Only described in 2002, this pleasantly plump species is named for Mexican botanist of Polish decent, Jerzy Rzedowski (the “R” is silent and the “z” is voiced as in leisure and the “w” is pronounced as a “v”). Our plant was received in 1981 from Jorge Meyrán who found it in a nursery in Xochimilco near Mexico City. At the time, he believed it to be P. brevifolium. Myron Kimnach puzzled over this species and noted that the “Plant as grown in Calif. seems closest to P. hookeri, but leaves are smaller and sepals are somewhat longer than the petals.” This matches the belatedly described P. rzedowski though this is a rather diminutive form of the species, reported from 2140 m, about 12 km W of Tuxpan, Michoacán, Mexico. Rooted cuts of HBG 44959, $8.
Published in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, Vol. 87 (3), May - June, 2015