Astrophytum myriostigma
In flower amongst her friends in my greenhouse.
This is one of the plants Mother and I grew from seed the year we moved here in 1949.
The name Astrophytum comes from the Greek word for star plant. These beautiful plants are globe shaped and are speckled with white scales and flecks. As it ages, the plant becomes columnar, as mine is.
A. myriostigma (many dotted) is a spineless plant, usually solitary or with very few basal branches. A transverse section of the stem reveal a perfect star shaped form (like the common star-fish) giving the plant the appearance of a bishop's mitre (hence the common name Bishop's cap)
HOWEVER..mine is freaky in that it has only 4 lobes not five, so it not a proper star shape. We did have a 5 lobe one but it is no more.
Ah, well.
Maybe it has had the wrong name for 64 years...someone on Flickr will put me right, I'm sure.
Astrophytum myriostigma
In flower amongst her friends in my greenhouse.
This is one of the plants Mother and I grew from seed the year we moved here in 1949.
The name Astrophytum comes from the Greek word for star plant. These beautiful plants are globe shaped and are speckled with white scales and flecks. As it ages, the plant becomes columnar, as mine is.
A. myriostigma (many dotted) is a spineless plant, usually solitary or with very few basal branches. A transverse section of the stem reveal a perfect star shaped form (like the common star-fish) giving the plant the appearance of a bishop's mitre (hence the common name Bishop's cap)
HOWEVER..mine is freaky in that it has only 4 lobes not five, so it not a proper star shape. We did have a 5 lobe one but it is no more.
Ah, well.
Maybe it has had the wrong name for 64 years...someone on Flickr will put me right, I'm sure.