PENDULIFLORA   Walther, 1958  (engl./ fr.)

Series Racemosae

Type : MacDougall B-174, collected in soil between Arroyo de la Y and San Sebastian de los Fustes, Ejutla, Oaxaca, about 4000 ft, 25 January 1956 (CAS 409846).

Etymology : referring to the pendulous flowers.

Distribution: Mexico (Oaxaca).

First Description by Walther in Cactus and Succulent Journal US 30: 151. 1958 :

Plant glabrous, caulescent.

Stem erect, usually simple, to 30 cm tall or more.

Leaves scattered alternately or subrosulate at top of stem, thinnish, oblong-oblanceolate, to 14 cm long and 4 cm broad, narrowed to 2 cm at the thick, keeled petiole, faintly keeled beneath, shallowly concave above, at tips upcurved and mucronate.

Inflorescences 1 or 2, arising from below leaves, to 30 cm tall, peduncle erect, to 5 mm thick at base, lower bracts strongly ascending, to 5 cm long and 15 m broad, obovate-oblong, at apex upcurved and acute, shallowly concave above, faintly keeled beneath, spurred at base, racemes many-flowered, unilateral, to 25 cm long, flexuose, with 60 or more flowers, these strongly pendulous, crowded or remote, upper bracts abruptly deflexed from the spurred base, but becoming erect in fruit, bearing 2 minute, slender, fugaceous linear bractlets less than 2 mm in length.

Flowers : Sepals subequal, longest 6 mm long, linear-deltoid, apiculate, ascending, corolla to 13 mm long, 9 mm in basal diameter, 4 mm at mouth, bluntly pentagonal, petals with shallow basal hollow within, carpels 9 mm long, nectaries 2 mm broad, truncate-reniform.

Flowering time from June on.

Colour : Leaves above cerro-green, beneath asphodel-green; peduncle and rachis grape-green; lower bracts as the leaves; upper bracts and sepals pale-violet-gray; corolla geranium-pink to peach-red and jasper-pink, tips of petals in buds above chartreuse-yellow to kildare-green; styles dull indian-purple; nectaries white.

Cytology : n = 22

Link to summaries of the above description in English and French.

Plant in habitat, Mexico :

Plante dans l'habitat mexicain :