For Enthusiasts No. E09 June 29th 2007.
Firstly, thanks to those who entered our contest in the
last Newsletter E08. It was great to see all the entries, and we were very pleased
when finally a fully correct entry arrived, from one Liam O'Meara of Auckland.
Congratulations Liam!!! Liam has
been sent his $50 Gift Voucher already. Special
mention should be made of Northland enthusiast Leanne who gave us this entertaining
attempt at Qu.No.8. In what style is John Travolta represented?......... "Can’t find
him anywhere! You described an Opuntia phaeacantha discata DJF 1400 as a hairy
bottomed cutie, this is as close as I can get to him – he is a hairy bottomed
cutie, ha ha." Not the
right answer Leanne, but for brightening up our day we are sending you a
$10 Gift Voucher! Here
are the answers. Directly from the website, in red, are the relevant quotes in
which the answers could be found.
- How flat is Aeonium tabulaeforme?
"Apple green and flat as a maggot
this Canary Island cliffdweller forms a mandala-like rosette to 30cm across.".
See the Plant List under Aeonium
tabulaeforme.
- Which
seabird nests in NZ's native mesem? "Disphyma
makes a perfect nesting spot for this Sooty Dogfaced Gannet". See
the Plant List under Disphyma
australe.
- Which
ones do the mice like, especially in winter? "Mice
sometimes nibble them also, especially in winter. They like the rarer ones."
(it referred to Lithops, but "the rarer ones" was the answer we
wanted). See nearly half way down the Cultivation page.
- What
sort of a dance do the purple vibratile hairs perform? "Orbeopsis lutea ...... Bunches of brilliant yellow star-shaped
flowers have purple vibratile hairs doing a danged dingle-dangle dance in the
draught". See the Plant List under
Orbeopsis
lutea.
- Which two chemicals can be used together
for a double-barrelled approach to law and order? "Spray with Confidor, or with Conqueror Oil .......... they can
be used together for a double-barrelled approach to law and order."
See under Mealy Bugs, the very first "problem" on the Plant Problems page.
- Which
is the only Lithops with an orange flower? "verruculosa, the only Lithops with an orange flower ".
See 6/10ths of the way down the Cultivation
page.
- What
type of number can Ralph Martin help you with? Collection
Numbers. "Ralph Martin's website, http://ralph.cs.cf.ac.uk/Cacti/fieldno.html is excellent for checking
locality details as well as the latest identity of that population. Sometimes
the plant collection initially has no name, just the Collection Number, and only
years later it might be formally described..... ..after which Ralph baby will
see you right". See the FAQ, within
the HS 151 answer.
- In
what style is John Travolta represented? This
was the killer question that stumped all but Liam O'Meara. Here is the answer,
pasted straight from the website about halfway down the Web Specimens
page:
Monvillea spegazzinii Crest (Web Specimen WS 048)
![]()
John Travolta from behind.
A vangoghian interpretation. If
the picture didn't open for you, try here.
9.
Which family is especially rich in Lump Plants? "The
Cucumber Family (Cucurbitaceae) is especially rich in Lump Plants (or caudiciforms
as they are more properly known)". See the Grand
Tour, page 5 thereof,
first paragraph. 10. Have
you got a Lithop? "No, noone has ever had a Lithop.
There is no such thing as a Lithop. It is a Lithops, even if there is only one
of them. Even if it is dead it is still not a Lithop." See
the Frequently Asked
Questions page, right near the bottom. Trade
Me. Some
of you will already know that we put plants up for auction on Trade
Me, under the nom-de-plume of desert_maniacs. Well,
right now we have a number of one-offs and new releases being auctioned on
Trade Me. Most of the current auctions end on Sunday night, 8th July. Check
it out for some interesting plants. Where else will you buy a Desmidorchis for
example? Most people don't even want to pronounce it! And
remember, we will always do our best to combine shippable Trade Me winnings with Website
Orders. We will adjust the shipping costs that were initially calculated
on the Website Order and let you know by email if there is any extra charge. Just
let us know if you have placed a Website Order but are still waiting for
a Trade Me auction to close. Or vice versa. Contest This
time our contest is for photos. Digital only please, no larger than 500 kbs per
pic. We have two Categories for you:
A. Mid-Winter Cheer. Recent photo of
something (cac-and-succ-related) that cheered you up. e.g. nice garden scene of
mid-winter flowering Aloes. B.
Mid-Winter Misery. Recent photo of something (cac-and-succ-related) that brought you misery. e.g. garden scene of mid-winter
flowering Aloes surrounded by flood debris. Get
the picture? Or rather: DID you get the picture? Maximum
no. of entries is two per person per category. Prizes
are a Gift Voucher for $25 for the winner in each category. Winners announced
in the next Newsletter. And maybe the winning pics (small kb version) will
go into the Newsletter too. Bearing
in mind that we would like, soon, to open a page on the website for great garden
shots and your bragbook-type photos, we will consider that by entering in
the Contest you have granted permission for us to use your photo later on. And, by the way, if anyone
knows of a free service on the internet for notifying one of a nominated
website's CHANGED PAGES, then we would like to hear about it. I used to use such
a service to keep an eye on certain websites, but it is no longer free or
even close to it. Moreover, if you wanted to start up such a service
then there may well be a demand out there. Offer the central service for free,
but charge advertisers to hang out on the screen somewhere. Just an idea for someone.
But please let us know if it's up and running somewhere already. That's
all for now. Our Tip: Keep
gardening to keep warm!
Martin and the Team at Coromandel Cacti. | |
