It's an "Easter Cactus"......well not really, but

Another Saigon:

Another white one opened tonight, and it is the same as the other nonfragrant white one that is blooming now in another pot. This stem is marked 'Tropical Night,' but 'Tropical Night' is supposed to be red, I think. There are like a thousand or more named hybrids. I don't know how anyone keeps them straight.

Candy and/or Ursula, some of the stems that are flowering are looking terrible -- wrinkled, discolored, etc. It is almost like flowering is taxing the whole stem. Have you experienced this? I'm starting to cut back a little. I gave the cut pieces to my neighbor, but they looked so wrinkled that I was a little bit embarassed to give them to her like that. The container that they are in has plenty of moist soil. Maybe it is just because they are older stems.

Clare,
that happens to my Ackermannii hybrid also. Just some of the leaves start to look a bit dry and actually bend with the weight of the flowers. Some of those seem to rebound after flowering and some simply look so miserable that I cut them off and hopefully new growth takes their place. But I wondered too how and if this could be avoided.

Whatever you are doing, you must be doing a lot of things right! :-)
DrDon might have called your style of showing these gorgeous flowers one after another "power - posting"? The Apricot is simply beautiful!!
Enjoying the show!!

Thanks, Ursula! They will be due for a trim as these wrinkled ones are very long, and new growth looks great so perhaps it is just age and expended energy showing itself. Thanks for letting me know that you have it too!

LOL about Dr. Don and "power posting." It is just fun to share:-) It doesn't seem like many more hybrids will be blooming. We may be drawing this season to a close soon.

Here is a new one that I think is Pegasus:

Here is a close-up:

This on is called "Tropical Night." Unfortunately, it is not fragrant.

Clare,
I am glad you are sharing!! Pegasus is pretty and Tropical Night too!

Dear all,
I do have a general question and this is regarding named hybrids. How exactly do the real flowers match their descriptions? Do you see variation in color within a specific ( One would think properly labeled?) group, even though they are usually propagated from cuttings??

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.

I hope that answered your question, Ursula. If not, we can discuss it further. Here is Tel Star. It is fairly recognizable due to its unique coloration, but mine did have the name written on the original cutting. I also found other cuttings with writing at the base on the original cutting such as Tropical Night and Salmon.

This one was not labeled, but my friend had Pegasus on the list, but I'm keeping a question mark on this one:

Tropical Night seems to last a long time:

First I have to say, yet again, all the photos are just gorgeous! Brings a smile on my face every time I look at them.


Hi Ursula!

We had this discussion on the Epiforums chat one day last fall and it seems that the colors vary depending on the temperatures and/or location. We were comparing colors of blooms from a person in California and someone in Sweden and although they were cuttings from the same plant -- the plant in Sweden was a bit darker when it bloomed.

I know my Padre is usually a light pink when it blooms in the spring but if it gives me some blooms in the fall they are more of a rose color and my Ackermannii species is the same - it blooms a red in the spring but the blooms are more red/orange when it blooms off season.

And Clare, glad you joined Epiforums I know you will love it. So much information but so little time. LOL. My suggestion is one rainy day, get yourself a cup of tea and sit down and just peruse and don't miss going through the pictures of hybrids by hybridizer - just expect your "want list" to get much much longer.

Hillary

Thanks for the welcome, Hillary, and for the color explanation! That makes perfect sense. I have other plants as well, like my plumerias and brugmansias, which bloom lighter and darker, depending upon the season. There is so much great information over there at Epiforums! I know I will love it. I love it already!

Someone was looking for a picture of Tinseltown, and I found a picture of it over at the EpiForum. It is described as "Inner petals white with a slight green cast. Outer petals palest yellow with a slight rose cast. Single, loose, funnel form with radiating outer petals. Flat and 3-angled basket growth. (Pride of Bell x Reward)." The picture belongs to Epies.

I take back what I said about the above one being Pegasus. The colors don't match, and it is in a different pot than the rest so I don't know what it is. It is pretty though. It could be Emmett Kelly or Trapeze. I guess it will just be labeled an unknown.

This message was edited Jun 10, 2006 10:10 PM

Thank you so much Clare and Hillary!
I did see your name last night at the Epiforums online list, Clare. Good to see you there too!!
Lots of good information here in both your excellent posts.
So, some changes can be expected due to temps, light conditions and such. And if you can't read a/the label you are in trouble too.
Now seeing the contest "match the picture with the hybridizer" on Epiforums, I am absolutely amazed that there are people able to that. (The answers are dropping in at the forum.) I am looking at it and I scratch my head, how is that possible from those little snippets of a flower.
I would think one has to be absolutely familiar with the work of a particular hybridizer. Impressive.

One of the reasons I am asking these questions is the following:
I bought in 1999 4 small plants from Kakteen Haage/Germany. This is one of the excellent nurseries there and well known for their Epicactus hybrids.
Here is the list of the stuff I had bought, with description:
Golden Fleece - bent yellow petals with a dark stripe and long skinny sepals. (translated)
Edna Stoddard - white
Yellow Gem - bell shaped flower, strong yellow
Gitti Paetz - lilac petals and bronze sepals
I still have all original tags, so there is no mistake as to what I bought.
So when the first one flowered - lilac is the main petal color on Gitti Paetz, but the sepals are quite red and I could imagine perhaps a bronzed red. But it is the only one of the 4 with "lilac" ( lila) in the description. Haage shows the same flower at their website. Ok, it is a match. Except, googling the flower and comparing with another German website, Roger Paetz is a precise match in looks to my flower, while Gitti Paetz indeed has true bronze sepals. Who is correct?
I would assume the place I bought it from. Therefore I call it Gitti Paetz unless told otherwise.

That leaves the next 3: Edna Stoddard
I just took some pictures in the morning breeze -
White? Yes, but it has yellow sepals and touches of yellow on the petals. The flower is not totally open yet, bell shaped ? Hmmm (old flower to the left is closing.)
Again look at the Yellow Gem and Golden Fleece descriptions, they don't fit. Edna Stoddard is only the best fit. I asked Uli Haage last Summer the same question, he confirmed it as the best fit with the info on the others given.
Hence my questions! I do not find this easy!!

The 3. plant is growing very slowly, it produced buds this year, they aborted.
The 4. plant expired last year. The original piece never took off.
So even good labels don't really give me absolute confidence here. In this particular case I can only report the ids as to the best I know. In the meanwhile we are enjoying some truly spectacular flowers here.

and a close up of the Edna Stoddard

and this is what the bud looks like. The flowers are quite large.

Wow, beautiful pictures, Ursula. Both Gitti Paetz and Edna Stoddard are beautiful, but I definitely see what you mean that Gitty looks more red with a pink center than lilac. Cultivar names can be so confusing, and I haven't even learned about all the shapes yet. Last night, as I was reading the descriptions of the forms, I saw "cup and saucer" and "basket" and "bowl." I clearly need to study the forms and have a lot to learn yet. I wish I could be more helpful to you, but being a relative newbie, I don't have the answers, but I think that mistakes in naming are probably made quite frequently. I know how upsetting it is to pay a lot of money for one cultivar only to find out years later when it blooms that it is something else. It is disappointing to say the least.

In the winter and cooler months, my brugmansias and plumerias are a light shade than they normally would be in the heat of summer. The greenhouse heat will bring out intense color and make reds much darker. That is the extent of the color change that I have observed in those flowers.

Here is Tel Star today:

Ursula I love the colors on Edna Stoddard and how the yellow and white are mottled.

Do you have access to an ESA Directory? I wonder what the "official" descriptions are? I don't have mine yet (just ordered one) or I would look it up for you. If you don't have them by the time I get mine (hopefully within the next few weeks) let me know and I will let you know what the descriptions are. That may help but of course, it doesnt' cover the difference in coloration due to growing conditions but it was just a thought to take a look in there and see what they say..

There is also someone on the Forums who claims that Kakteen Haage mismarks their plants although he is the only one I have ever heard that from and I take what he says with a grain of salt but maybe in this case it is possible? Your Gitti Paetz certainly doesn't look like there is any lilac on it at all even though she is a real beauty!

I love these plants but sometimes, especially when it comes to trying to ID them, it can certainly make one's head spin.

Hillary

Actually it is not really upsetting to me, so far I haven't found an Epi I don't like!! They are all pretty!!
I just think it is a good thing for the sake of accuracy to know what one is growing, that's all. And sometimes one tries to play detective in order to post a plant with its proper name.
Keep posting those goodies and I will need another bar to hang up more Epis and rent the neighbor's garage for the winter....
:-)

Ah, we crossed posts.
Hillary, the Gitti Paetz is truly lilac ( lila) in the center. That color just gets blown away by the strong red sepal color.
Here is an earlier picture of her
http://www.kammlott.net/EpiHaage.html
If you feel like comparing my picture to that at another German website, this is Roger Paetz:
http://blattkakteen.wklv.de/pflanzendarstellung/Sorten-410/Roger_Paetz_410.html

Then have a look here, lilac petals and bronze sepals as mentioned:
http://blattkakteen.wklv.de/pflanzendarstellung/Sorten-410/Gitti_Paetz_410.html
No match!

The "Gitti picture" at the Haage page also looks like the above Roger Paetz picture. Slowly I think they were switched at the nursery?

But then Edna isn't really white either? But, I also think she is gorgeous with those spots of yellow.

Hillary, I don't have access to the ESA listing unless it is online?
I had reported in my earlier post what is written on the tags and that coincides whith descriptions found through intensive googling.
I think I am having to much of a good time here, or is this an oncoming headache? :-) Perhaps my webpage needs to have a word of caution added.

Yes Ursuala, I can see the color better in the pictures from your site. What a gorgeous flower but it does seem that you may have a mislableled one if the other is truly Gitti Paetz. As soon as I receive the directory I will take a look for you. Unfortunately they don't have the directory online and epiforums doesn't have pics or descriptions of all the hybrids - yet! LOL.

For me the only time the names really matter is if one is trading or as for me I try to be particular of the color but the saving grace is that no matter what the flower turns out to be they are always beautiful.

Hillary

thanks, Hillary, I would appreciate that.

And I do agree with your sentiment. Haven't seen one I didn't like!
Ursula

Bump:-)

I think I might be at the right place to show a plant picked up in a DG plant swap meeting. I was told the plant was and Orchard Cactus named Red Epis. I have had it for two years. It has nineteen arms like the two showing all producing something right now. I feed and water using various teas very weakly weekly. I literally do nothing but a bit of water between December and the first of February. It is approaching being pot bound.
.....can anyone tell me what is going on here? .......And of course correct me if I am not properly informed as to what this plant is.

Hard to tell what it is, it's a little blurry. Does it look like tiny roots? I doubt it named 'Red Epis', it sounds more like a description, epis is short for epiphyllum; red epiphyllum. I would try asking in a new thread in the Orchid Cactus forum so that more people can see it as a new question, Happenstance no longer posts here. I don't know enough about them.
Any chance of getting a clearer shot?

Wow your epis all look fabulous. I have some plants I grew from cuttings that are well over 2 yrs old and no blooms yet. I am definitely going to try the fish emulsion and see if it makes a difference.

This message was edited Jan 19, 2011 7:23 PM

I have read somewhere that these plants like an acid fertilizer. Yet they get little or no acid in their diet crawling about their native home mostly in the top third of the space under the jungle's canopy. Have you folks a fact based opinion on fertilizer?
My practice thus far has been very weakly weekly using several teas during the more active growing months only.

Someone has suggested the hair like growth at the ends of my leaves are what apppears ready to send out real roots when and only if the end settles in a pocket of organic material. This seems within simple logic to me. Another month has passed and nothing has changed except that more growth as shown above has appeared over the rest of the plant.

10" of snow outside & I just noticed my white Epi is now blooming. Guess she wanted to look lik ethe snow!!!

Could the variation discussed in this thread be the result of a sport? I have had that happen from my rooting of Christmas Cactus where in I am pleased with the possibility of an attractive different one to share in a year or so. I think that variations can be slight or even quite different than the parent plant.

Doc--

I took this picture in December of last year.
This is my Red Epi--same one I gave you--and it is also growing these spurs at the
end of the "leaves"....Seems just something they do.....

I meant to send this to you--but I guess i did not...

I KNOW that before I take this Red Epi outside--it will, most likely, already have
one bloom on it....

Same as on my Ric-Rac Cactus (also and Orchid cactus)---it grows these ugly,
dry roots from it's skinny stems....

I have always thought it was just the drier air--lack of light, etc.....
They never do this outside in the summer....

Here is the leaf-tips of my red Epi

Andoohere is an older picture (2005) of my Ric rac and it's dry roots growing out of
it's fronds...

Ugly to me!!!! But I have given up--and just deal with it.
Can't change what seems to be "the thing to do" for any plant....

Gita