Hechtia ID

[Tracy]

I have a Hechtia I have been growing, and lost the tag for it.  I can't find any notes on what it is.  I also stumbled on a single plant at a local nursery which looks like a Hechtia, but I'm not sure.  The one in the blue ceramic pot is known to be a Hechtia; it is the one that I lost the label for.  The other one without spines in the leaflets in the black pot is the one that I suspect is a Hechtia.  Despite a search online, I couldn't match either with species that had photos.  Any help on either?

[richtrav]

They're dyckias

[Tracy]

9 hours ago, richtrav said:

They're dyckias

If the one with the spines on the leaf margins is a Dyckia, then it was mislabeled at the nursery.  I haven't seen any dyckia that have thick, almost succulent leaves, which some Hechtia's do.  An example of a very thick succulent appearing leafed Hechtia is Hechtia glauca, which I'm also growing.  Darn, I wish I still had the label on the one, but my dog sometimes pulls the little plastic ones out and chews them up, which is what I suspect happened in this case.  Hechtia glauca is pictured below.

If you believe they are Dyckia's can you share a species name for either or both?

[richtrav]

Yeah I was afraid you were going to ask me that :-P I'll pass the pics onto a bromeliad person who would have a better sense of what they are but the spiny one at first glance looks generically similar to Dyckia brevifolia.

[Gonzer]

H. brevifolia could be right while the second plant resembles H. tillandsioides.

[Tracy]

5 hours ago, Gonzer said:

H. tillandsioides

I found some photos of Hechtia tillandsioides and some hybrids of it which had the right structure but the hybrids were retaining some small spines on the leaves, while the straight tillandsiodes tended to hold leaves a little more upright.  Perhaps its a hybrid or just not quite "typical" of the species, but still within the bounds of it.  Thanks!  I'll look up photos of both Hechtia and Dyckia brevifolia and see if either match my spiny plant.

[Gonzer]

Tracy, here's H. tillandsoides at work today.

[Tracy]

10 hours ago, richtrav said:

the spiny one at first glance looks generically similar to Dyckia brevifolia.

After looking this one up on the Bromeliad Encyclopedia, I have to agree.  Good call!

[msporty]

Have you considered Dyckia 'naked lady' as the second plant? It's definitely a spineless, succulent-leafed Dyckia and it's (ironically) a hybrid derived from the 1st plant, D. brevifolia. The ones I've seen are dark green, but usually grown with more protection and in a heavier mix (that one looks like bark).

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

That second one looks kinda like the naked lady i have but mine are a darker green. 

[Gonzer]

11 hours ago, TexasColdHardyPalms said:

That second one looks kinda like the naked lady i have but mine are a darker green. 

I remember this half-naked green lady......

[Tracy]

On 9/23/2017, 3:27:31, msporty said:

Have you considered Dyckia 'naked lady' as the second plant? It's definitely a spineless, succulent-leafed Dyckia and it's (ironically) a hybrid derived from the 1st plant, D. brevifolia. The ones I've seen are dark green, but usually grown with more protection and in a heavier mix (that one looks like bark).

I was trying to simulate what I think it has experienced at the nursery growing yard where I bought it.  Only one of these, among a table of otherwise unremarkable succulents at the nursery.  No markings on the pot, and no label inside it.  The growing area is just a couple of blocks from my home, and where it was located likely got full am sun, but then dropped into summer shade by 3pm.  The growing area is just west of the Coast Highway in Leucadia, so probably only 200 yards at most from the edge of the cliffs, so not an intense sun.  If it is Dyckia 'naked lady', it sounds like it will be more likely to bloom in the spring if I give it some sun in my climate.

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

I walked right by that dyckia this afternoon and forgot to snap a pic... ill get one eventually. 

[TexasColdHardyPalms]

Here are the naked lady pics

[Geoff]

There is a beautiful Hechtia with leaves that color, but it is fiersome teeth... Hechtia huamelulaensis- the Huntington has 3 or 4 of these, though for years they were not labeled... but in the last 2 years they figured out what it was, I guess.

[XYZ]

This rather rare Oaxacan hechtia species is money. I had one that I gave away to a friend in Guatemala that I got from Guy Wrinkle as a WC offset back in the day. Leaves like bright yellow, hard, glossy plastic for much of the year. Red tips and greenish tinges only evidenced themselves during summer at 5,000' elevation at peak of wet season. Described recently (2014), but has been in cultivation for more than a decade.

 

Jay

 

[Tracy]

9 hours ago, Geoff said:

There is a beautiful Hechtia with leaves that color, but it is fiersome teeth... Hechtia huamelulaensis- the Huntington has 3 or 4 of these

Very beautiful.  Looks like something I would want to keep in a pot though, as it does appear to have some vicious spines. 

 

5 hours ago, stone jaguar said:

This rather rare Oaxacan hechtia species is money. I had one that I gave away to a friend in Guatemala that I got from Guy Wrinkle as a WC offset back in the day. Leaves like bright yellow, hard, glossy plastic for much of the year. Red tips and greenish tinges only evidenced themselves during summer at 5,000' elevation at peak of wet season. Described recently (2014), but has been in cultivation for more than a decade.

 

 

So if I understand correctly, your Oaxacan hechtia in the picture is the same species as the ones Geoff posted that are growing at the Huntington?  I do love that red margin on the leaves.  Unfortunately, I'll have a difficult time simulating 5,000' elevation in Guatemala during the wet season if I ever were to get one of these.

[XYZ]

It never flowered while I had it, but the "Just west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec" locality data I obtained by insisting to Guy (who was infamously reluctant to provide collection info) via a mutual acquaintance is extremely close to where type material of H. huamelulaensis was taken. For most of the dry season, exposed plants are clear yellow with no green like HBG plants shown. By the beginning of the rains it got enough UV exposure to get the cherry red edges, which were always gone by October. My friend grows it at even higher elevation, lit all day, but under opaque polycarb...never shows red there, AFAIK.

Rather unhappy I chose not to import offsets of it, so good to know they have it in Pasadena.