Dyckia dawsonii

How to start? After all, this is going to be my first plant post. How about showing a picture of Dyckia dawsonii?

This is obviously one of the most beautiful Dyckias. Still very rare in cultivation, the demand for such a spectacular plant is high. No surprize there are many “fakes” around, which are claimed to be Dyckia dawsonii but in fact are probably hybrids and not the real thing. The plant above is considered to be real Dyckia dawsonii. I got mine from Chanin Thorut in Bangkok who got his from late Bill Baker, the famous Dyckia grower from California. Bill Baker in turn is believed to have received his plants from the Huntington Botanical Garden. It should be mentioned that at the Swiss Succulent Collection in Zürich a very similar clone is grown, which happens to be the type clone of that species and was also received from the Huntington Botanical Garden many years ago. So there are two links back to the Huntington Botanical Garden as a probably source for the plants which are in cultivation.

Mine is now getting to flower. I’ll keep you updated.