"Fat Plants" : cacti,succulents, caudiciforms, whatever..

[Hristo]

Diane,
Your Gasteria nitida var armstrongii is a little treasure, a most interesting and 'fluid' like form, thanks for showing!

[cohan]

some more..
first a couple of aloe hybrids--i bought these at the same time, and they looked different than one another then and i was given presumed names of A 'black gem' and A 'walmsley's bronze'.. from the pictures i have been able to find (online, so duly taken with a grain of salt..) there isnt that much difference between the two, black gem seems generally to be acknowledged to be an 'Alworthia'(aloe x haworthia) cross, now, though i think that must be true of the other as well, if thats the case...
anyway, one may have more tendencey to offset, though i am not convinced thats diagnostic and not just chance (the one not showing offsets in the photo has a clump of them coming on the other side); superficially, they seem different, but when you look closely, about any character you can come up with is the same; no flowers seen yet..
so, they remain nameless like most garden centre plants, but very nice none the less in about 5" pots; colour comes and goes over the year depending on periods of stronger sun and less water..
another shot of them at a different time of year, when they are green..

[maggiepie]

And closely related Haworthias

Oh these are great, I particularly like Haworthia coarctaca salem.

[Sinchets]

Interesting to hear about the Aloe x Haworthia. Do you know whether all of them interfertile or just a select few?

[cohan]

i don't know whether it applies to all species, but its certainly very common in the family--there are rafts of intergeneric hybrids- 'alworthia' 'gasteraloe' 'gasterworthia' 'gastroloba' etc etc.. i dont know if bulbine and others are hybridised with these (only a few species have forms that would be complementary, but i'd think the yellow flowers would be a draw), but among aloe, haworthia, gasteria, and astroloba, its common..

[cohan]

echeveria is a genus which isnt always so successful indoors-many species need higher light and/or maybe cooler winters, but there are some species which presumably grow under trees/scrub which do well enough..
Echeveria nodulosa
is one such--no doubt it would be more compact under higher light, but it is a naturally stemmed species, and in fact the stem has its own charms, so its worth seeing it bare..i just glanced at it, and the white growths on the stem have turned brown and woody over the offseason, so i need a new pic to update..
you can see from the overhead shot that it still has a nice compact rosette from that view..

[Ragged Robin]

The red edge to the succulent leaves is very attractive, Cohan especially in the centrewhorl of the rosette.  What happens to the the white growths on the stem after they turn brown?

[cohan]

The red edge to the succulent leaves is very attractive, Cohan especially in the centrewhorl of the rosette.  What happens to the the white growths on the stem after they turn brown?

its funny, the species name is 'nodulosa' which i would have thought referred to those lumpy stems, but i was unable to find any reference to that trait when i was looking last summer...
robin-the growths sort of dry out and harden, and then it  looks like a bumpy,warty (patterned) almost woody stem.. like a kind of armour..
i'll have to get updated photos..

[Hristo]

Back in the days of having a greenhouse I used to have a collection of Stapeliads.I had to leave then behind in the UK but collected seed in 2006 before moving. The seed was sowed in June 2009, germinated rapidly, and the pots pictured are the result! I have never grown these from seed before so I am looking forward to seeing if there is any variation in the flowers.

Orbea variegata
Stapelia hirsuta
Stapleia sp. ( probably gigantea )
Stapelia sp ex Little Karoo

[Ragged Robin]

I have never grown these from seed before so I am looking forward to seeing if there is any variation in the flowers.

Wonderful pots full of interesting looking potential from seed Hristo - how long do they take from seed to flower?

[Ragged Robin]

like a kind of armour..

Cohan it's interesting what cacti plants do to protect themselves - are these random outcrops or does it happen all over the stem?

[Hristo]

RR, I should imagine in their third or fourth year from seed.

[Ragged Robin]

...well they obviously like Bulgaria 

[cohan]

Back in the days of having a greenhouse I used to have a collection of Stapeliads.I had to leave then behind in the UK but collected seed in 2006 before moving. The seed was sowed in June 2009, germinated rapidly, and the pots pictured are the result! I have never grown these from seed before so I am looking forward to seeing if there is any variation in the flowers.

Orbea variegata
Stapelia hirsuta
Stapleia sp. ( probably gigantea )
Stapelia sp ex Little Karoo

they are coming along fast! maybe you will see some flowers this summer..

[cohan]

like a kind of armour..

Cohan it's interesting what cacti plants do to protect themselves - are these random outcrops or does it happen all over the stem?

i havent seen older multistemmed plants of this echeveria to see what it does longterm, but the small plant i have had some of this at the bottom of the stem, then grew a couple inches without, then all the new growth this summer developed this 'cork' (its in a sort of geometric pattern, probably related to where leaf buds/scars are)..maybe depends on amount of water or light, or?? i'm guessing the smooth piece of stem was from the nursery when it was grown fast and soft as a cutting..