Thank you again to Eric in SF@Flickr (also see: PlantWorld) for sharing a couple of his great photographs with BPotD (original 1 | original 2 | BPotD Flickr Group Pool. Appreciated, as always!

The genus Beschorneria contains perhaps a dozen species. Most of the species are endemic to the mountains of central and southern Mexico, with the exception of Beschorneria albiflora; its range extends southwards from Mexico into the northern Guatemala.

A 1989 article in The Plantsman (10(4): 193-199) by Michael Maunder, “A Survey of the Genus Beschorneria in Cultivation” contains perhaps the best account of this group of plants, with brief descriptions of all species known at the time. For Beschorneria albiflora, the distribution and ecology: “Found in the highlands of Oaxaca and Chiapas states, and northern Guatemala. In Chiapas it is found in dense montane scrub on the exposed ridges of the Sierra Madre...There it occurs with genera of arcto-alpine affinities such as Alchemilla pinnata, Arenaria bryoides, Draba volcanica, Gaultheria spp. and Vaccinium spp.”

Maunder also cites Matuda (the author of the plant name for this species) when writing that the fresh flowers (of some species) are sometimes eaten fried in egg.

A third photograph of this particular plant, showing its habit, was taken by Stan Sheb and shared via the Wikimedia Commons.