Eric Walther (1892-1959), an Authority on the Genus Echeveria, Was a Prolific Writer Who Made Many Contributions About His Beloved Plants to Garden Magazines
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CACTUS AND SUCCULENT JOURNAL (U.S.), Vol. 65 273 Fig. 4. Pachyphytum hookeri (Moran 13349) x Leno- Fig. 5. Pachyphytum hookeri (Moran 13349) x Le- phyllum reflexum (U1917). nophyllum reflexum (U1917). Portion of inflorescence with flowers. x Lenophytum Uhl hybr. nov. hybrids that have flowered resemble their Leno This name is proposed for all hybrids between phyllum parent more closely than they do their Lenophyllum Rose and Pachyphytum Link, diploid parent (Fig. 3). This supports a conclu Klotzsch and Otto. One such hybrid is docu sion that their Lenophyllum parents were poly mented by a pressed specimen and color photos. ploid and contributed double or multiple doses (sets or genomes) of chromosomes and genes to Pachyphytum hookeri (Moran 13349, n = 32) x the hybrids and that only one dose came from Lenophyllum reflexum (U1917, n = 32) (Figs. their diploid parents. It seems likely that diploids 4-5). of Lenophyllum with n = 11 once existed, and it is possible that they may yet be found. A hybrid between the same collection of P. hookeri and L. sp. aff. acutifolium (U2087, n = 22) appears authentic but has not flowered and References is not otherwise documented. Eight other at Knobloch, I. W. 1972. Intergeneric hybridization in tempts to hybridize Lenophyllum and Pachy flowering plants. Taxon 21:97-103. phytum were not successful. Morren, E. 1877. La Belgique Horticole 27:249. Four attempts to hybridize Lenophyllum with Rowley, G. D. 1982. Intergeneric hybrids in succu lents. National Cactus & Succulent Journal 37:77. Villadia were unsuccessful, as were three at Uhl, C. H. 1992. Polyploidy, dysploidy, and chro tempts with Sedum. Three attempted crosses be mosome pairing in Echeveria (Crassulaceae) and tween species of Lenophyllum also were not suc its hybrids. American Journal of Botany 79:556- cessful. Additional attempts might yet hybridize 566. some of these groups. Walther, E. 1972. Echeveria. California Academy of Although judgement must be subjective, the Sciences, San Francisco. impression is very strong that all seven of the AN OLD ECHEVERIA HYBRID Eric Walther (1892-1959), an authority on the genus Echeveria, was a prolific writer who made many contributions about his beloved plants to garden magazines. In "Echeveria Hybrids" published in the Journal of California Horticultural Society, Vol. 22, No. 3, pages 60-62, July-September 1959, he wrote about a commonplace hybrid in early California gardens—Echeveria Tmbricata'. It is appropriately named: the leaves resemble overlapping shingles. Wrote Walther: "[This] hybrid was first offered in 1871 by Deleuil of Marseilles, France. It is still widely grown although superior varieties have been available for some time. "Historically hybridization was carried on most intensively by J. B. A. Deleuil of Rue Paradis, Marseilles, who listed numerous hybrids in his catalogs for 1873, 1874 and later, as reprinted in La Belgique Horticole of those years. Several of his hybrids are still extant in California gardens, and one at least appears to be the most commonly cultivated Echeveria in the state. This is E. Tmbricata', a cross of E. glauca and E. metallica, and commonly misnamed E. secunda-glauca" Larry W. Mitich .