C.I.T.E.S. - No export, sorry

C.I.T.E.S. - No Export

A Gasteria x Aloe hybrid, but the exact cross we do not know. About 5 inch rosettes are dark green with a gray wash, white spots with tubercles and whitish margins on the tapering leaves. Pretty, easy and a clumping plant.

A spectacular variegated chimera of ospinae v. gruberi. Upright growth of green mottled leaves have bold white variegation running up the length. Within the variegation the mottling is red giving the pattern a sharp contrast which makes it stand out. An exceptional clone of an exceptional species! 

Clumping, smaller form which matures at only about 12 to 18in. Native to Colombia, it has slightly grayish-green leaves with darker reticulations, arranged along a short stem. This plant has a clustering habit and produces multiple branched spikes of yellow. Not a rare plant, but nice.

*Some leaf blemishes

A beautiful plant that Tropiflora helped introduce to cultivation. Native to the same mountainous region of central Colombia which produces ospinae and chrysostachys, there is absolutely nothing that compares to this plant. The foliage is very tough and is various shades of green, with brown and black reticulations, mottling and markings. The effect is almost like that of a ‘Silk’ plant so unique is the pattern. Does not much resemble typical ospinae, the plants are bigger, fuller with wider leaves and do not pup as much as the typical form. The inflorescence is yellow and well branched. Thrives in normal bromeliad mix or even bare root.

A rare hybrid of Hechtia argentea x tillandsioides named after Dorothy Byer. It Is not clear if this is a natural hybrid or a man-made hybrid, but was named by Dorothy along with Dutch Vandervort.

Hechtia hybrids are very rarely made as it takes a male and female plant, blooming at the same time, not just two different plants. A large grower with very many narrow, tapering leaves in a full, leafy rosette. The leaves arch gracefully, somewhat recurving. The marginal spines are very reduced, but are sharp and the plant should be handled with caution as the leaf edges can cut your skin quite easily. 

A species from Tamaulipas state of Mexico. An easy to grow species that forms large, silvery-scurfy rosettes. Oddly, the offsets come off with soft, glabrous leaves, developing the scurfy appearance that protects them from the sun, as they mature. The narrow, spiny leaves are rather soft (for a Hechtia) and the tips naturally die back and curl.

Both parents of this Ray Lemieux cross of Hechtia lanata x myriantha have some interesting characteristics that should express themselves when the plants grow out. The seed parent, H. lanata, has broad, scurfy, twisting and curling leaves in habitat, which is a tropical desert environment on nutrient poor cliffs.

In cultivation, seedlings of this species tend to have straighter foliage, at least here in sea-level Florida. The pollen parent, H. myriantha, is a giant grower, perhaps the largest of all Hechtia species. Anecdotal stories report that this plant can reach the size of a VW Beetle! The intent of this cross was to produce a large growing hybrid with twisted foliage and silvery scurf. Only time will tell if that will happen. 

NO HOLDING - MUST SHIP IMMEDIATELY

*TRIMMED LEAF TIPS

This Tropiflora hybrid definitely came out looking more like the H. coerulea parent, with semi-stiff, green, grassy leaves. The leaf margins, although 'spineless', are very sharp and can give a swift ’paper cut’ to the unwary. For something unusual, give one a try!

A clone of the species collected by our friends Wally Berg and John Anderson in Chapada Diamantina, Brazil, is as different as night from day when compared to the clonotype. This plant is an upright vase to almost bottle shaped plant with wide leathery leaves, heavily spined, and dusted with a thick layer of silvery trichomes. Hard grown it can grow into a very squat, vase shape. An extremely handsome plant!

*Postage (USPS Printed Matter) included in book price. Domestic orders only.