Monday, March 15, 2010

Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus - flower and fruit

My Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus (Joshua Tree National Park, California) flowered for the first time in the late spring of ‘09.

Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus flower, close-up
Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus flower, close-up

The flower was beautiful with bright yellow anthers, a mesmerizing green stigma, and petals ranging from intensive pink to almost crimson at the center of the flower.

Flowering Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus
Flowering Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus

The plant easily lives up to its varietal name - even the flower stalk is heavily armed with spines, protecting the ovary and the coming fruit.

Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus flower armed with spines
Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus flower armed with spines

I hand-pollinated the flower and two months later the plant bore fruit. This is the only mature Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus in my collection and no other Echinocereus plants flowered at the time so my E. engelmannii v. armatus seems to be self-fertile. Time will tell if the seeds are viable.

Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus with fruit
Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus with fruit

Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus with fruit, top view
Echinocereus engelmannii v. armatus with fruit, top view

4 comments:

  1. I really like thise one! The spines are very impressive =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, Loph.
    Love the blog. Im pretty new to this stuff. Just got my first packet of seeds in the mail yesterday. Plan to grow some peruvian torches and some prickly pears.

    I was just kinda curious. Have you ever tried to use colloidal silver for bacterial/fungal problems?
    Just kinda wondering if anyone out there in Cactus Land has messed with that at all?

    Again- Great blog- keep it up!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've never used colloidal silver on my plants (nor applied it to myself ;-) I would be interested to learn about your results if you decide to experiment with it, though.

    Good luck with your seeds and happy growing.

    ReplyDelete

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