I have noticed some Hylocereus plants in my yard that looked different and one day they last week they were flowering so I decided to document them and give them my number 082. They were growing on a low rock wall. I asked the woman who sold us the property what they were and she dismissed them as s...

While I am on the topic I might as well post these photos from a plant my wife bought unlabeled at a local nursery. A friend who is knowledgeable on native flora Identified it as E. guatemalensis. He has a site location in the mountains to the east of us so when the covid spike here settles down I h...

Many of the local plants I research, both cactus and other, can have a surprising lack of information available especially considering that they were named and published a century ago. According to an online journal https://www.crassulaceae.ch/uploads/files/Publications/Crassulacea/Crassulacea%20%20...

I stumbled into this while trying to ID some native Echevevia

https://www.crassulaceae.ch/de/home

Look in the owner's manual. It should say what speed is optimal for your camera. Having a fast SD card also helps with downloading to your computer. Brand doesn't matter as much as speed. With a new camera it will probably be something like a Sandisk Pro 64 gb or equivalent. I find micro-SDs with an...

During this year's trip to the US I picked up one new lens , a 28mm 2.8 IS for indoor and video. I have 2 camera bodies that are adequate (18 mb and digic 5 censor) so I am holding off on a new body till the prices go down-- gotta keep your GAS in line! My hit list include the M50, SL2 or SL3 ,or th...

I had heard of some name changes but didn't get the details until I posted some pictures on !Naturalist which is using the new names for the Hylocereus but apparently not the Weberocereus. Kew is listing some of the new names as synonyms. Of course, hobbyists and nurserymen will still probably use t...

Even here in the boonies of the 3rd world prices are climbing. The mom and pop growers are finding that selling cheap is the road to ruin and the professional growers are bumping up their prices. Occasionally something new is found at a nursery and we buy them at inflated prices for mother plants. O...

You might try local Facebook pages if you have not already. I also live in a small tropical country with tight import restrictions and my best source of new exotic materials is other plant hobbyists. We have just had our first flowering on a hoya that my wife encountered in a small nursery. Judging ...

It's still there! I was up to Oatman, AZ, a few weeks ago. That stretch on 66 from Needles to Kingman is still mostly open desert and promoted as a scenic drive.

A series of trails has been constructed in old Kingman and out along HWY 93 in northern Arizona. They have typical rocky mid-elevation Mohave plant zones. At 3500 ft. elevation they would be best in spring or fall on a day without heavy wind. I found the White Cliffs Wagon trail just north of downto...

On Interstate 40 between Needles CA and Kingman AZ is the little town of Yucca. From Yucca going east is a well marked dirt road. For a cactus aficionado it is an interesting place. Near town is a Joshua tree forest with some typical Mohave desert cholla. As you go up you get into a transition area ...

It is also a rainfall thing. The Mohave is mostly a winter rain desert ( 4 inches a year) whereas the Sonoran has both winter and summer rains (around 8 inches a year). That long dry summer puts a lot of stress on plants and creates a relative lack of big cacti. Big succulents like Mohave yucca and ...

On the road between Yucca, Arizona, and the Boriana Mine you pass through several natural systems. Near Yucca you see a forest of eastern Joshua tree, an indicator of the Mohave desert. As you gain elevation you see saguaros, an indicator species of the Sonoran desert. Higher up near the abandoned t...

I was in Alejuela recently on the way to the San Jose airport and took the time to visit the wildlife rehabilitation organization usually know as Zoo Ave (the Bird Zoo). They don't have much in the way of cactus but I spotted what appears to be a hylocereus. The red markings on the buds really stood...