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Ariocarpus kotschuobeyanus ssp.
mcdowellii (SB283 Dr Arroyo, Nuevo Leon, Mexico )
These are the northern
populations of the species; they are smaller than the
type, with small beak-like tubercles and pale mauve flowers, often
with a high white content in the outer petals.
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Description: They are
geophyte plants that produce small star-shaped
rosettes. They are usually
solitary, rarely giving rise to side
shoots from old areoles, flattened on top,
depressed centrally. The
tubercles are
deltoid, dark olive green with no
spines, and lie flat on the
soil surface. They are more long than wide, closely packed and
divergent, sharply angled apically;
Areoles forms a central longitudinal
areolar groove extending to the tips on the adaxial surfaces of the
tubercles, woolly, 1-3 mm wide, 5-10 mm long. Each plant has a
large
turnip-like taproot, which lies below the soil surface and serves
for
water storage. These plants have a
woolly crown, from which emerge bright pink-violet
flowers up to 2.5-5 cm, 2 times wider than long when fully expanded.
Flowers are diurnal, and last for 3 to 4 days.
Blooming time from mid-September onwards. Fruits: white or green with lots of
seed. The white-flowered variety was described as var. albiflorus.
A. kotschoubeyanus is a
variable species:
As with most other widely
distributed species of this
genus there appears to be geographical
clines, in this case a north - south cline and a
east - west cline.
The plants in northern
populations (known as A. kotschoubeyanus. var. macdowellii)
are smaller than the
type, with small beak-like tubercles and pale mauve flowers, often
with a high white content in the outer petals.
In contrast the southerly forms (known as
A. kotschoubeyanus var. elephantendens) are much
bigger, with
larger, highly textured,
triangulate tubercles, and a deep purple flower with little or no
white content.
A. kotschoubeyanus ssp. sladkovskyi differs from the other
red flowering A. kotschoubeyanus (that have a dull and rough epidermis)
for having a smoother and shiny epidermis.
A small growing form with white flowers (known as
A. kotschoubeyanus var. albiflorus) has been
described in Tamaulipas.
The type species is intermediate between all the above
forms and is to be found off highway 80, between El Huisache
Junction and Santo Domingo.
Cultivation The plants need deep
pots to accommodate the
napiform unit formed by the
stem base and the
rootstock , and a loose
mineral soil with a well-drained
substrate. They need a good amount of
light. A place near the roof of the greenhouse helps, drying the pot
after
watering. This can be done weekly during
the
summertime, if the weather is sunny enough, with a little
fertilizer added. Kept this way, plants will show a
healthy, although slow
growth. They are
frost hardy to -10°C
Propagation: By
seeds, remembering that
seedlings dislike strong
light and
dry conditions and need to be
repotted frequently. Eventually, as they become mature, they attain
a maximum size of 5 to 9 cm. But plants are often
grafted to accelerate growth as they would generally take at least a
decade to reach
maturity on their own, but the grafted plants are typical rather
tall growing, compared with plants on their
own roots, that are usually very flat to the ground. |
Cultivation
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