#pottsii

[sabistarphotos]

May 23, 2021

Desert Botanical Garden

Phoenix, AZ

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Ferocactus pottsii

This species of Ferocactus is not as densely spined as most of the other barrel cacti, but it has a chubby appeal of its own. The yellow flowers with red centers come in summer, but the delightful yellow fruits last so long that they are still present when the next year's flowers come along, as can be seen here. From southern Sonora and adjacent Chihuahua and Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico.

-Brian

[ayanos-pl]

今頃、ヒメヒオウギズイセンが咲いている。例年なら7月に咲くのだが（10月29日）

Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora, montbretia, is a garden hybrid of C. aurea and C. pottsii

[drhoz]

#1941 - Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora - Garden Montbretia

Photo by @purrdence at Lake Mangamahoe, NZ. 

From the Greek krokos, meaning "saffron", and osme, meaning "odor" –  the dried leaves emitting a strong smell like that of saffron (another genus in the Iridaceae) – when immersed in hot water.  Montebretia is a heterotypic synonym of the genus Tritonia in which some species of Crocosmia used to be included. In the British Isles the common name Montebretia for orange-flowered cultivars that have aggressively naturalised, while "crocosmia" is reserved for less aggressive red-flowered cultivars.

A garden hybrid of Crocosmia aurea and Crocosmia pottsii, both of which originated from South Africa, first bred in 1880 in France by Victor Lemoine, and now an invasive weed in the UK, California, Australia and New Zealand. The weed grows in all states of Australia bar the Northern Territory, most often close to highly populated city and coastal areas where garden waste was illegally dumped. It is of particular concern in the Manly and Blue Mountains areas near Sydney. but is present at various locations along the eastern coast, the Tablelands regions and on Lord Howe Island. 

Montbretia grows in dense clumps and is capable of adapting to a variety of conditions (hybrid vigour is a sod), out-competing native plants, particularly in native bushland and riparian areas, causing creek bank erosion and sedimentation where it changes water flow.

Montbretia can sometimes still be found for sale at local fetes, nurseries and markets but mostly spreads from underground runners and bulbs. Each plant can produce over a dozen new bulbs each year, which break off from the parent plant and begin to produce their own root network. 

[life-around-me-yura15cbx]

Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora, montbretia, is a garden hybrid of C. aurea and C. pottsii, first bred in 1880 in France by Victor Lemoine. The name "montbretia" is often found in horticultural literature.

Crocosmia pottsii, Potts' montbretia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Iridaceae, native to KwaZulu-Natal and the southern Cape Provinces of South Africa, and introduced in Colombia. With Crocosmia aurea it is a parent of the widely cultivated Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora (the montbretia).[Crocosmia aurea, common names falling stars, Valentine flower, or montbretia, is a perennial flowering plant belonging to the family Iridaceae.

338 Huia Road, Titirangi, Auckland 0604

3J2G+5XX Auckland

-36.9495080, 174.6274920

[plantsinreallife]

Pottsii blooms. Still so pretty on Day 4. Swipe 👉🏻 Day 2 These all bloomed rather suddenly and mostly in unison. The waxy flowers are a beautiful cream colour with a touch of pink and minimal nectar. The scent is pleasant, floral, noticeably stronger at night, yet not overly potent. The smell reminds me of potpourri or some rose/lilac floral bar soaps. Blooms lasted 5 days. Even as they faded, they still looked oh so elegant. 📸 #hoyapottsii #hoyablooms 🛍 @crystalstarnursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #hoyas #pottsii #hoyaflower #hoyaobsessed #hoyacollection #plantobsessed #plantsofinstagram #ahoyaaday #soiless #semihydro #hoyahaven #hoyasaremyjam #hoyacollection #canadianplantlovers #hoyaplant #plantnerd #houseofplantlovers #hoyahead #hotforhoya #ilovehoyas #hoyawishlist #hausofhoya #thehoyacollective #hoyamagosh #holyfreakinghoya #plantsinreallife #plantsplantsplants https://www.instagram.com/p/CNIegidA3JO/?igshid=1fm526g97bi6j

[hapalopus]

Reasons life sucks right now:

We're down to 7 hours of daylight. Which doesn't even matter because the sun is so low and the clouds are so heavy there's barely any light anyways

I get woken up by drills at 7am every day because they're doing maintenance on my building

My Ferocactus pottsii is dying

My Achatina fulica, Horny Jim, is dying

My knee is starting to act up because of the cold and just walking is painful

I have chest dysphoria for the first time in 2 years

I have a toothache - probably a cavity but possibly a wisdom tooth. I'm getting it checked out tomorrow

Winter depression is setting in and I'm struggling with suicidal ideation

I'm already 500 pages behind, and these two courses have only lasted 2 weeks

I failed my statistics exam for the 4th time. You only get 3 exam attempts, then you have to ask for an exemption to get more. I already got one exemption, so the likelihood of getting another is not huge

I still haven't figured out the zoo project and it's embarassing

I'm so stressed, I feel like I've done nothing but cry and talk to councellors this week.

I have to convince the doctor to give me a note saying I can't study to my full abilities right now so I can get sick leave from uni. And suddenly what was meant to be a 3 year bachelor's degree is becoming a 5 year long mess.

[gardenwerks]

Crocosmia x ‘Emily McKenzie’ and Molinia caerulea variegata

Hello friends: sorry I haven’t posted in a couple weeks. My mind has been busy elsewhere trying to make sense of death and grieving. But the flower garden just keeps on blooming happily! Thank God!

Emily McKenzie is a later-blooming Crocosmia - in full bloom now in our garden in early September - getting started a full 4-8 weeks after the other Crocosmias.  It has a typical Crocosmia plant form - upright sword-like leaves tinted bronze - with dark-colored flower stalks arching upward and outward. Plant size in bloom is 2-3′ high, and a bit wider. The flowers are very large, opening flat, and facing downwards. The dark purple calyxes highlight deep orange flowers with dramatic burnt orange/maroon markings around light yellow-orange throats. Hummingbirds love them!!

Ballyrobert Gardens, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland UK, provides this history:  Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora 'Emily McKenzie' was first found in 1951 in a Tyne Valley Garden owned by Emily Mckenzie. A vigorous plant which produces branching stems of rich orange flowers splashed with wallflower red. It is believed by some to have been a natural sport of an older hybrid called 'Comet' (aka 'Malahide Castle' after the Malahide Castle Gardens in county Dublin) which was developed by crossing C. aurea with C. masoniorum. But 'Emily Mckenzie' may also have C. pottsii in its make-up as do the majority of today's Crocosmia hybrids. [Note: Tyne Valley, Northumberland, England, UK]

https://www.ballyrobertgardens.com/products/crocosmia-x-crocosmiiflora-emily-mckenzie

The lovely grass with which ‘Emily McKenzie’ has been interplanted is Molinia caerulea variegata. This grass looks great showing off the other crocosmias in this bed: ‘Adriana’ and the tall, bold C. paniculata, both of which bloomed earlier.

[jrenvs3000]

Nature and Science - houseplants 🌿

Since this week is a free week, I wanted to talk about something that I am passionate about – plants!

I started collecting houseplants quite a few years ago, but my passion for it really exploded over the last few years as I really got the hang of their care. I’m sure many of you can relate, as the houseplant trend has really exploded over the past year or so due to people taking up new hobbies during Covid-19! I wanted to focus on a small part of my collection, linking nature interpretation to the science and explaining a bit about how the genus hoya has grown into an ever-expanding cross breeding frenzy for collectors.

A photograph of a Hoya carnosa taken by Doug Chamberlain (n.d.) taken from Vermont Hoyas.

The plant seen above is called a Hoya carnosa, and is one may remember trailing around their grandparent’s house, as it has been widely available and popular for decades. Hoyas can be identified by their thick, waxy leaves, and their unique flowers that emit a variety of scents depending on the species ranging from floral to fruity to musty. The flowers erupt from the tips of pedicels from the spur on a peduncle, into an umbel shape. Hold on…what do all these words mean??

A photograph of a peduncle (L) and a spur (R) taken by Summer Rayne Oakes from Homestead Brooklyn. 

A peduncle is a stalk that bears a fruit or a flower – you may have heard people refer to the pumpkin “handle” as a peduncle – because that’s what it is!

A spur is the part of the hoya where the new blooms erupt from

A pedicel is a small stem that attaches the actual flower structure to the rest of itself

An umbel shape is a flower shape where all the pedicels attach at a common point and spread out like an umbrella – if you’ve ever seen common milkweed, this firework like shape is an “umbel” shape.

A photograph of Asclepias syriaca (Common milkweed) showing the umbel shape, taken from Wikimedia Commons. Fun fact - despite hoyas originating largely in tropical areas and milkweed being found even here in North America, they share this structure because they are part of the same taxonomical family (Apocynaceae).

A photograph taken by Dave Chamberlain from Vermont Hoyas showing a Hoya serpens (L) and a Hoya ‘mathilde’ (R).

Now onto the interesting part. Hoyas are an enormous genus, with a huge variety of species that vary in size, shape, colour (both for the leaves and the flowers), and care requirements. Many of the species have been purposefully cultivated to maintain a certain look, but many have also cross pollinated naturally in the wild. One example of this is Hoya ‘Mathilde’ (seen above on the right) which is a cross between a H. carnosa and a H. serpens, resulting in the thick green carnosa leaves and the attractive round shape of serpens.

A photograph of a hoya flower cluster, individual flower, and cross section of a flower taken from Mochizuki et al. (2017) showing the structure of a flower and the location of the pollen.

Despite being a long-loved genus, little is fully understood about the pollination of hoyas, and many new species born from cross-pollination occur by accident by insects. The flowers on hoyas are complex and specialized, as seen in two studies by Mochizuki et al. (2017) and Landrein et al (2020), where H. carnosa and H. pottsii were found to be pollinated almost exclusively at night by a select few large species of moth. Furthermore, Landrein et al. (2020) attempted to hand pollinate their hoyas but found it to be difficult and required a microscope. The trouble with these plants is that the pollen is not readily exposed but is actually hidden within the flower in little sacs that need to be fully removed (as seen below marked with “po”).

A photograph of part of my hoya collection (L) and a newly forming bloom (R) on a Hoya lacunosa.

Seen above is a sample of my little collection of hoya, including a bloom starting on my H. lacunosa. I am hoping to try and get some seeds from it by using the same techniques used in the paper mentioned above! Since it is the only bloom coming right now, there isn’t a way for me to cross pollinate to try and make a new species, but I am hoping that in the future this will be a possibility. I would love to hear from anyone else who keeps plants from this awesome genus, or anyone else’s plant stories from quarantine! Works Cited:

Chamberlain, D. (n.d.). Hoya Carnosa. Retrieved from Vermont Hoyas:

https://vermonthoyas.com/hoyas-c-d/hoya-carnosa/

Chamberlain, D. (n.d.). Hoya Serpens. Retrieved from Vermont Hoyas:

https://vermonthoyas.com/hoyas-s-z/hoya-serpens/

Chamberlain, D. (n.d.). Hoya Mathilde. Retrieved from Vermont Hoyas:

https://vermonthoyas.com/hoya-cultivars/hoya-cv-mathilde/

Landrein, S., Zhou, Z.-Y., & Song, S.-J. (2020). Pollinators of Hoya pottsii: Are the strongest the most effective? Flora, 1-10.

Mochizuki, K., Furukawa, S., & Kawakita, A. (2017). Pollinia transfer on moth legs in Hoya carnosa (Apocynaceae). American Journal of Botany, 953-960.

Oakes, S. R. (2019, April 11). The Ultimate Hoya Care Guide. Retrieved from Homestead Brooklyn: https://homesteadbrooklyn.com/all/2019/4/8/the-ultimate-hoya-care-guide#:~:text=The%20flowers%20of%20hoya%2C%20which,)%20or%20flat%2Dtopped%20surface.

[traviswardhorticulture]

New plant hunt is posted on the website. Link in bio. #Mammillaria #pottsii #RattailNippleCactus #cacti #cactus #TexasNative #TexasNativePlants #MesadeAnguila #BigBend #BigBendNationalPark #FindYourPark #OptOutside (at Big Bend National Park)

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Ferocactus pottsii

This stout barrel cactus comes from the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwestern Mexico. It normally flowers here at the Ruth Bancroft Garden in the middle of the summer, but this year it decided to have another round of flowers in September, much to our delight.

-Brian

[artscult-com]

cattleya reineckeana, montbretia pottsii - high resolution image from old book.

[artscult]

hoya pottsii - high resolution image from old book.

[plantsinreallife]

A new leaf to celebrate the countdown to Spring🐣 Losing an hour to daylight savings has had no impact on the productivity of my pottsii. New leaves, new growth points, new umbel...it just makes me so happy when plants are growing well. I have some plant chores to do, b u t given the nice weather, I'm (very) unlikely to do them this weekend. Oh well! 🤗 Have a great weekend, everyone! 📸 #hoyapottsii 🌱 current conditions: Leca, plastic pot with a shallow water reservoir, no fertilizer (but will resume soon), direct & indirect natural sunlight, South window, 30% to 45% humidity, 75°F to 85°F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #hoyas #pottsii #hoyaobsessed #plantobsessed #hoyasofinstagram #plantenabler #plantlover #plantsofinstagram #plantsofinsta #ahoyaaday #soiless #semihydro #hoyacollection #plantnerd #hoyahead #hotforhoya #ilovehoyas #hausofhoya #thehoyacollective #tinyleaves #hoyamagosh #holyfreakinghoya #indoorplants #plantmom #houseplantjournal #plantlife #plantsinreallife #plantsplantsplants #plantsmakepeoplehappy https://www.instagram.com/p/CMnmfLBHb0A/?igshid=1mtgp2acuhedq

[hapalopus]

Got a new cactus! I think it's a Ferocactus pottsii, but it's always a bit hard to ID these babes💚

[gardenwerks]

Montbretia or Crocosmia - what’s in the name??  However, these two names are used interchangeably, and confusingly.  And there are two very different plant forms associated with these plants. But first, what is the plant? These wonderful perennials are corms, which grow in large clusters, throwing up lance-shaped, often ribbed foliage, looking somewhat like Siberian Iris, and then long, often dark, stems of multiple flower heads in early-to-late summer. The flowers are arranged on either side of individual spurs from the main stalk. The leaves arch out, and the flower stalks arch even further.

So I promised a post showing some of the many different Crocosmias in our garden. Here’s that attempt!

Wikipedia states the following “Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora, montbretia, is a garden hybrid of C. aurea and C. pottsii, first bred in 1880 in France by Victor Lemoine.”  Missouri Botanical Garden had a photo of C. pottsii, which has broad, tall foliage, with upright flowers in long clusters held well above the foliage, and is native to the Cape Province and Kwa-Zulu/Natal in South Africa. It looks like what I call “crocosmias”. C. aurea is called “Falling Stars” in South Africa, and has shorter, narrower foliage with arching stalks of yellow-orange flowers that hang down on either side of the stem. It has a broader range across the southern part of that country, including the same areas as C. pottsii. A nice write up on C. aurea is found at: 

https://naturebackin.com/2017/03/02/crocosmia-aurea-saffron-scented-falling-stars/

There is a third species Crocosmia masoniorum that must have been been involved in some of the hybridizing, because it looks just like many of the named cultivars, particularly ‘Adriana’ that I showcased in a separate post.

So...all Montbretias are Crocosmias. Montbretia is just a garden name, like “lilac” refers to Syringa species. Most of the resulting Montbretias or Crocosmias in our gardens then are actually hybrids of two different Crocosmia species, and most are of the classification C. x crocosmiiflora.  But, here in the US, Crocosmias generally refer to the taller forms with wider foliage that have upright flowers in rows on horizontal stalks. See the two upper photographs.

And...Montbretia refers to the form that is shorter, has arching “plumes” of dangling flowers, and is quite robust. See the two lower photographs. This smaller form which shows its C. aurea parentage, has naturalized along streams and waterways throughout Western Europe and several other countries.  Montbretia is actually classified as an invasive weed in UK, Australia, and New Zealand. In fact, any Crocosmias/Montbretias cannot be sold or propagated in New South Wales, Australia. These clumps were given to me by our neighbors the Bells. They brought them with them from their garden in Kent, WA, where they had appeared all on their own. The Bells never planted them. But, they certainly do multiply, and fast!

The name “Montbretia” refers to  A. F. E. Coquebert de Montbret, a French botanist (1780–1801), according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Wikipedia reports “The genus name [Crocosmia] is derived from the Greek words krokos, meaning "saffron", and osme, meaning "odor", as dried leaves of these plants, when immersed in hot water, emit a strong smell similar to saffron.” Saffron is th fall blooming Crocus sativa from the Mediterranean. The anthers of this plant are collected and dried for use as the spice “saffron”.

Unfortunately, I don’t know the cultivar names of the Crocosmias shown in the upper photos. Over the years, I had acquired ‘Babylon’, ‘Bright Eyes’, probably ‘Severn Sunrise’, and likely a couple others. Birdies searching for seeds and bugs in the garden have kindly flicked out the tags from most of them. They all were planted in pots, often did not bloom the second year in our Bothell, WA, garden. We brought them, planted them in the ground, and they are thriving here on! In fact, I’m always finding thin tall blades coming up in ferns, other perennials, etc. I try to dig them out and collect them in a pot. Wait for them to bloom. Will see! Will have plenty to give away.