Hatiora Rosea

Day 235: We could debate the taxonomy all day. The currently accepted nomenclature for this cactus is Rhipsalidopsis rosea, with Schlumbergera rosea and Hatiora rosea listed as synonyms. It was Hatiora when I first learned it shortly after the internet became "a thing" and I was able to research the plant after cultivating it for a decade or so, and thus it became "Hattie" for short. Some of my plants have nicknames like that: Fitch (Hoya fitchii), Knob (Ceropegia woodii), Bella (Hoya bella). Hattie earned her moniker when she bloomed after spending years as a tangled mass of prickly stems. She'd been known as my "Swedish Christmas cactus" before that, solely because I'd been given a slip by a Swedish friend. Then, as I mentioned, the internet came along and I was able to determine her real name: Hatiora rosea. However, her name was not carved in taxonomic stone, or else taxonomic stone is in the same mineralogical category as talc. In any event, the next time I looked up "Hatiora rosea," she'd undergone a name change. Neither "Schlummy" or "Rhippy" suits her, so Hattie she remains.

A New Challenge

Day 231: Birds are one thing. Botanical art is another, and although I want to be as accurate in my representations as possible in both subjects, plants are infinitely more difficult to portray. Petals/tepals and stamens must be counted, leaf form must be scrupulously observed. Does the leaf clasp the stem? Is it serrated? Notched? Are the stems glabrous or pubescent? Colour and shading are the least of your worries when you're trying to draw a plant with scientific accuracy. Maybe that's why so much botanical art is done in pencil or pen. In fact, I have been hesitant to add colour for fear of losing important detail, but at this point, my detailing skills are marginal, so I'm hiding my sins beneath a wash of pigment. For now, I am content to show the plant in its proper genus; species is going to take a lot more work. (Clockwise from the left: Paeonia, Lamprocapnos, Rhipsalidopsis, Centaurea).

My Yellow Bloomers

Day 129: Wanna see my yellow bloomers? Here they are: Huernia zebrina and (where did we leave off with those damn taxonomists on the Latin?) an encore from the Christmas cactus. My crafts room/loom room faces south and offers one small window for a cactus shelf. It's cooler back there in the wintertime, which is exactly what many cacti need to come into flower. If not engaged in a weaving project, I have been known to miss flowering until withered blooms had fallen to the floor, but as a general rule, when the shelf's occupants decide they want to put on a show, they are moved to the fireplace mantel where I can admire them until they fade. For those of you who may remember the horticultural experiment involving two varieties of Christmas cactus begun over two years ago, Yellow is still holding on to one of the seed pods, and I am patiently waiting for it to mature. The second seed pod dropped without forming seed. I have greater hope for the second, although whether the seed will be viable remains to be seen. Even if it is, I cannot guarantee that the hybrid will even bloom.