Every now and then my distant past life comes bubbling up to the present. While in the Desert Conservatory the other day, I came face to face with an old friend from grad school: Neobuxbaumia.
It's a columnar cactus from southern Mexico and was one of the big guys that I studied at the University of Arizona. Superficially, it resembles a saguaro, but the spination and ribbing is different, as are the flowers.
This specimen was still in its shipping crate. Even so, up until very recently, it had been blooming. When the fruits mature, I'll try germinating some seed.
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Across the walkway in the Mediterranean Conservatory, the Queen of the Night, Epiphyllum, has bloomed. It was already mid-afternoon, so I was surprised that there were even vestiges of the flowers left.
These were about 8" long and must've been gorgeous the night before. The entire plant was covered with dozens of the spent blooms.
