HOOCK, H. 1990 . Kakt. and. Sukk. Band: 41 Heft (10) Seite 230-232 Astrophytum ornatum (DE CANDOLLE) WEBER am Rio Torre Blanca
HOOCK, H. 1990 . Aztekia Band: 13 Heft Seite 28-29, 62-63 Astrophytum ornatum (De Candolle) Weber u Rio Torre Blanca
HOOCK, H. 1998 . Cactussen (Belgien) Band: 11 Heft (3) Seite 41-45 Tijdschrift voor Liefhebbers van Vetplanten Kamerplant Astrophytum ornatum (de Candolle) Weber aan de Rio Torre Blanca
Astrophytum ornatum (DE CANDOLLE) Weber at the Rio Torre Blanca
The area of the Mexican federal states Hidalgo and Querétaro is drained by the Rio Moctezuma and his tributaries mainly. This spacious river basin is also the native country of Astrophytum ornatum which has spread along the watercourses. His most southern locations with the type plants already described 1828 by DE CANDOLLE are found at the Rio Venados. The beautiful yellow spined variety "Mirbelii" grows northeast of this at the Rio Amajaque as well as at the Rio Tula and Rio Moctezuma. Who uses the national highway 120 from San Juan del Rio in the direction of Jalpan to the north, crosses short before an imposing passport journey the Rio Torre Blanca, a left tributary of the Moctezuma. Another Ornatum population which notices by spiral growth forms (figure) developed at the steep Barrancas. The painting artist and later cactus exporter Ferdinand Schmoll from Cadereyta showed a splendid copy effectively for advertising purposes from this area as "Astrophytum espiralis" in his sales catalogue in the thirties.
The mentioned habitat is complete intact and from cactus collectors practically still undisturbed today. The plant formation is partly so dense, that one needs only few steps to reach another group of these impressive cactuses. The Astrophytum ornatum have here extreme variable spines regarding strength, length, number and colour. They grow rather stoutly in comparison with her relatives in the south and at the age of flourishing ability they are already largely flake free within the first years. But how already mentioned a particularly dominant characteristic is, that they have on the left or on the right revolved bodies.
One finds screwing forms isolated in the genus Astrophytum at all ways. These are usually so-called hunger forms, however. At water shortage such individuals get first thin rib edges and finally they shrink spirally. The area at the Rio Torre Blanca is one of the precipitation poorest in Querétaro for which also talks the lack of young plants at the location. Under this point of view, at first it isn't surprising to find the spiral forms more frequently here. But a more correct examination of the habitat in winter 1985 aroused considerable doubts that this is the only cause. Next to the "professional fasters" Astrophytum ornatum with thick, well fed broad ribs were also found. Some plants almost start spontaneously the screwing growth at a certain height, however others are coiled from the beginning. Should this striking Ornatum population at the Rio Torre Blanca already have a genetically fixated trend for the spiral growth? With a little luck I could collect at that time mature seeds at different locations of Astrophytum ornatum earlier than the ants. The today four-year old seedlings make the assumption of a inherited plant grow.
All young plants were of course cultivated under the same conditions in my greenhouse. Unlike their parents in remote Mexico, however, they get sufficient water during the growth time from April till October, dryness as a cause for a spiral growth is excluded thus for certain. Comparing the Venados, Moctezuma and Vizarron seedlings with these of the Rio Torre Blanca it is significant that the latter ones have particular strong turned ribs and a naked epidermis. With the exception of the Mirbelii type all seedlings train the rib edges helically out of the vegetation parting at first, but only the Rio Torre Blanca plants keep this quality also at the lower body. They are possibly an evolutiv more modern construction type, which has kept the spiral growth because of the shortening of the vegetative phase.
As a cause for the spiral growth of Astrophytum ornatum may be an insignificant difference of the ideal 3/8 leaf arrangement. BILHUBER suspects an inner physiological tension for adult plants instead of this mechanism, though. However Astrophytum ornatum at the Rio Torre Blanca developed a specific adaptation to its habitat. Therefore this larger individuals can survive a long-standing dryness without damage. They reduce the bodies by shrinking spiral like and with that the evaporation surface and "grow" again if the rain falls.
Illustrations spiral formed Astrophytums in the literature
(extract)
Astrophytum asterias: SATO, T. (1978)
Astrophytum coahuilense: KRÄHENBÜHL, F. (1975)
Astrophytum capricorne:
Astrophytum myriostigma: KAYSER, K. (1932); GILKEY, J. E. (1944)
Astrophytum ornatum: SCHUMANN, K. (1903); SCHMOLL, F. (1934); KRAINZ, H. (1965)
Captions in the article:
Form 1:
One finds spiral formed, revolved ribs in the genus Astrophytum primarily at plants which suffer on water shortage. The shown Astrophytum ornatum at Torre Blanca at the Rio, however is fed well. His growth form presumably is already defined hereditarily.
Form 2:
For the interesting, coiled growth forms of Astrophytum ornatum new names were invented by amateurs, cactus dealers and botanists again and again. The collector Schwarz, Mexico, offered them as the variety "spiral" in his catalogue, for example.
Form 3:
The picture shows a very bright spined "spiral Ornatum" near Peñamiller at the Rio Torre Blanca. The epidermis spots are frequent in this population and might have to be put down to a virus infection.
Text to the climate diagram:
The climate diagram of the weather station Peñamiller shows that the annual precipitation there achieve hardly more as 500 mm. The rain fells mainly from May till October with clear maxima within the months in June and September, similar like in Metztitlan near the Rio Venados (source: Carta de Climas, Instituto de Geografica, UNAM Mexico, Enero 1970).
Literature:
BERNHARD, U. (1987): Astrophytum ornatum (DE CANDOLLE) WEBER in der Barranca von Metztitlan, Kakt. and. Sukk. 38 (10): 234-237
BILHUBER, E. (1933): Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Organstellungen im Pflanzenreich, Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft m.b.H.Botanisches Archiv 35 (3): 188-250
BUXBAUM, F. (1963b): Die Kakteenblüte und das "Gesetz der Verkürzung der vegetativen Phase", Kakt. and. Sukk. 14 (1): 2-5
BUXBAUM, F. (1963c): Die Kakteenblüte und das "Gesetz der Verkürzung der vegetativen Phase" (Schluß), Kakt. and. Sukk. 14 (2): 22-25
FITTKAU, H. W. (1979): Astrophytum ornatum (DE CANDOLLE) WEBER, Kakt. and. Sukk. 30 (4): 97-98
HEGSTROM, R. A.; KODEPUDI, D. K. (1990): Händigkeit im Universum, Spektrum d. Wissenschaft (3): 56-67
HOOCK, H. (1989e): A Beautiful Cristate of Astrophytum ornatum, Brit. Cact. Succ. Journ. (GB) 7 (2): 49-50
KRÄHENBÜHL, F. (1960): Astrophytum ornatum DC. (1828), Kakt. and. Sukk. 11 (3): 42-44
MEYRAN, J. (1971): Las Cactaceas del Estado de Querétaro, Cact. Suc. Mex. 16 (1): 18-22
MIQUEL, F. W. A. in SCHLECHTENDAL, D. F. L. (1838): Echinocactus holopterus MQ., Linnaea 12: 2-3
SCHEIDWEILER, M. J. (1838): Echinocactus tortus, Bulletins de l'Academie Royale des Sciences et belles-lettres de Brux. 5: 493
SCHMOLL, F. (1934): List of Cacti Plants, (Firmenkatalog): 1-5
Remarks and footnotes:
1. KRAINZ (1961) and SADOVSKY (1980) mention an occurrence of Astrophytum ornatum in east Guanajuato and obviously obtain her information from a correspondence with F. Schmoll in the year 1936/37. It is definitely possible that this statement is correct although, since then, it unfortunately was not confirmed by further field inspection. Along the shores of the Rio Torre Blanca Ornatum could have spread up to the headwaters in the east of Guanajuato.
2. First news of revolved ribs at Astrophytum ornatum already date from the year 1838. MIQUEL and SCHEIDWEILER are writing independently of each other in different publications over such plants at that time as "Echinocactus holopterus" or "Echinocactus tortus" (tortus = spiraled) not knowing, that these names are synonyms to "Echinocactus ornatum" of DE CANDOLLE (MIQUEL: "...costo octo...spiraliter sinistrorsum..."; SCHEIDWEILER: "...costis compressis spiraliter tortis...").
4. The precipitation achieve hardly more as 500 mm annual there also in rainy periods.
5. One watches roughly just the same number left and right spirals at a statistically sufficiently large number of individuals. Of altogether 460 Astrophytums counted in my collection under this point of view 236 were left and 224 were right coiled.
6. Astrophytum ornatum has the absent-minded leaf arrangement (dispersion). Eight ribbed copies have a divergence of 135 degrees after the so called SCHIMPER-BRAUN row. The botanically interested reader is referred to the basic explanations in STRASBURGER (1983) Lehrbuch der Botanik, Gustav Fischer Verlag Stuttgart, S. 138 ff .
photos:
Astrophytum ornatum (1)
Astrophytum ornatum (2)
seedlings
climate diagram
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