Tropicals & Tender Perennials: It's an "Easter Cactus"......well not really, but, 1 by Clare_CA

Clare_CA wrote:
Thanks, Ursula! I just joined that Epi Forum site today! I have little time for posting these days, but I can't wait to go through it for information and will contribute when I can.

About named hybrids, there is probably no way to distinguish a cultivar from a picture or even in person, given that there are so many hybrids out there which look alike. They would have to match every characteristic of the flower and plant, and even then you couldn't be sure that you have that cultivar because it could be a seedling of that hybrid cultivar. The epi would have to have characteristics so unique to that cultivar in order to be certain it was that cultivar. For instance, Clown is pretty recognizable, but there are hybrids of Clown which could look similar so even that one is not a given. If I posted a picture of a minty green one that was fragrant with a certain front petal and back petal shape similar to Creme de Menthe, then I might think that I have the cultivar Creme de Menthe, but I would label it with a question mark because there is no way to know for sure. There are just so many similar ones out there that it would be very difficult to put a name with a flower even in person.

In my case, my epi's were received from a friend who bought her epi's from Epi's by Pat and the Huntington Flower Show, but she sent me cuttings that got detached from the parent plant, and she didn't know which was which. She sent me a list of the ones that she had purchased so that I could figure out which was which when they bloomed. All the ones from her are in the same pot. For example, Padre was on the list. The bud color, flower shape, growth habit, flower size, front petals and back petals all matched up to the one that bloomed for me so I am assuming that one is Padre; however, she also had "Salmon" on the list, and it bloomed right next to Padre, and the flower size and shape, front petals and back petals look different, and so I labeled that one Salmon. I am only working with her list, and I am assuming that the ones she got from Epi's by Pat are the true names. The only way you could be sure that you got the true cultivar is to purchase from a reputable seller. That is just my take on things! Perhaps someone else has a different opinion. All opinions are welcome:-)

Here is the last one on the list. It was just labeled Creme/Gold. It could be a named cultivar, but there is no way to figure out which one it might be since it looks like so many others.