Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

[cactuspolecat]

Hi Friends, unfortunately for me the holiday is now over... finally got my feet back on the ground, and back to reality after my much needed break.
Before we went away I promised some pics of the cacti at Christchurch Botanical gardens if we got to visit there.

The collection is not very large but contains some interesting specimens, and some specimens struggle a bit with the growing conditions.
The smaller plants were contained in a raised bed behind a glass barrier and were growing in their individual pots which in most cases were nicely hidden below the surface and among the rocks, some of these were sporting somewhat dubious names, but all in all not a bad display.

We also found a few Agave and Yucca growing in the grounds, I managed to get a few reasonable shots of some of these as well.

























Enjoy, CP

[Harriet]

Nice! I like the Parodia maassii's imitation of a barber's pole...

[daiv]

Great pics CP! and good to have you back!

The first pic (P. pringlei?) is quite misleading. That is a very large cutting from a top or an arm of a much bigger plant. At that same height a seed grown plant would be much smaller in diameter.

Daiv

[Waxsimulacra08]

That's a perfect C. cinerea!

Beautiful!

[hablu]

CP, that must have been a nice day.
The P. maassii is realy an eyecatcher!

>>struggling with growing conditions<< Why? Is it to hot there?

Harry

[cactuspolecat]

Thanks guys.
Daiv, I assume you meant Pachy marginatus... that stem was approx 8 inches across, I wasn't sure what I was looking at, cause all the P marginatus I've seen have much thinner stems, Pic number 12 is P pringlei.
Harry, It was a nice day, a bit overcast... it was a bit hard to tell, the plants seemed to be quite thirsty, and light was limited with all walls closed in. Most plants seemed to cope reasonably well, while others aren't... pic #9 is an exampley... the cleisto in the foreground has some green stems while much of it is quite dessicated.

Cheers, CP

[daiv]

CP,
Nope, I meant P. pringlei. That plant has way too many ribs to be P. marginatus.

P. pringlei when mature is spineless. Take a look at one of Juergen's plants here:



Not all of them are so tidy and even Juergen's plant is not as tidy as the one you saw.

Here is one of my habitat shots showing one that is more messy looking:



That said, there is a chance that it could be P. pectin-aboriginum which is very similar, but likewise variable.

In any case, it is not P. marginatus and is really a striking plant. Again, the fact that it is a short rooted cutting from a large plant lends further to its unique appearance. It has the proportions one of those poles they put in parking lots to keep you from backing into something more important.

[cactuspolecat]

Thanks Daiv!... it just goes to show "you learn something new every day!" I guess I always envisaged pringlei would remain spiny as in its youth. Then I've never seen a mature one, so what would I know


CP

[Diamondman]

awsome pics polecat!

[daiv]

Apparently they sometimes do stay spiny:

Scroll down to the ones at "Punta Eugenia"

http://www.cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus ... s=pringlei

I looked at yours again. It sure is a tidy plant. The areoles and spines are still quite a bit smaller than any pringlei I've seen. I wonder if it could be some sort of cross or something.