Hechtia lundelliorum in habitat

[Andy]

This is an awesome plant. Definitely one of the 'soft' hechtias (along with caerulea and tillandsioides). When I saw small seedlings from a distance I did think they were tillandsias on the rock wall.

Seedlings:




But then I looked up and saw the big mothers up above. Some looked to be at least 5' long, draping down. Saw colonies down probably under 2000' elevation and up to above 6000'. I'm guessing the hechtias aren't strictly altitude sensitive but rather substrate dependent.











If you get a closer look at them, it looks like they like to grown downward to drape over a little better.





At the lower elevations we even found a clump that was growing as an epiphyte on a tree trunk! The tree had recently fallen over, but it is clear that the clump was growing there for quite a while.

[void]

Awesome pics...thank you!

Keep them coming...

[ChrisN82]

Awesome pics Andy!

Its nice seeing plants grow in their native habitat. Helps grow em in cultivation better! So would you call the way these Hechtia are growing terrestrial, epiphytic or saxicolous?

C

[Andy]

Hmmm, I would call it almost saxicolous. But still really terrestrial (other than the one on the tree trunk). They seem to need the drainage of the shear rock face, but looked to only be in cracks/crevices that had soil accumulated. Looking at all of the different hechtias that we got to see, the form of the leaves seems to be related to the substrate they are growing on. The more upright rosettes seem to grow on more level (even if sloped) stuff, the ones that are really strongly curled down seem to be able to grow on the vertical rock faces. I almost wonder if that is so they can start to collect duff and dirt and build up their own soil in a make-shift pot.

[Kelly Griffin]

Nice photos Andy,

We (are) and have been growing this plant from seed that Brian Kemble collected. It is a very nice soft leaved critter and they are pretty good sized. We planted several out on the hill at Rancho Soldedad Nursery and they seem to be growing well too.

Worth growing IMO!

Kelly G

[Andy]

I agree Kelly! I was thinking either potted in hanging baskets or in a round bowl that is tilted on a pedestal. Are they big enough to sell? And so much for hechtias being unfriendly and aggressive with a bad reputation!

[turtlewalker34205]

I know this is a older post but I have a question about it now, hope you can answer. How do you know it's s Hechtia lundelliorum and notHechtia tillandsioides or Hechtia caerulea?

I have 2 kinds of this plant one with white flowers the other with light blue-purple flowers.

[wuzz]

Sure is nice to revisit this series of photos. The other series on H. rosea and H. argentea sure were nice too.
Andy.. are there any plans for a workshop or presentation of the your travels down through Mexico?

[Andy]

Hey guys,
Of the three described 'spineless' Hechtias (well, there are also the debatable lindmanioides and purpusii also...), tillandsioides is the smallest and lundelliorum is the largest, with caerulea in between but still a bit larger than tillandsioides.
From Smith&Downs:
Inflorescence:
till. - <1m tall
caer. - >2m tall
lund. - >1m tall

Leaves:
till. - 20-30cm long
caer. - nearly 1m long
lund. - more than 1m long

Some people (more knowledgeable in this area than me) seem to consider caerulea not to be a different species. Somewhere I also saw that the female flower is supposed to be white while the male flower has some color for tillandsioides.

Now, reflecting on what all I saw, I wouldn't be able to say anything for sure. Using lundelliorum certainly feels like 'safe' bet. We saw several populations that did have some size range between each other. I would lean toward saying that there were local cultural influences that would account for the size range. That and simple genetic variability. The populations were fairly widespread, also ranging from 700 to 1600m elevation (and I am sure we didn't find the vertical extremes in either direction). The current trend in the Hechtias seems to be lumping as they are studied further and the range of variability of each species is documented.

We didn't see anything in habitat that I would claim to be tillandsioides. But all of the 'spineless' Hechtias are in the same region (Veracruz, Hidalgo, Mexico, Queretaro, and SLP). There is a lot more to study. Kind of fun and exciting if you ask me...even if it is a bit frustrating at times.

[Andy]

Oh, yeah...there will be a class at Quail Gardens, err, San Diego Botanic Gardens on November 21st. I am attempting to attach the flier.

If you talk to Cristy, I am sure we would also be willing to give the talk up at the Saddleback meeting also Wes. And speaking of...did you notice during Pam's Tillandsia talk there was a picture of lundelliorum on a cliff face. I flinched, but she was already on to the next picture before I could interrupt and point it out.
-andy

Originally Posted by wuzz

Sure is nice to revisit this series of photos. The other series on H. rosea and H. argentea sure were nice too.
Andy.. are there any plans for a workshop or presentation of the your travels down through Mexico?

[wuzz]

Hechtia Show at Saddleback? I am on it.
I was imagining myself and the wife scampering up and down the valleys in Pam's slide show when I heard her mention T.tomaselli and T. xerographica.
I gulped. No more day dreaming during a nice presentation.

I thought I saw a Hechtia or two- there was a marnier-lapostelle.. and maybe a lunderelliorum. A lot of really nice pictures
It was a good show.