A kind thank you to sagellyn@Flickr for providing today's photograph (via the BPotD Flickr Group Pool | original image). The photograph was taken at a Vancouver nursery, Southlands. Thank you, sagellyn – always happy to feature something South American in origin.
Native to south central South America (Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina), Echinopsis oxygona is a member of a genus of cacti collectively known by the common names of Easter lily cacti or sea-urchin cacti. I prefer the latter name myself, especially after viewing the third photograph in this series on Echinopsis oxygona.
I often write about plant names, it being a particular interest of mine. There are few groups of plants more confusing to those who would attempt to name and classify them than the cacti. Exhibit A: a listing of accepted names and synonyms in the genus Echinopsis – roughly one hundred and thirty species are recognized, but the page contains over five hundred and thirty names, more than four published names (on average) for each species!
Botany / horticulture resource link: Take the time to learn about the diversity of form and colour in both species and cultivated maples through these two extraordinary photo galleries: the maple photo gallery and the Acer palmatum cultivars photo gallery. The garden hosts these on its discussion forums, but the resource was built by people from around the world (and a big thank you to all of you!).
I was given a little tiny bud of a cactus 10 years ago - and just last Friday (Aug 3, 2007) my (now much larger) cactus burst into bloom!!! It had two creamy pink and white blooms with an incredible fresh smell - and one tiny little flower in the middle that looked like a star burst. And now, because of the iVillage GardenWeb and your website I now know my funny little cactus is Echinopsis oxygona. I have neglected this cactus for years - routinely forgetting to water it all winter, leaving it out in the rain/sun during the summer...and this is my reward...unbelievably beautiful flowers.
Geez, I wish all of my life would be like this! ;)
Callie
I have just discovered that I have two of these cacti. Could someone tell me how often they bloom, and is there anyway to make them bloom each year? It has been about 11 years since it has bloomed last. Thanks
We have a 15yr old plant the same as this. It flowers every year and has done for about 5 yrs. It stsrts blooming in July and is stil bloomiung now. We get upto 10 flowers at a time, lasting 2-3 days each bloom. It's very beautiful. we do very little with it. It's left in the greenhouse with occasional watering in the summer.
I live in Rio Grande do Sul, the southest state of Brazil. I'm studiyng Biology and searching about cacti. One of them is E. oxygona, there is a representative native population of it in Cachoeira do Sul/RS. If you want I can send some pictures of them in habitat.
Regards,
Reginaldo
I have three, one foot long, and about the thickness of a large grape fruit. Each one of them has grown a bunch of little babies around them that grow pretty good over the past few years. They grow the tubes and flower each year for the past five years. They are the most beautiful flower I have ever seen and their is something about them that makes you feel amazed because of how pure they look and smell so delicate. They follow the sun on the day of bloom and last a few days but mainly the first day they are upright. They are a true blessing and to me they have been a blessing from the pure divinity of life. As you can see, they are very touching. They are indoor in the winter and I bring them outside in the spring, summer and most of fall. I live in Southern Ontario Canada. They are a true blessing if you have have them.