brightest of the plant world. A handfulof species are fairly hardy but all are easily perpetuatedby ‘insurance cuttings’ kept frost-free over winter.

Lampranthus spectabilis: – large flowers of the mostintense magenta. L. roseus is similar.

Lampranthus aureus: – larger growing with fatterleaves, this has huge bright yellow or orange daisies –an extremely showy plant.

Lampranthus brownii: – dark red, slightly smallerflowers and thinner, more spindly habit. What this lacksin flower power is made up for with increasedhardiness

Waifs and straysBulbineA group of succulent asphodels from South Africa oneof which has proved hardy for me in all but the coldestwinters.

Bulbine frutescens: – clusters of tubular green leavesfrom a wiry, woody base are topped by dense pokersof attractive flowers. These are pale yellow in thespecies but incultivation this isalmost alwaysseen as thecultivar ‘Hallmark’which has brightorange petals anda fuzzy yellowcentral boss.

Interesting, showy and easy from ‘insurance cuttings’.

EuphorbiaAn immense genus of plants from all over the worldwith many succulent species – all the moredisappointing, perhaps, that there is only one succulentspecies that is reliably hardy.

Euphorbia clavaroides var truncata: – from the alpineregion of Lesotho in southern Africa this grows from acentral ‘Medusa head’ body into a spreading densecushion of upwardly arching fingers, each knobbly andbobbly. It will slowly mould itself to its surrounding,climbing over rocks and into crevices and in timemakes a spectacularly fascinating ground cover. I haveseen it listed as hardy to USDA z5 by growers in theUSA, which is staggeringly cold. Closer to home Iknow of a plant that has survived –18C unprotected inthe Cotswolds.

Another species from Morocco – Euphorbia resinifera –is larger with angular stems but a very similar growthhabit. I kept this going for many years, finally losing itin a wet summer.

In the next andfinal article welook at some ofthe smaller cactiit is possible togrow outside. n

Photos: Paul Spracklin

Gardening with succulents continued

Lampranthus spectabilis Lampranthus brownii

Euphorbiaclavaroides var.

truncata

Paul Spracklin is agarden designerwith a specialistinterest in gardeningwith succulents.

See his websiteOasis Designs

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In the mid 1970s, when I first startedgrowing cacti and would avidly read

everything I could find on the subject,Eriosyce was innocuous. The greatestdebate seemed to be whether, inpronunciation, there should be four or fivesyllables. In fact, it was something of anaspirational genus, for its few, slow-growing species were rarely encountered inany of the nurseries within a teenager’sreach of Hastings.

I remember feeling some excitement onacquiring a small plant of Eriosyceceratistes on a visit to Holly Gate Nursery.Following my taxonomic guru of the time,John Borg, I placed the plant within mygrowing collection among the cerei, beforemoving it alongside Neoporteria andNeochilenia a year or two later when CurtBackeberg’s 1966 ‘Cactus Lexicon’,updated in 1974 by Walther Haage, finallybecame available in English in 1977. Likemany of my generation I regarded the workas my catalogue, yet I also initially foughtwith many of the radical departures fromBorg. (I did not read Britton and Rose untilmany years later.) So commenced myongoing fascination with the relationshipswithin the cactus family.

Eriosyce remained fairly straightforward,other than a question mark over the

inclusion of Rodentiophila. Backebergcompared the genus, then not fullydescribed but merely proposed byFriedrich Ritter, to both Eriosyce andSoehrensia. When my father and I bought alarge, ex-habitat Rodentiophila megacarpa,(a plant he would retain for 30 years), fromBill Stevens as part of an old collectiondisposal, I boldly decided it more closelyresembled the former and so that is whereit was placed in the greenhouse. Happy days!

Then, in 1994, our peaceful little group ofcollectors’ plants became embroiled in amajor controversy as they were overrun bya plethora of species from surroundinggenera. Commanded by Fred Kattermann(Eriosyce: The genus revised andamplified), apparently under the influenceof Nigel Taylor and David Hunt, theseinvaders have made Eriosyce a key theatrein the ongoing war between the lumpersand splitters for over two decades. Fromthe hobbyists’ perspective, the likelihood isthe change would have been far less ill-received had Eriosyce been lumped intoNeoporteria, there being only a handful ofthe former and potentially scores of thelatter, but the rules of botanicalnomenclature require that the oldest validname should have precedence. So, asEriosyce had been erected by Rudolf

Eriosyce, etc:

A symphony of synonymsAn aficionado’s simplistic overview by Graham Evans

Eriosycerodentiophila. An Eriosyce sensustricto, slow growingbut handsome andflowers more readilyin cultivation thanother true Eriosyce

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Philippi in 1872, beating Neoporteria(Nathaniel Britton and Joseph Rose 1922)by half a century, it was forced to expandand accommodate.

Kattermann’s merger was complicated byinstability among the new majority, whoseidentity and heritage had already long beenquestioned, resulting in an unmanageablearray of factions and splinter groups. By1994 there were at least eight relatedgenera in need of rationalisation, includingNeoporteria, Pyrrhocactus, Islaya,Horridocactus, Neochilenia, Thelocephala,Chileorebutia and Delaetia plus a fewothers that were either invalidly describedor generally never accepted, such asFriesia, Chilenia, Euporteria, Hildmanniaand Rodentiophila, (Ritter himself decidingthis was an Eriosyce sensu stricto),meaning there can be no doubt that workneeded to be done.

How did all this confusion arise? Brittonand Rose, probably the earliest realexponents of splitting, erected Neoporteriain 1922, selecting as their type the formerEchinocactus subgibbosus, which hadbeen described by Adrian Haworth in 1831,and including a number of morphologicallysimilar South American species from bothsides of the Andes. Alwin Berger thencircumscribed Pyrrhocactus in 1929 for avery few primarily red-flowered, eastAndean taxa. This was before Backeberg’serection of Islaya, Horridocactus andNeochilenia, together with a revision ofPyrrhocactus, between 1934 and 1942,based on flower structure (shape and wool,

hair or scales on the floral tube), rootmorphology and geographicalconsiderations reduced Neoporteria tosolely long-tubed, pink-flowered,hummingbird-pollinated species from theWest Andes.

Yoshi Ito came up with Thelocephala in1957 but it was not until 1980 that Ritterproperly expanded this to include all thetiny, low-growing, geophytic species similarto Thelocephala napina, the type. Finally,subsequent to Kattermann, Roy Mottramerected Rimacactus for a single distinctive,possibly deciduous and definitely difficultspecies, Rimacactus laui, in 2001.

So, we had a number of narrowlycircumscribed genera in an era of

Eriosyce, etc: A symphony of synonyms continued

Eriosyce subgibbosa(Neoporteriacastanea).The pink, longertubed flowers arehummingbirdpollinated, a featureBackeberg decidedwas key when hereduced Neoporteriaand erected severalreplacement generafor species withshort-tubed flowers

Eriosyce(Pyrrhocactus)simulans. The flame-effectflowers gavePyrrhocactus itsname. This species issympatric withCopiapoacoquimbana andseems to simulate itsappearance

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Eriosyce, etc: A symphony of synonyms continued

taxonomic splitting, what couldpossibly go wrong? The answerseems to be that the two highestprofile authorities of the day, Ritterand Backeberg, despite both beingregarded as splitters today, could neveragree on the day of the week. Neitheraccepted the other’s generic delimitationsand each had his own concept of thegroup. Both also changed their minds onmore than one occasion!

Meanwhile, as the two German splitterswaged warfare, many English speakingtaxonomists were moving more towardslumping. Authorities such as PaulHutchison, John Donald and, mosteloquently, Gordon Rowley argued thatNeoporteria was correct as envisaged byBritton and Rose and should contain all thelater genera. In 1966 Rowley and Donaldset about publishing all the necessary newcombinations in Neoporteria. As aconsequence, a multitude of affected taxabecame nomenclatural nomads with valididentities in several genera – the originalplus the respective opinions of Backeberg,Ritter, and Rowley and Donald – and newdiscoveries suffered almost immediaterecombination. The most confused of theunfortunates is probably Eriosyce napina,which has been placed in at least eightdifferent genera!

I have deliberately ignored Reicheocactus,as that could be said to be taking acomedy of errors into the theatre of theabsurd, the type being a redescription of aLobivia that its author still held to be aLobivia. That Reicheocactus now appearsto be justified for the (former) Lobivia hasno relevance here. It is, however, a fineexample of the mess out of which the

expanded Eriosyce was born, although itmust be said that Kattermann’s broadbrushstroke attempt to bring order did, initself, result in scores of new combinationsin that genus.

Latterly, the ‘New Cactus Lexicon’ (NCL)edited by David Hunt, Nigel Taylor andGraham Charles, published in 2006, retainsKattermann’s 1994 generic concept while,at species level, taking on board revisionsby Kattermann himself and RogerFerryman. There have also been newdescriptions at both specific andsubspecific level within the amplifiedEriosyce. It may be fair to say however, thatnot all post-1994 combinations thereinhave reflected the genuine views of theirauthors, as I believe many people remainedunconvinced of the correctness ofKattermann’s expansion, but still feltcompelled to work within it.

Time, of course, marches on and with itsprogress comes new technologies andmethodologies. Most modern attempts atsystematic classification revolve aroundDNA and molecular analyses, sometimesconfirming morphological concepts andsometimes confounding them. Theemerging findings in relation to Eriosyceseem to clearly show the genus sensu latois not monophyletic and therefore shouldnot stand. However, there also appears tobe no consensus on exactly how toreseggregate it, the most recent survey byReto Nyffeler and Urs Eggli beingsomewhat inconclusive in this respect.

Above: Eriosyce(Thelocephala)napina.A popular, dwarfspecies typical of theThelocephala group.It is easy to grow andflowers readily. Thespecific name derivesfrom its large, turnip-like root

Above right: Eriosyce(Thelocephala)napina ssp.aerocarpa.A very pretty, tinyspecies with lovelyflowers, the glossyshine of which makesflash photographytricky!

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The latest published systematic opus is the2015 ‘Taxonomy of the Cactaceae’ by JoëlLodé, in which Eriosyce is reduced back tothe original Philippi concept with threespecies recognised. Lodé additionallyrecognises Neoporteria, Islaya andRimacactus but not Pyrrhocactus,Horridocactus, Neochilenia orThelocephala. In his (proposed) ‘CITESCactaceae Checklist Third Edition (2016)’,Hunt continues to accept Eriosyce sensulato and ignores all the other genericnames, not even recognising them as beingin current use!

So, what is my view on all this? ‘Irrelevant’is the short answer. As a grower, however, Ilike my plants to be laid out according totheir relationships and I also like my labelsto be meaningful, otherwise I may as wellhave ‘Sylvester’ on Lobivia silvestrii or‘Graham’s Beard’ on Aylostera muscula(apparently it feels the same), as my wifelikes to call them.

Being fairly tidy-minded and a simple soulat heart, if that’s not a mixed metaphor, Ihappily accepted Kattermann’s broadEriosyce because it was simple,unambiguous and made recognition andlabelling very much easier, removing all theconfusion over Ritter’s and Backeberg’sbickering. Deep down, I really knew it wasall too convenient and probably just plainwrong but I was never happy with theprevious arrangement either because therewere too many genera, that were virtuallyimpossible to tell apart when presented ina pot in front of you, or it was easy todefend deferring to the experts, as oneought. Prior to NCL I had, of course,accepted Eriosyce sensu stricto but hadreduced the others to Neoporteria(hummingbird-pollinated flowers), plusIslaya, Pyrrhocactus (reddish and brownishflowers) and Neochilenia (everything else).

Thinking about it again now for this article,Eriosyce is a given. In cultivation, they aredistinctive, larger growing and do notflower until attaining some size. Theproblem is with the rest. I am unsure overIslaya, although the large balloon-like fruitswith few seeds are distinctive; but is thereone species, one species with severalsubspecies/varieties or several species?Certainly, the plants are very uniform butdo vary within narrow limits. Rimacactus isa genuine oddity with a unique appearanceand very different flowers from the rest of

the group; and itshabitat, growthpattern and now DNAanalysis furthersupport itsseparation.Pragmatically,everything else,perhaps includingIslaya, is aNeoporteria. TheAndes are youngerthan Backebergbelieved and, withmultiple pollinationsyndromes and rootmorphologiesoccurring in othergenera, I see littlereason to retainadditional names forwhat are, in myopinion, minor variations. It will beinteresting to see what the future holds forthese taxa.

Whatever name you choose for your label,in cultivation, most species are reasonablywell behaved. They grow well given opendrainage, good light to encourage strongspination and plenty of ventilation,especially during the winter months whenthey like to be cool and dry. Providing thepotting mix drains freely, I wouldrecommend a standard volume of waterbut starting a little later in the year, aroundlate March or even early April. This seemsto assist good flowering and reduce therisk of rot, as these plants seem to be slowto wake up in the spring. Flowers on mostspecies appear in mid to late spring. The

Eriosyce (Islaya)islayensis in flowerand fruit. The latterhave few seedswhich are hollow andballoon-like fordispersal by the wind

Eriosyce(Horridocactus)curvispina.Flower colour andspination variesconsiderably withinthe current conceptof this species

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Rimacactus laui was first discovered by Alfred Lau in1971 and collected by himin 1989. It was describedby Lüthy in 1994, asEriosyce laui, inKatterman's book‘Eriosyce: The genusrevised and amplified’.Roy Mottram erected thegenus Rimacactus in 2001and more recent DNAstudies seem to suggestthat it is related to Yaviaand Neowerdemannia.

In habitat it is confined to asmall area (possibly nomore than 10sq km) ofcoastal desert south of

Tocopilla in northern Chile. Here it grows in cracks inthe rocks where it dependson the coastal fogs forsurvival.

In cultivation it has areputation for beingdifficult, if not impossible togrow on its own roots. It isusually grafted therefore,when it will offset quitereadily, growing into farlarger clumps than wouldever be found in habitat. It will also producegenerous amounts of whitewool and flower quitefreely, with long-lastingyellow flowers. n

Eriosyce, etc: A symphony of synonyms continued

hummingbird-pollinated species, howevercan flower any time from late autumn toearly spring and I have had plants of E. subgibbosa in flower on Christmas day!

One or two species are temperamental andI find E. megliolii, E. villicumensis and E. aspillagae, all of which flower later in theyear, prone to rot and/or red spider mite. E. umadeave needs very little water and ashallow pot, as it has very few roots (itgrows on virtually solid rock in habitat),while the Thelocephala group is also bestunder watered and underfed if you want to

preserve their naturally tiny, compactnature, although conversely one seessome very attractive and healthylarger plants, sometimes as sizeableclumps, receiving prize cards on theshow bench.

Rimacactus seems only to grow on agraft and, so far, I have notencountered anyone who hasretained one on its own roots beyondthe early seedling stage.

Going back to the title of this article,I may have been wrong. ‘Asymphony of synonyms’ suggests awell orchestrated, gracefulmovement, perhaps resembling anomenclatural rendering of GordonRowley’s ‘Cactus polonaise’. A bettertitle might have been ‘A cactophonyof chaos’. (I hereby present‘cactophony’ as a new compound

noun meaning confusing taxonomic stateor debate!)

But do not let mere names on labels be adeterrent from growing these SouthAmerican gems. They are hugely attractive,wonderfully charismatic, free flowering andmainly fairly straightforward to grow. n

Photos: Graham Evans

To accompany this article Graham hasprepared a checklist of Eriosyce nameswhich is available to download from theEssex Succulent Review website.

Eriosyce(Neochilenia)chilensis.A species withdelightfully brightspines and prettyflowers, which canvary from rose-pinkto almost carmine

Rimacactus laui - a genuine oddityby Sheila Cude

Rimacactus laui Photo: Michael Wolf Used under licence by Creative Commons