It took several years for the parent plants of this offering to mature in our Desert Garden. Only then did an occasional spontaneous seedling appear. This reseeding is modest compared with the related E. lambii that grows nearby and reseeds rampantly. This is no surprise, as both are ideally suited to our Mediterranean climate, similar to that of their native Canary Islands. Standing amidst the plants in late spring as the explosive seed-capsules ripen is like being inside a popcorn popper—the dehiscence of fruits is quite audible. With the more graceful, finer-leaved E. broussonetii, the seeds were collected by constructing a polyethylene tent around the parent plant to contain the exploding capsules. The result is this offering of HBG 104739, plants from open-pollinated seed of HBG 80823, plants originally collected by Nora Barboza, Jan 31. 1997, near Santiago del Teide, Tenerife, Canary Islands. Three for $6.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 83 (2), March - April, 2011