Follow us on a “photo tour” through these botanical wonders. (…)

From Spain.Info we learn that “The Cactus Garden is located in an old quarry from which volcanic ashes or debris were extracted, used by the ancient prickly pear farmers to conserve the night-time humidity of the soil. The artist César Manrique was able to see in this scenario the possibility of converting a residual space into a curious area divided into terraces where over 1.400 species of perfectly classified cacti are grown. The complex, which bears the unmistakable Manrique brand, is presided over by a windmill formerly used to grind corn and now used for educational purposes”.

Overall, the Botanical Garden covers approximately 5,000 square meters and was inaugurated in 1990. A curiosity: the Garden is surrounded by the largest cactus plantation on the island, dedicated to the cultivation of cochineal – yes, one of the main pests animals of succulents – used since ancient times to obtain the characteristic red color with which to dye fabrics.

In detail, the Garden hosts about 10,000 succulent plants belonging to over 1.400 species from various areas of the world (with the exception of cacti, which grow wild only in the Americas).

In this splendid photographic report, created in recent months by my friend Luca Effretti, Il fiore tra le spine takes you on a virtual visit among the beautiful plants of the Garden of Lanzarote. You can observe magnificent and imposing specimens of Euphorbia, Ferocactus, cereus, Mammillaria, Agave, Aeonium and much more!

All photos courtesy of Luca Effretti (click the images to enlarge)

 SUBSCRIBE TO THE SITE  – If you liked this article, subscribe to the site to have unlimited access to all the contents for one year or three months depending on the formula you choose. Here you will find terms and conditions.

 SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER  – If you want to receive the free newsletter every time new content is published (even if you have not subscribed to the site), fill in the fields at this link!

Correlated links

Knowledge and curiosity
Cactus cultivation cards
Wild cultivation

© The texts, videos, photos and graphic elaborations of the site “Il fiore tra le spine” are original material and are covered by copyright. It’s forbidden to reproduce them in any way.

L'articolo We take you with us on an exceptional “photo tour” in the Cactus Garden of Lanzarote proviene da Il fiore tra le spine.

Let’s go into detail and get to know this plant and its needs better in the following article (….).

Introduction

As is often the case with plants, the classification of species included in the Titanopsis genus is debated and depending on the author/researcher, Titanopsis species can range from three to six. On the other hand, taxonomy is a complex and constantly evolving matter, as I have highlighted in a specific article that you can find at this link.

Description

Limiting ourselves to the “calcareous” species of the genus Titanopsis, we can first of all say that this Mesembriantemacea is easily identifiable even by the less expert eye: the stem is made up of groups of leaves up to 5-6 centimeters wide, which depart from the center and end with the apex rounded, spatulate, arrowhead. The surface of the leaves, especially the apical part, is covered by point-like reliefs similar to warts, which contribute to giving the plant that “lumpy”, rock-like appearance. The color decisively contributes to the overall result: the leaves in fact have a color ranging from blue to greyish (with a tendency to darken and redden if exposed to direct sunlight), with the reliefs of a lighter colour, gray to reddish.

Cultivation

Regarding the cultivation of this particular succulent, I have often found, both online and in various books, approximate or conflicting indications. The controversial element is that relating to irrigation: some sources advise treating this plant like a cacti, thus suggesting that it be watered only from spring to the beginning of autumn; other authors suggest a similar approach to the one recommended for Lithops, i.e. watering from May onwards, suspending it in the summer months and resuming it moderately in autumn.

In the past years, struggling to extricate myself from conflicting indications, I decided to carefully observe my Titanopsis calcarea to try to understand in which months the plants vegetated and in which they went dormant (at least in the Northern hemisphere), so as to adjust the watering accordingly. For a year I therefore almost completely suspended the irrigations, letting the plants “talk” with growth, flowering, color change, etc. For several years now, on the basis of my observation, I have therefore adopted a specific watering regime for the Titanopsis: I water in moderation, reducing the watering to once a month, from January to the end of April. With the arrival of spring and the first heat, I suspend irrigation because I have noticed that these plants begin to slow down the vegetation until it stops completely in summer: the stems deflate and the leaves retract until the plant slightly sinks. I start watering again, always in moderation and sporadically, only when the heat lets go, around October and until the end of November. In the autumn period I noticed that Titanopsis calcarea resumes vigorously vegetating, swelling the stem until it “re-emerges” from the ground, putting on new leaves and, later on, starting to prepare the buds (from the end of November).

Regarding the substrate, the sources are generally less conflicting and my own experience has taught me that these plants want a very poor soil, almost completely devoid of organic matter (peat or humus). For several years I have kept my Titanopsis calcarea in a mix based on clayey field earth with little or no limestone (about 20% of the total), sand, pumice (at least 40%), quartzite and gravel. I add just 10% earthworm humus to the substrate to make the soil a minimum of nutrients, also considering that I don’t fertilize these plants. On the surface I place fragments of white limestone, which over time and with watering turn yellowish, harmonizing perfectly with the plants from a chromatic / aesthetic point of view.

In terms of exposure, the Titanopsis like full light, but I have never placed my specimens in direct sun, limiting myself to keeping them in an unshaded greenhouse, protected only by the transparent sheet of the roof.

Finally, the temperatures. Also in this case I noticed a discrepancy between the sources, with some authors recommending not to keep the Titanopsis at temperatures below 10 degrees. Also in this case, I have directly experienced and for at least seven years I have kept my Titanopsis calcarea at minimum winter temperatures close to zero, with some sporadic peaks below zero. It is essential that the temperature rises during the day, so as to keep the plants in force, which I also water in the cold months, as I wrote, albeit sparingly.

On the whole, by observing these few precautions, I can consider the Titanopsis calcarea a succulent of easy cultivation, although with a relatively slow growth, as demonstrated by the photos side by side on the cover of this article, with the same specimen photographed five years later (on the left in the 2015; on the right the same plant in 2020).

Flowering

Flowering coincides with the winter months. In my case (northern Italy) the Titanopsis calcarea flower regularly in the period between mid-December and the first half of January. The flowers, medium in size compared to the plant, emerge from the attachment of the leaves and in my specimens they are white (however, I have also seen plants with yellow flowers: I think this is the norm) with a slight pink shade at the apex of the petals. They open from rounded “calyxes”, glabrous and of the same color as the leaves.

Reproduction

The reproduction of the Titanopsis calcarea is mainly carried out by sowing, but it is also possible to multiply the plants with the method of dividing the tufts, separating the autonomous ones, ie those with their own root and which detach easily from the mother plant. I have no evidence about the multiplication by cuttings, i.e. detaching the leaves to put them to root: I have never tried and I fear it is not feasible with these plants.

 SUBSCRIBE TO THE SITE  – If you liked this article, subscribe to the site to have access to all the contents for one year or three months depending on the formula you choose. Here you will find terms and conditions.

 SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER  – If you want to receive the free newsletter every time new content is published (even if you have not subscribed to the site), fill in the fields at this link!

Correlated articles

Succulent plants
Cactus cultivation cards
Watering succulents
Classification of succulents

© The texts, videos, photos and graphic elaborations of the site “Il fiore tra le spine” are original material and are covered by copyright. It’s forbidden to reproduce them in any way.

L'articolo Titanopsis calcarea, a winter flowering succulent with particular cultivation rules proviene da Il fiore tra le spine.

Have you always wondered what part of the world your cactus or succulent plant comes from? From the Americas or maybe from Asia? From Africa or Europe? The topic of succulent plant distribution is vast and very intricate. However, to begin to simplify, we can say that all cacti are native to the Americas, while succulent plants in general (i.e. non-cactaceous succulents) come from different parts of the world.

In this article and in the two large maps attached, we see how cacti and non-cacti succulents are distributed around the world. We see in particular from which geographical areas the succulents originally evolved. (…)

Per proseguire nella lettura dell'articolo Accedi o Abbonati
To continue reading the article LogIn or Subscribe

L'articolo The distribution of cacti and succulents in the world: maps with the states where they grow proviene da Il fiore tra le spine.