cactguy

[cactguy]

Delosperma & aloe, The Huntington, California

[cactguy]

The Huntington: vistas inward

[cactguy]

Puya chilensis | Sheep-eating plant

The Huntington, California

An evergreen perennial, it forms large, dense rosettes of grey-green, strap-like leaves edged with hooked spines. The green or yellow flowers are borne on spikes which resemble a medieval mace, and stand up to 6 ft 7 high. Spreading by offsets, Puya chilensis can colonize large areas over time. Growth is slow and plants may take 20 years or more to flower.

The plant is believed to be hazardous to sheep and birds which may become entangled in the spines of the leaves. If the animal dies, the plant may gain nutrients as the animal decomposes nearby, though this has not been confirmed. For this reason, Puya chilensis has earned the nickname "sheep-eating plant".

[cactguy]

Mammillaria compressa | Mother of hundreds

Mammillaria compressa is native to northern and southern Mexico, and is cultivated as an ornamental plant.

Easily clustering and easily flowered it is one of the largest of all the Mammillarias. Most plants will offset readily, and huge clumps can be produced in a very few years.

(Feet for scale)

[cactguy]

The Huntington: Aloes, Crassula & Palms

[cactguy]

Lampranthus saturatus, The Huntington, California

Lampranthus saturatus, a succulent plant in the Aizoaceae family, is a species of Lampranthus, known for its bright, large flowers and long, smooth, succulent leaves, typically found in southern Africa

[cactguy]

Parodia oxycostata, The Huntington, California

A short cactus with 6-12 ribs and snow white wool at its apex. This plant is a deep, emerald green which nicely offsets its sunny yellow flowers. Its spines are reddish to white and are borne from the fuzzy areoles which dot its stem. This species is native to Brazil and stays under 3.5" in height and diameter.

@ruthbancroftgarden Brian, this ID look correct to you?

[cactguy]

The Huntington: five vistas

[cactguy]

Agave parryi inflorescence | Artichoke agave

The Huntington, California

This emerging inflorescence illustrates perfectly the common name of Agave parryi: artichoke agave.

[cactguy]

The Huntington: spring vista

Mixed throughout the garden, the Cactus and Succulent collection features a great deal of spring color including Delosperma, Aloes and Crassula.

[cactguy]

The Huntington: Roundabout

The Cactus and Succulent Garden has many circulating and crosscutting pathways, ensuring no one direct route through the space.

Featured: many of the hundreds of Echinocactus grusonii in the collection.

[cactguy]

Opuntia robusta | Wheel cactus or nopal tapón

The Huntington, California

A large cactus to 6 to 7 feet tall and as wide with 1 foot or more round flat silvery-gray stem segments (pads) that are jointed together often at nearly perpendicular angles.

This plant is widespread in central and Northern Mexico to within 100 miles of the Arizona and New Mexico borders where it grow from 5,000 to 10,000 feet rocky slopes, open shrublands, woodlands and mixed with other cactus and succulents.

[cactguy]

Senecio talinoides ssp. mandraliscae | Blue kleinia

The Huntington, California

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Euphorbia coerulescens | Blue euphorbia

The Huntington, California

Euphorbia coerulescens is easy to grow in well drained soil with full sun. It forms a small, columnar, leafless shrub with sharp spines on the column edges. Stems are green to bluish green. It blooms with small yellow flowers, called cymes, at the branch tips. E. coerulescens slowly spreads from short underground stems. Fruits are tri-lobed and reddish in color.

The milky sap of this plant can be irritating to some people, especially be careful to keep it away from one’s face and eyes. It is used for animal fodder when cut into sections and allowed to dry. Avoid very windy areas as stems bump into each other causing scaring.

[cactguy]

Beaucarnea recurvata (Ponytail palm) & Stenocereus

The Huntington, California

[cactguy]

Agave parryi var. truncata | Parry’s agave

The Huntington, California

Agave parryi 'Truncata' is referred to as the Gentry form or, commonly as the artichoke agave. They will bloom when mature (10-15 years old), from a single central stalk that grows as tall as 5m high, which produces a spike of yellow flowers at the tip.

As a cultivar of Agave parryi, the exact origin of the 'Truncata' Gentry form is unknown, but the plant was first collected by American botanist Howard Scott Gentry in 1951, in an oak-juniper woodland in the Sierra Papanton, Durango (near the Zacatecas border).

[cactguy]

Stenocereus, The Huntington, CA