HOOCK, H. 1989 . Kakt. and. Sukk. Band: 40 Heft (2) Seite (Umschlagblatt) Zum Titelbild: Astrophytum ornatum v. mirbelii (LEMAIRE) OKUMURA

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To the cover picture (KuaS 2/89)
(Astrophytum ornatum v. mirbelii, Vista Hermosa, Queretaro)

The catchments area of the Rio Moctezuma in the southern Hidalgo and middle Queretaro is the native country of Astrophytum ornatum (DC.) WEB. The river forms the limit of these two states of the Mexican highland north of the spa Tequisquiapan and at this locations the most beautiful variety of the species is found here: Astrophytum ornatum v. mirbelii. She became described already in 1838 by CH . LEMAIRE and stands out due to her canary yellow spines. Their characteristic thick white flocks reduce these plants relatively late in the transition to the adult form. The stout body growth is also conspicuous for Astrophytum ornatum v. mirbelii, which prefers to settle like all her relatives steep slopes and shores of the Barrancas.

Tionoschcomitl, how the Indians called these and similar cacti, got many names in 150-years of literature-history (see the contribution "Die Namen der Astrophyten" in this magazine). The epitheton "mirbelii" got this variety in honour of the botanist Prof. Mirbel (1776 - 1854), director of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, to whom CH. LEMAIRE was obliged.

Astrophytum ornatum v. mirbelii, Vista Hermosa, Queretaro


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