Author: gerhard

A species is discovered, described, published, and seeds (and later plants) are distributed to botanical gardens and growers, yet within a few decades the species is lost. Surprisingly, this appears to happen frequently. The genus Lithops has multiple examples in which a valid species is never seen again, claimed to have never existed, or synonymized out of existence. For example, Lithops opalina was discovered in 1922, synonymized with another species in 1946, and then in 1973 said to have never existed as a species in nature and instead claimed to be a cultivar that was bred in the late 1950s and early 1960s. To finalize this transformation from species to man-made cultivar Lithops opalina was “officially” declared as a cultivar in 2013 — as if Lithops opalina had never existed in nature.

To spice up the story of botanical malpractice, someone found a “new” species in the 1960s that was described to look mostly like Lithops opalina, and it was named Lithops eberlanzii var. aiaisensis. Luckily, the 1922 discoverer of Lithops opalina, Kurt Dinter, gave detailed descriptions of his research trips to what is now Namibia, and with some sleuthing we could recreate his trip through the southern Namibian desert. We found Lithops opalina exactly at the location where Dinter said he found and collected them, and we restored the taxon as Lithops eberlanzii var. opalina. By doing so, ironically, we relegated aiaisensis to synonymy. Since then we followed up by “rediscovering” Lithops summitatum, which had been subjected to a similar fate as L. opalina. By now we are convinced that there are about a dozen or so original species that were “lost” because of botanical malpractice, and we are working to get them back one at a time, including Lithops halenbergensis, the story of which is currently awaiting the Editor’s approval for publication in Haseltonia.

About Peter Beiersdorfer:

Following his retirement from paid research in physics Peter has switched to unpaid research in botany. Since the end of 2020 Peter has been spending about 9 weeks per year in Namibia searching for Lithops, although recently he also ventured to the Canaries. At his home in Livermore, Peter propagates plants from seeds and cuttings, including mesembs and bulbs from the winter rainfall areas of Southern Africa and many cactus species from South and North America.

Peter will bring plants for sale.

Meeting details:

Date: Monday, July 28, 2025

Doors open at 6:15 pm for plant sales and fellowship.

Program begins at 7:00 pm.

Shepard Garden & Arts Center
3330 McKinley Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95816

Evolving interests of an expert novice by Barry Rice

It has been a few years since Barry talked to our society. He is a little unpredictable regarding exactly what he will talk about (“talent” can be so difficult sometimes!) but he says he’s going to talk about his current favorite passion — Echinopsis hybrids. He will describe just why he loves these, and why you should too. He’ll also talk about how you can take a small Echinopsis bud — even an unrooted one — and turn it into a glorious plant that will make your collection a crowd pleaser. And even more, he’s going to go into detail about best practices for grafting. After all, any cactus grower should know at least the basics of grafting, because it can be an effective way to guard against the loss of a beloved plant.

Finally, he will describe some of the challenges and successes of breeding your own plant. You could…if you wanted…create a unique plant that never existed on the planet before. Imagine that!

All that said, Barry will no doubt touch on a few other things on his mind…for example, some major changes that have gone on in Astrophytum cultivation during the last few years, and also something he just recently learned about selling plants in California…that EVERYONE selling plants should know about. It’s The Law.

Barry Rice is, by profession, an astrobiologist who has his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Arizona and is a tenured professor at Sierra College (Rocklin). He is also an expert in carnivorous plants, having written two books, many scientific papers, and long-term editor of the most prominent carnivorous plant journal on Earth.

His experience with cactus horticulture really only spans the last 15 years. However, he jumped into the field with vigor and passion. A scientist by profession and heart, he has optimized many aspects of cactus growing in the blast furnace of the Central Valley. While he has grown cacti from many genera, he specializes in named Echinopsis cultivars but also any really peculiar genera and species that catch his eye.

Meeting details:

Date: Monday, June 23, 2025

Doors open at 6:15 pm for plant sales and fellowship.

Program begins at 7:00 pm.

Shepard Garden & Arts Center
3330 McKinley Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95816

The May meeting will be held on the 3rd Monday, not the 4th Monday of May, so as not to interfere with any Memorial Day plans. We will be having a potluck.

We will talk about the positives of the Sale/Show but not overdo the business aspect of things. This is a time to eat, relax, talk and enjoy ourselves. There will be index cards that you can use to comment on the Show and Sale. Send me an email if that works for you. We welcome any positive suggestions for tweaking the Sale/Show for future years.

For details on what to bring, check the May newsletter.

How Plants Get Around: Flying, Hitchhiking, and Other Cool Methods

The speaker at our next meeting on Monday, April 28, 2025 will be our club’s own J.D. Wikert. He will present on the various modes that plants use move from one location to another. J.D. will discuss some of the more interesting ways plants have of distributing themselves across the landscape. This is an aspect of cacti and succulent horticulture that we don’t often focus on.

J.D. will bring plants to sell at the meeting. He can take cash or Venmo.

Meeting details:

Doors open at 6:15 pm for plant sales and fellowship.

Program begins at 7:00 pm.

Shepard Garden & Arts Center
3330 McKinley Blvd
Sacramento, CA 95816

FEBRUARY MEETING:
February 24th, 2025, 6:00pm -9:15pm

Doors open at 6:15 for plant sales and fellowship. Program begins at 7 PM.

Open to the public. No admission fee. Free parking. Refreshments served.

PROGRAM:
Everything (a lot anyway)You Need to Know to Get the Most Out of Your Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Club Membership

There has been and currently is a lot going on in your club. Your club membership can be more enjoyable, rewarding, and promote your hobby enthusiast growth by joining in as we take a look behind the curtain at all the goings on during this month’s meeting.

There will be two parts to the meeting. First, we will provide tips and information for how to get the most out of your club membership. In the second half of the meeting, we will have a member Show-n-Tell session in a small group format.

How can you leverage your club membership:

• To get more for your cactus and succulent buying dollar
• To gain access to more, interesting, and rare plants
• To see cacti and succulents in more natural and beautiful landscape applications

We will very briefly look at the club across all of the decades of its existence. We will move quickly to looking at the club currently and new directions on the horizon. Some of these directions are most welcome, and others may require the club to navigate wisely, creatively, and with enthusiasm.

For the Show-n-Tell, please bring either 1) a plant you love (and may even be thinking of entering in the juried show in May), 2) a plant that is giving you trouble, or 3) a plant you would like to know more about. We will have club “experts” circulating to offer help on identification, culture, or how to show your plant to its best.

Please come. Guaranteed that you will be more ready to leverage your membership. Guaranteed that you will enjoy yourself, connect with other members, and contribute to the forward momentum of the Sacramento Cactus and Succulent Society.

For more information, read the February 2025 edition of Thorny Issues.