CRAIGIANA Walther, 1952 (engl./ fr.)
Series Occidentales
Type : Craig & Lindsay 3, near Barranca de Rio Urinque (branch of Rio Fuerte), at lower level back from barranca among pines and ferns, with Graptopetalum occidentale; 1939.
Etymology : Named for its co-discoverer, Dr. R.T. Craig.
Distribution : Mexico (Chihuahua, Sonora).
First Description by Walther in Cactus and Succulent Journal US 24(1): 28-29. 1952 (from a plant cultivated by Jack Whitehead at the University of California Botanic Garden at Berkeley, California) :
Plant glabrous.
Stem short or none, branching only in old specimens.
Rosettes very dense.
Leaves 30 - 40, thick, semiterete, linear-oblong, 8 - 11 cm long, to 2 cm broad, flat above, beneath rounded and faintly keeled near apex, acute and shortly subulate-aristate, not papillose but slightly glaucous, upcurved form the middle.
Inflorescences 2 or 3, to over 50 cm tall, peduncle stout, erect, to 10 mm thick at base, bracts few, somewhat spreading, semiterete, oblong, acute, aristate-mucronate, to 5 cm long and 10 mm broad, faintly keeled near apex both above and beneath, at base shortly spurred, readily detachable, panicle elongate, with numerous short, angularly spreading branches, these at times bifid, pedicels to 2 cm long, rigid, bracteolate when young, only slightly thickened below calyx.
Flowers : Sepals much connate at base, slightly but distinctly spreading, subequal, longest to 9 mm long, oblong-deltoid, acute, connivent after anthesis, corolla tubular-campanulate, to 11 mm long and 13 mm in diameter when fully expanded, basal diameter 7 mm, petals bluntly keeled, at base gibbose and with distinct cavity within, strongly recurved at apex, carpels 8 mm long, stamens slightly longer, nectaries 2 mm wide, thick, transversely trapezoid.
Flowering time : October-November.
Link to a summary of the above description in English and French.
Note :
A green leaved form has been recorded from the Sierra Alamos in southern Sonora.
