The Cactus Patch. December Annual Holiday Potluck & Silent Auction 6:00pm. Election & Installation of Officers this month

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1 The Cactus Patch Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei Volume 20 December 2017 Number 12 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BAKERSFIELD CACTUS & SUCCULENT SOCIETY This Month's Program December 6:00 Bakersfield Yucca filamentosa Color Guard St. Paul's Church, th St. pollypearl@hotmail.com The Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society % Polly Hargreaves, editor Annual Holiday Potluck & Silent Auction 6:00pm Election & Installation of Officers this month We need you! December 12th Family Potluck Dinner & Installation of Officers & Silent Auction

2 The Cactus Patch December 12th MEETING Volume 20 Number 12 December 2017 Annual Holiday Potluck & Silent Auction 6:00pm The Cactus Patch is the official publication of the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society of Bakersfield, California The rules for the potluck are simple: There are no rules. Bring any kind of dish you want to share, and don't forget something sweet to eat. You may want to bring your own forks, knives and good plates, the Club will furnish plastic forks and knives and paper plates and cups. Bring drinks for yourself and to share. The whole family is invited! We will also have our Silent Auction, where members bid on special plants provided by the club. For this reason the auction is for members only. If you have a special item that has something to do with Cacti & Succulents and would like to donate it to be auctioned off, please bring it and add it to the auction tables. Membership in the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society costs $20 per year for an individual and $25 a year for a family. LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW YEAR CONTACT INF ORMATION Vice - President: Jill Brennan jbrennan@bak.rr.com Membership: Maynard Moe lmmoe44@gmail.com Newsletter: Polly Hargreaves pollypearl@hotmail.com Website: Stephen Cooley thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com Visit Us On the Web! ~2~ Election of Officers for 2018 PRESIDENT: Paul Bowles will not be able to continue next year. Others are willing to continue: VICE PRESIDENT: Jill Brennan NEWSLETTER: Polly Hargreaves SECRETARY: Pat Tennant TREASURER AND MEMBERSHIP: L. Maynard Moe ~3~

3 th December 12, 2017 So, what exactly IS a succulent? Maynard Moe BRAG TABLE It was a very interesting talk without being too technical His book is Kern County Flora Are we the Cactus and OTHER Succulent Society? I brought a copy of Bradleya to show off the two articles with my name in it (as mentioned in last month s newsletter.) Polly brought an Ocotillo as it was the plant of the month. Sidney Kelley brought a hybrid Aloe X Christmas Sleigh which was in flower. Stephen Cooley brought a Conophytum which had beautiful, but tiny flowers. Paulette brought a hybrid medusa-type Euphorbia. Jill brought the Cussonia natalensis which I had commented on in the last news letter. An Aloe with strange growths was brought in for diagnosis. It is a disease commonly referred to as Aloe mite and credited to the microscopic mite Aceria alcinis. It is better referred to as Aloe cancer and is due to a virus which is spread by the mite. The best cure is to destroy the Aloe as it will quickly spread the disease to other Aloes. ~4~ ~5~

4 Plants and Singing A Letter From Bruce On the 21st of October we went to the Native Plant Sale at Cal State. I bought a Pipe vine which is a small version of the Dutchman s pipe with its name derived from the curved flower. When I went to pay for it I found they had a copy of Maynard s book, Kern County Flora, so I bought that too. Thus I have finally read it and I find a lot has changed since I studied the subject (some fifty odd years ago). Not only have new plants been found, but a lot of the names have changed. Agaves, which I had learned as members of the Amaryllis family, are listed in their own family Agavaceae. (But elsewhere I find them in the Asparagus family it s the ongoing battle between lumpers and splitters.) After the plant sale we went to Sabina s for her wildly wacky garden of everything from mermaids to Halloween displays. We ended with a light lunch of hot dogs and chili. It s a pity the notice for the event never reached the editor so that it wasn t in the newsletter, but there were plenty of people there anyway. On the 26th we had a party at our exercise group to celebrate 25 years of Silver Sneakers as well as the birthday of Yolanda Avalos, our group leader. It was a potluck lunch and there was too much food. We ll never be able to exercise enough to make up for it. [Hard to believe Bruce and I have been members for over nine years. Polly] On the 2nd of November we went to Fresno and heard Peter Beirsdofer speak on succulents Around the World. He started in Germany and ended in North Carolina. It was a great talk with good animation. I hope he will speak in Bakersfield. Coming back on Friday we stopped at a Subway shop and had a two for one sandwich as they were celebrating National Sandwich Day. On the 12th we went to the Stockdale Country Club and our Goldenairs choir sang for our friend Audrey s 80th birthday. They also had a family blue-grass band. We then proceeded to the Millcreek Church to join a larger choir to sing in Memory of Bob Clatterbuck. He composed and arranged many songs of which we sang a long selection. After that we went with the family to Rose-Mary s. It was a long day. On the 14th we heard Maynard s talk on what makes a plant a succulent. It is complicated and there is no one answer, but he did a good job of clarifying some points. In spite of everything, however, we will never get most people to say Cacti and other succulents as they should. Bruce Hargreaves ~6~ [Bruce's opinions are his own and are not necessarily that of the BCSS]

5 Plant of the Month Opuntia streptacantha I was at the botanic garden on Catalina Island recently and much impressed by the Prickly Pear cacti. The perm prickly pear is used to identify many of the flat pad cacti found in the western hemisphere but O. streptacantha also known as Opuntia ficus-indica (Indian fig) is the most wide spread of the bunch. It is native to central Mexico but because of its adaptability and usefulness as food and medicine it has been spread by humans across the globe and is now found in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia as well as North and South America. Mature plants reach 10 ft. (3 M) in height with woody tree-like trunks surmounted by clusters of green-grey pads. The pads are about 12 in. (30 cm.) long and 8 in. (20 cm.) wide. Areoles are white with yellow glochids. Spines if present are white to yellow, 1 in. (2.5 cm.) long usually 2-6 in number. Many varieties lack spines. Flowers are yellow to orange about 2.5 in. (7 cm.) long. Darwin discovered that the anthers were sensitive to touch (thigmotactic) and would curl down toward the stigma when touched. An interesting adaptation to ensure pollination. ~8~ The fruits are red, orange and even green. They are a favored fruit in Mexico eaten after glochids are removed by peeling or burning. Fruits are made into jams and jellies as well. Medicinal values have also been found. The pulp contains an unidentified substance that lowers blood sugar. Folk medicine has found uses for easing child birth, wound healing and other things. Cochineal scale insects are farmed on the pads to yield a red dye which is much prized. This cactus will easily grow in Bakersfield and could form a pleasing specimen plant in a landscape. It is cold tolerant and will easily propagate from cuttings or seed. Every yard should have one. Jack G. Reynolds Visit Us On the Web! Facebook: ~9~

6 December 12th Family Potluck Dinner & Silent Auction < 2018 > January 9th Marcia Tatroe "Rockin' with Cacti and Succulents." February 13th BCSS Meeting Garden BC Saturday, April 21st 2018 Visit Us On the Web! Facebook: ~10~ ~11~