The Cactus Patch. Sizzler 900 REAL RD. Meet the Speaker. Volume 18 June 2015 Number 6. Monthly Meeting Tuesday, June 9 th at 6:30 PM.

Transcription

1 The Cactus Patch Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei Volume 18 June 2015 Number 6 THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BAKERSFIELD CACTUS & SUCCULENT SOCIETY The Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society % Polly Hargreaves, editor 5817 Pryor Street Bakersfield, Ca Hesperaloe funifera bjh This Month's Program opuntias, black sheep of the cactus family Charles St Paul's Episcopal Church 6:30 PM Monthly Meeting Tuesday, June 9 th at 6:30 PM 5:30 Meet the Speaker 5:30 PM Sizzler 900 REAL RD

2 The Cactus Patch Volume 18 Number 6 June 2015 The Cactus Patch is the official publication of the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society of Bakersfield, California Membership in the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society costs $20 per year for an individual and $25 a year for a family. CONTACT I NFORMATI ON President: Frank Drake pancho0831@yahoo.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~ Meeting on June 9 th Charles is a retired Professor of Microbiology and Cell Biology from California State University, Northridge. He and his wife, Joann, have collected succulents since 1978, starting with a few patio plants from a yard sale and gradually becoming avid collectors and exhibitors of a wide variety of succulent plants, mostly cacti. They now live in Paso Robles, having moved there from Chatsworth after his retirement in Charles maintains extensive collections of Opuntioideae and Gymnocalyciums and, with Joann, a growing collection of Lithops and other mesembs. Charles has traveled throughout Peru, Argentina, Baja California, Mainland Mexico, the Virgin Islands, and our own Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Sonoran deserts in search of cacti in habitat. He has been an active member of a number of Cactus and Succulent clubs; he served two terms as president of the Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society and was Co-Chairman and Treasurer of the Intercity Cactus and Succulent Show for 13 years. His plants have won numerous awards at the Cactus and Succulent Society of America Show and the Intercity Cactus and Succulent Show, two of the largest succulent shows in the world. He is an accredited CSSA judge. This month, Charles will be giving a presentation on one of his favorite topics, the cactus subfamily Opuntioideae (i.e. opuntioids). He will take us on a geographic tour of a variety of opuntioids looking at the morphology and habitats of the incredibly farreaching range of distribution of this group, with an with emphasis on the South American species. He will also discuss the changes in our understanding of the opuntioids as a result of recent DNA investigations. ~3~

3 Plant of the Month Opuntia littoralis Once again we fall back on Lyman Benson for the plant of the month. Opening randomly to page 136 we find O. littoralis a wide spread species across southern CA and the off shore islands. Its name littoralis refers to the fact that this cactus is found growing only a few feet above sea level from Santa Barbara Co. south to San Diego Co. and on the channel islands. It is a seaside cactus. It is also much more. Benson lists five varieties, littoralis, Vaseyi, austrocalifornica, Piercei and Martiniana. The other varieties occupy other regions of the southwestern deserts. While var. littoralis lives mostly within 30 miles of the ocean the other varieties live inland across the southern counties and into southern NV, and UT as well a northern AZ. In these regions it generally is associated with chaparral or pinyonjuniper woodland up to as high as 7250 ft. in the San Jacinto mountains. The plant itself is low growing, generally forming clumps up to 2 ft. (60cm.) high and 3-6 ft. (1-2 m.) across. Joints (pads) are more or less oval (obovate) and 3-9 in. (8-23 cm.) long by 3-6 in. (8-15 cm.) across. Areoles cover the entire pad in most cases and spines may be distributed over the entire pad or only the upper half. One variety (austrocalifornica) is nearly spineless. Areoles may have 1-11 spines from 1-2 in. (25-50 mm.) long and from grey to yellow to pink or red in color. Pads may be green to blue-green in color. Flowers are mostly yellow or yellow with red centers. One variety (austrocalifornica) is entirely red. Wherever it grows this plant prefers a gravelly well draining soil. It may be propagated by seeds or cuttings. It has been eliminated over much of it historical range due to human activities and now is often found in small populations clustered in areas protected from human interference. It is somewhat cold tolerant and should grow in Bakersfield outdoors year round. Jack G. Reynolds ~4~ The Succulent Garden at Cal State Glottiphyllum neilii Glottiphyllum means 'tongue-leaf, and Glottiphyllum neilii certainly lives up to that name. In cultivation it can have very large, rubbery leaves and clumps can get as large as two feet across. However, in the little Karoo of South Africa where it is native, its leaves are more compact and clumps often have bare branches with the leaves at the tips. You must be very disciplined with your watering to get one looking 'natural' (they just grow so wonderfully fast and fat when given extra water). Glottiphyllum neilii in the Cal State succulent garden has survived temperatures down to the mid 20's and is unfazed by the full summer sun. Watering can be problematic as it sometimes disintegrates if given too much. It is best not to water it much at all. The soft leaves break easily and often have scars and other damage by season's end. Fortunately, these will be replaced by new leaves in the winter or spring. This plant is easily started from seed and grows fast, often flowering within a year. Stem cuttings can be rooted but can take several months. Stephen Cooley ~5~

4 President's Corner Just a few short comments about the clubs activities. May 12th we had the annual picnic at the garden at Cal State. We had a good turnout and a great potluck. Maynard did a good job of directing the setup and takedown. Thanks to every one that contributed to the potluck and helped setting up and taking down the picnic. Stephen Cooley has done a great job directing the cleaning up of the cactus garden. It seemed that everyone enjoyed viewing and talking about the garden. Thanks, Stephen, for your continuing efforts with the garden. ~6~ May 12 th, 2015 Sidney Kelley has gone to the effort to set up several yard tours during the past couple of months. Arranging these yard tours requires Sidney to contact and coordinate with the property owners allowing our members to tour their yards. Unfortunately, the response from our club members has been very poor, with only a few members coming to the yard tours. I think the time has come to reevaluate the yard tours. I am sure that Sidney will be giving some thought about continuing the tours or not. Well hope to see you at the June 9th meeting at St. Pauls. Frank Drake ~7~

5 A Farewell to Alice Mary A Letter From Bruce On the 25th of April, Polly, John and I woke up to rain in Fresno! As we proceeded north the rain became a real downpour about Madera. Fortunately, by the time we reached Ceres, where Alice was born, the rain had stopped. Our clan met at my Greatgrandfather's house and by eleven everyone was there. We proceeded to dig a hole and when we were told to make it deep and wide Daniel started us on the old Sunday School song "Deep and Wide". (He also played a bit of harmonica.) When the hole was big enough, I was given mother's ashes and we took turns sprinkling them in it. We then planted a black walnut tree in the hole and sang "Will the Circle be Unbroken". We added rose petals and mother's cousin, Janet laid a bouquet of blooming statice. We then proceeded next door to another cousin, Patricia Cousin's, house. There we were greeted by a sunbow in the sky! We dined in the grape arbor with Chinese take out. This was in memory of the times the family had gathered at my Grandfather's in Stockton to harvest walnuts (the annual gathering of the nuts). After working we would gather for lunch which was often Chinese because that was the fast food available. After lunch Patricia led us on a tour of Great-grandfather's house. (Her grandfather even though she is slightly younger than I am.) The children then got to feed lambs with bottles, visit with Llora the llama etc. It was a fitting farewell to Alice Mary. We did not go to the Fresno Potluck on 7th May, but did go to the Bakersfield one on the 12th. The weather and the food were good. ~8~ The end of the Cruise: On 6th November we had breakfast in the dining room for the first (and only) time. The waiter looked at my blazer and beard and greeted me as "professor". We then docked and we were off the boat by 11. We checked our luggage and got discount tickets for the Florida Aquarium which was right across the street. Lunch there was rather disappointing, but the exhibits were great. In addition to the fish (both salt and fresh water) there was a special exhibit on Madagascar with land animals (including ring-tailed lemurs), and there was a Madagascar reef full of fish. We then took the trolley and a bus to the airport and had dinner at Burger King. Customs was nightmarishly thorough, but then the airline offered to check our luggage for free. Our night-time flight over the gulf with all the glowing oil platforms was exciting. We had three seats for the two of us and were able to streach out and get a little sleep. We landed in LA at 9:24 pm. and were met by Anne and Lora. The drive home was an anticlimax. Bruce Hargreaves [Bruce's opinions are his own and are not necessarily that of the BCSS] ~9~

6 June 9th BCSS meeting Charles Spotts opuntias, black sheep of the cactus family June 14th-19th: Cactus and Succulent Society of America, Biennial Convention Pitzer College, Claremont, CA Barbara Hall CSSA Show Chair June 30th Board meeting July 14th BCSS meeting August 11th BCSS meeting Visit us on the Web! Facebook: ~10~ ~11~