Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Rose Quartz Cactus Bloom

x Echinopsis 'Rose Quartz'



I have several of these Echinopsis hybrid cultivars in various colors. They stay small and do well in pots. The 'Rose Quartz' is usually the first to bloom, followed by 'Fire Chief'--a brilliant orange--then 'Johnson's Gold'--gold/yellow-- and finally, 'Lollipop'--a pure red.

'Rose Quartz' is one of the dozens, or maybe hundreds, of cultivars of the Chamaelobivia. Chamaelobivia is a hybrid of Chamaecereus and Lobivia. Chamaelobivia is known as an Echinopsis hybrid because both Chamaecereus and Lobivia are now classified as Echinopsis. The flowers on these cultivars are reminiscent of Echinopsis flowers. The original hybrid has an interesting history that I wrote about in a previous post. I also spent a good part of that post on a rant about cacti reclassification and the resulting confusion to collectors. Most people don't really care about the history of the hybrid or the botanical names, but I love to know these things and find all the name changes very frustrating.

Regardless of the name issues, my goal is to acquire a 'Westfield Alba' cultivar, which has a beautiful white flower. It's hard to find, and I may have to order it from England, which seems ironic since I live in cactus country!

11 comments:

The Diva said...

Aiyana, that is just beautiful. Thanks for sharing your knowledge of cacti.~~Dee

Anonymous said...

Beautiful bloom, Aiyana. Reminds me of a camellia with its perfect symmetry. That's quite ironic that you have to get your Westfield Alba from England ;-)

Anonymous said...

beautiful color

Karen said...

beautiful bloom. I have not one blooming cactus this spring. wonder whats wrong?

bs said...

wowsers! that's much more intense than any rose quartz i've ever seen. i'm here to wish you an extremely belated two week old gts! i must confess that my attention and participation is a little scattered online. i meant to reply to you much earlier! i've got one cactus blooming and i've been thinking of dedicating a post to you about it. your blog is enormously helpful for identifying these little guys! it's definitely some flavor of mammillaria (i think it was sold as a compressa).

happy earth day!

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Aiyana .. that would be too ironic to have to order it from there while living in cactus country !
What a gorgeous colour for the flower .. very vivid and eye catching !
Joy

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

Aiyana, beautiful flower. My oldest is interested in cacti, I call him in to look at your posts.

Julie said...

I hope you will go ahead and get your Westfield Alba...if anyone deserves to have it, it's you! Even if coming all the way around the world!

Aiyana said...

Thanks for the comments--if I had waited one more day to feature this cactus, I would have been able to show it with three huge flowers! I was surprised to see them this morning--I thought they had a few days before they opened. But--I will have the x Echinopsis 'Fire Chief' flower to show later this week. It's a gorgeous orange. So many of my cacti are blooming this week!

Donna said...

That is an amazing flower! It has such a stunning color.

Robert said...

I hadn't seen a Westfield Alba before you mentioned it. I went to my favorite source for these hybrids: Bob Smoley, and sure enough, its on his list.
http://www.bobsmoleys.com/c-d.html