BALLSII Walther, 1958 (engl./ fr.)
THE TISSUE-CULTURE "ECHEVERIA BALLSII" IS NOT THE CORRECT SPECIES.
Series Nudae (according to Uhl, Haseltonia 12, 2006, in respect of its location and chromosome number).
Type : E.K.Balls 7587 near Siachoque, Dept. Boyaca, Colombia, ca 2800 m, 1939.
Etymolgy : Named for its collector E. K. Balls.
Distribution : Colombia (Boyaca, Cundinamarca).
First Description by E. Walther in Cactus and Succulent Journal US 30(2): 44. 1958
(from a plant cultivated in Strybing Arboretum, from collection by E.K. Balls in 1939) :
Stem evident, but short, several from one base.
Leaves thick, turgid above, oblong-obovate, acutish, to 35 mm long, about 10 mm broad, narrowed to less than 5 mm at base, yellowish-green.
Inflorescences one or two to each rosette, 25 to 30 cm tall, equilaterally racemose but sometimes unilateral from one-sided lighting, peduncle erect, lower bracts ascending to spreading, narrowly oblong-obovate, to 15 mm long, flowers about 10, nodding, pedicels to 10 mm long, their bractlets slender, to 5 mm long.
Flowers : Sepals subequal, longest to 8 mm long, flat, acuminate, ascending, corolla nearly straight, to 12 mm long, about 8 mm in diameter near base, peach-red to scarlet, pale-yellow in shade, petals spreading at apex, inside with basal hollow.
Cytology : n = ca 44 (acc. to Uhl)
Link to a summary of the above description in English and French.
Note :
1. The plant sold by Pilbeam and others, said to be produced by micro-propagation (Pilbeam, The genus Echeveria, p.54), is not E. ballsii. As the photos published with the First Description (see below) clearly demonstrate, E. ballsii is an almost stemless plant and its leaves do not have red margins.
2. The photos on www.crassulaceae.com of a plant in cultivation are by far not correct.
Photos published with the First Description in Cactus and Succulent Journal US 30(2): 45. 1958.
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