ok here is a few things to think about from a prairie botanist. we all know how thick and lush rainforests can be... now, imagine how thick and lush the soils of the great plains, in particular the tall grasses prairie lands of Iowa and east. an amazing cauldron of inhert and organics. Deeper and thicker than a steel plow could go, unless ofcourse they do it year after year... the soils of the prairies are said to be like iceburgs, u only see 10% of what really hit the titanic. i like to say that the green stuff on the surface are solar panels and sex organs, the real meat of the prairie lies under. ive heard estimates that the biomass under soil surface = 85% vs above and i feel that is an accurate # of a mature prairie. want an example? what is the biomass of the fruiting body of a fungi vs the vast underground structure or a butterfly vs a mole :) here is something to chew on... as plants ever evolve and find their way north/south into harsher and harsher areas of the world (given that diversity lessens as u move N/S), life has learned to 'dig in' to use more of the year's energy before the tilt freezes our part of the world. its still a highly diverse ecosystem, its just that u cannot see it without a shovel. froggy

It certainly looks like P. hypocyrtiflora. There are other pearceas, formerly parakohleria, which come from Ecuador. But, the other species do not resemble hypocyrtiflora that closely. Its a gem of a plant, which is in cultivation. It is not hard to grow as long as it is enclosed and given sufficient root run. I have had plants that filled a large covered aquarium with offsets, from runners. But, mine flowered with fairly tall peduncles, while others have had flowers on shorter stems like yours. There is some clonal variation, and two or three have been in cultivation though some of these are probably lost. Currently the Ecuadorian orchid nursery, Ecuagenera is selling this species at orchid shows in the US. I expect to see their booth next week at the orchid show in San Francisco. Thanks for showing us a photo from the wild. Ecuador is very rich in gesneriads, with new species being discovered all the time. Jon

I've never had any problem with Maui Buttercups and Rainforest Sunrise... but my third year Tropical Sunrise came back as a cluster of little immature plants this year... I was willing to just blame it on our wet cold spring. Once more - a new plant from good heritage that should be a easy, simple plant goes into tc and is massively marketed... and lots of plants from that first batch are trouble. I wonder if subsequent runs have been fine and we are all just battleing with a bad tc batch rather than a bad hosta...

I've never seen root rot on a jaboticaba. Mine, which are in ground of course, are in the lowest point in my entire property. There have been some multi-day rain events that have left standing water in this area for a full 10 days without any root issues. During dry season, I'll let the hose run completely flooding the area. That doesn't leave any standing water for more than a day, but I usually have to do it a day or two in a row before flowering commences. Good luck. Harry