Xerophilia could not have been around without the kind support of all who sent us articles, photos, or both, for the first seven regular issues and two special issues: Agócs György, Albert Leroy, Aldo Delladdio, Alexander Arzberger, Amante Darmanin, Ambrus László, Andreas Laras, Athena Mantle, Attila Kapitany, Aymeric de Barmon, Balázs Zoltan, Barta Laszlo, Basarab Popa, Bruce Bayer, Candelaria Rodríguez, Carlos Alonso Hidalgo Villa, Claudia López Martinez, Chris Davies, Ciprian Suta, Cristian Cristian, Cristian Neciu, Cristian Perez Badillo, Csaba Kadar, Daniel Schweich, David Rubo, David Rushforth, Davide Donati, Derrick J. Rowe, Eberhard Scholz, Elton Roberts, Eric Ribbens, Fabian Vincențiu Vanghele, Felipe Escudero Ganem, Frédéric Adriaenssens, Gabriel Millán Garduño, George Grecu, George S. Hinton, Gottfried Winkler, Graham Charles, Grzegorz Matuszewski, Ioan Nevezi, Ionuț Floca, Ján Baran, John Pilbeam , Joe Shaw, Josef Odehnal, József Szigetvári, Jovana Jaime Hernández, Jorge Xolapa Plancarte, Judd Kirkel Welwitch, Jürgen Menzel, Laci Szanto, László Ambrus, László Barta, Leccinum J. García Morales, Leo Rodriguez, Lévai Magdolna, Levai Melchior, Malcolm A. Grant, Manuel Nevárez de los Reyes, Manuel Salazar González, Michael Ast, Miguel Angel González Botello, Mihai Crisbășanu, Milan Zachar, Nicuşor Ajder, Oldřich Novák, Paul Klaassen, Pedro Nájera Quezada, Petr Kupčák, Philippe Corman , R. C. Hoyer, Ralph Hillmann, Ray Stephenson, Ricardo Daniel Raya Sanchez, Ricardo Garbarini Salgado, Sandi Karina Neri Cardona, Stefan Nitzschke, Stelian Popa, Steven A. Hammer, Terry Smale, Titus Simen, Tóth Norbert, Trevor Wray, Vasile Plăcintar, Walter Rausch, and (last but not least) Zsolt Mihail Demeter.

For each and everyone, a big THANK YOU and a Happy New Year 2014 from the Xerophilia Team!

“The south-western portion of the state of Coahuila, Mexico, is characterized by high mountain ranges, divided by wide alluvial plains. Such plains are typically very arid, with loamy-gypseous soil, sometimes flooded by heavy rainstorm.

During the exploration of one of these valleys, North of San Pedro de las Colonias, I found a taxon belonging to the genus Corynopuntia, with exceptional characteristics”

Davide Donati – A new, very interesting species belonging to the genus Corynopuntia Knuth: Corynopuntia guccinii

Xerophilia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1) – June 2012

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JANUARY

“Echeveria rosea is adapted to grow only in humid cloud forests of the region. Even if not an endemic species, their populations are scarce, because it´s one of the few species that grow as epiphytic plants together with orchids and ferns. The plants are not really showy, they grow until some 20 cm high, with a loose rosette about 10 cm wide with acuminate green leaves. The flowers are very characteristic instead, a dense inflorescence 20-30 cm long with pink to yellow flowers. It can be found looking upward big oak tree branches; occurs between 800 to 1500 m altitude.”

Leccinum J. García Morales - The Echeverioideae (Crassulaceae) of Tamaulipas, Mexico

Xerophilia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (4) – March 2013

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FEBRUARY

“Mancha urbana voraz - The voracious urban sprawl is a research project that speaks about nature and its ability to adapt or not to, in advance of the changes produced by man. Merging the urban dynamics with nature, which in this case is the cactus habitat, is the essence of this production. The invasion of such weaker and destruction prone environment determines us to think that in the end only one will subsist and one will be eliminated.

The formal use of cacti in this series of paintings derives from my interest to explore and learn about them. I consider them as essential elements of this project and for its story, endangered because of their exposure; these plants symbolize Mexican flora, it is also interesting that such species are difficult to find due to their camouflage and adaptability in areas where you can hardly imagine that anything would grow.”

An interview with Cristian Perez Badillo

Xerophilia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (4) – March 2013

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MARCH

“Intergrading is also true, of course, for var. perbellus. In south-western Oklahoma, in Kiowa county, there are mixed populations of bailey x perbellus described as being very stable. To the north, in Major county, there is a var. perbellus population having longer spines, resembling var. baileyi. Those plants were called once var. purpureus, and currently var. nova, waiting for its own proper name. Somewhat similar plants can be also found to the west, in Woodward county, where, due to the predominant influence of var. perbellus, the appearance of var. bailey is softening. The intergrading with var. caespitosus is hardly worthwhile mentioning, if we remember that some authors consider var. perbellus nothing more than a western caespitosus.”

Fabian Vincențiu Vanghele - Echinocereus reichenbachii – the northern group

Xerophilia, Vol. 2, No. 2 (5) – June 2013

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APRIL

“It is among epiphytes (plants adapted to living in trees) that we find most ant-plant species that are succulent or at least xerophytic (aridity adapted) in form and although the designation ant-plants is the one most commonly used, ant-house plants is a more accurate label for these highly adapted species.

Perhaps the best examples of arboreal ant-house plants are provided by the genus Myrmecodia. Here within the plant’s tuberous base are many interconnecting tunnels and chambers with one or more entrances such that each is a living ant nest remarkably similar to the gallery systems built in soils.”

Derrick J. Rowe - Succulent Ant-house Epiphytes: A Brief Introduction

Xerophilia, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1) – June 2012

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MAY

“Another small population is found at the base of Sierra Álvarez-San Pedro in the eastern part of SGS where it grows on a flattened terrain on a volcanic-calcareous gravelly substrate where it shares a barren “isle” with Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus, Thelocactus hexaedroporus, Mammillaria formosa, Echeveria bifida, Sedum aff. ebracteatum, Milla biflora, Ibervillea sp., Allium potosiense and Zephyranthes sp. The major threats in this locality are sand and gravel quarries, road construction and plundering from collectors and local citizens.”

Pedro Nájera Quezada - Notes on Peotillo (Pelecyphora aselliformis, Ehrenberg, 1843); A brief description of its potential distribution and intrinsic aspects about its conservation

Xerophilia, Vol. 1, No. 2 (2) – September 2012

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JUNE

“Thelocactus rinconensis ssp. rinconensis is restricted to the States of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon in northern Mexico (both States have a borderline with USA); the type is located at about 35 km to the west of Monterrey on the Highway to Saltillo, in a place named Rinconada.

They grow among caliza (limestone) rocks, and all the way to the top of the mountain were the Microondas station is located. They share the habitat with Astrophytum capricorne, Acharagma roseana, Coryphanta compacta, Coryphanta salinensis, Thelocactus bicolor, Echinocereus stramineus, Mammillaria melanocentra, Mammillaria pottsi (Leona), Cylindropuntia imbricata, and Cylindropuntia leptocaulis among others.”

Manuel Salazar González - A small resume of the Thelocactus rinconensis complex

Xerophilia, Vol. 1, No. 3 (3) – December 2012

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JULY

“The name Lobivia is an anagram of Bolivia, which immediately indicates the South American origin of these plants. Lobivia was established in 1922, in The Cactaceae, volume III, by Britton and Rose and was defined as being “Echinopsis with short flower”. Britton and Rose presented 20 Lobivia species. 90 years have passed since and new related plants have been discovered by Backeberg, Frič, Stümer, Marsoner, Castellanos, Cardenas, Ritter, Knize, Rausch, Lau, and Piltz… As a result, the number of species simply exploded. New names and intermediate genera were therefore established; some remained, while others have disappeared since, however, the synonymy was amplified but without being followed by a proportional surge of understanding these plants.”

Daniel Schweich - The Genus Lobivia Br. et R. in 2013

Xerophilia, Vol. 2, No. 1 (4) – March 2013

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AUGUST

“These photos were taken in the Western Richtersveld region (Alexander Bay), where Crassula plegmatoides grows on gentle slopes near the summit of the hills in quartzite gravel. It are also found in loose sands associated around and in close proximity the Orange River in this Western Region. The distribution is mainly in a narrow coastal strip from near Port Nolloth to the Buchu Mountains in Namibia. I also found plants growing in the sensitive lichen fields around Alexander Bay.”

Judd Kirkel Welwitch - Flowering South African Crassula

Xerophilia – Vol. 2, No. 3 (6) – September 2013

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SEPTEMBER

“The term “Aramberri enigma” is a fancy title for two questions pertaining to an Ariocarpus population in the valley of Aramberri, described as A. confusus. First question is if this population can be regarded as a distinct taxon and if yes, does it deserve specific or sub-specific recognition? Second, what is the relationship of this taxon to the A. retusus and A. trigonus populations that flank the valley to the east and to the west, respectively?.

Much confusion (and hence the specific epithet) and in a way the “enigma” itself were created by two deservedly respected authorities in the field, Anderson and Fitz Maurice, when in their revision of the genus in 1997 gave a single wrong answer to both questions.”

Dr. Andreas Laras – Demystifying the “Aramberri enigma”

Xerophilia, Vol. 2, No. 4 (7) – December 2013

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OCTOBER

“To understand plants and grow that love and interest we have to have names. To be truly useful and to work for us, those names have to have meaning and properly reflect where, what, how and why those plants are in the world at all.

Now there is a school of thought named ecosophy. It is coined from philosophy and is used to indicate that we need to think more deeply about ecology. I think this has become true for taxonomy (the classification and naming of plants) too. We need taxonosophy. This is because the old ideas of classification and naming do not work anymore.”

Bruce Bayer - What is new in Aloe names?

Xerophilia – Vol. 2, No. 2 (5) – June 2013

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NOVEMBER

“The discovery of the species that would later be described as Digitostigma caput-medusae occurred while we was performing prospections for the selection of an electrical transmission line. The exact date was June 21, 2001, so that it has been nearly 12 years since then, which arouses me to write some reflections on this fact and its implications, both for the conservation of the species and equally for the life of all the people involved.”

Manuel Nevárez de los Reyes - Digitostigma: Some reflections

Xerophilia – Vol. 2, No. 2 (5) – June 2013

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DECEMBER

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