June 2023 - Icebergs of C&S

[Ernie]

I will start a discussion thread on the main discussion area rather than this one getting bogged down. Hope thats okay?

[Jim_Mercer]

First plant I thought of is Kedrostis africana but I expected tendrils would be attached to greenhouse frame making it difficult to get black card behind plant. I found that the ends had shrivelled in recent heat so managed to get card in place. The plant has nor been re-potted for several years so I don't know how much caudex is below the surface.

Kedrostis africana

The other plants that I though might be suitable all live on top shelf so not east to see without taking them out of trays for closer inspection/photography

Euphorbia cylindrifolia ssp tubiflora has some flower remains and green leaves

Euphorbia cylindrifolia ssp tubiflora

A couple of dead stems removed from this Pterocactus tuberosus before I took photograph, might try and find some different top dressing to make caudex more obvious

Pterocactus tuberosus

Final plant from today's greenhouse visit Ariocarpus kotschbeyanus, a real iceberg as there must be a lot more below the surface

Ariocarpus kotschbeyanus

[MatDz]

Great photos, please keep them coming!

An example I was planning to share some time ago, a Lophophora koehresii from Las Tablas:

And this is how it looked a week or so ago while being reported:

A disclaimer I should have added to the initial post, this topic doesn't demand uprooting your plants!

[iann]

Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus

Mammillaria longimamma, not renowned for their taproots, but they have them.

Mammillaria albiflora

Pelecyphora aselliformis

Avonia alstonii

Finally, a plant with almost nothing above ground, Anacampseros bayeriana

bayeriana-0731.jpg (102.85 KiB) Viewed 2932 times

[MatDz]

Is that A. bayeriana grown "in captivity"?

[bobblackbird]

Frailea Mammifrea

[MatDz]

Only 2 pages this time (compared to 6 from the previous month...), but I will need to choose the winner tomorrow as I'm on the road all day today.

[MatDz]

Apologies it took me 3 days to finally choose the winner, weekends do not help in "bookkeeping"!

Not the most popular topic of all items, so even greater "thank you's" to all participants!

• Aiko - a great opening, I really enjoyed the dynamic nature of your photograph! From other photographs online it is rather obvious that your plant just woke up, but it certainly meets the criteria.
• Ernie - M. tuberosa has certainly magnificent roots, but there is just a bit too much of it over the ground level (and I am not talking about the fact that the plant is uprooted here ).
• Jim_Mercer - I appreciate the effort with getting the background right, hope your K. africana bounces back soon! Euphorbia and Pterocactus are certainly what I had in mind when thinking about "icebergs", and A. kotschbeyanus almost feels like cheating here!
• iann - another cheater with Ariocarpus! I was indeed surprised by those Mammillaria tuberous roots, great entries, along with the other plants. Anacampseros bayeriana would a clear winner (despite hardly having any "plant material") if there only was a way of making the plant stand out slightly more.
• bobblackbird - the last (chronologically!) entry, Frailea mammifera. I certainly like the top down shots of plants in square(ish) pots, but had hard time finding the plant under all those buds here .

All things considered, I think Aiko's photograph appeals to me the most, mainly because of the sense of "action" I am getting out of it and really eye catching splashes of colours peeking out, congratulations!

[Aiko]

All things considered, I think Aiko's photograph appeals to me the most, mainly because of the sense of "action" I am getting out of it and really eye catching splashes of colours peeking out, congratulations!

Yeehaw!
Truth be told, even after the Resnova has woken up fully and is in flower, most of the plant is still under the ground.