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Postcard N°25 from Mexico


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It was sure one heck of an adventure, hehehe!! :)

what was Fernando wearing as he drove away....

Hahaha, fortunately not what you think! :) Hidden in the text you´ll find:

Before I entered the car and drove off, I stood there for a while wondering what to do with all the burs on my clothes (See picture 37). I couldn't get in the car like that or I'd have those prickly burs sticking to the car seat and poking my a** for the whole drive back to Guanajuato! I had clean clothes to change into, but what would I do with all those burs on my hiking pants, t-shirt, and socks?? It would take ages to remove them all and my fingers would quickly be covered with tiny thorns. Maybe the burs would come off easily after a few weeks on their own, or after washing. But I wasn't even sure that US customs would let me through with all those burs. So after some deliberation, I simply hung up my bur-covered pants, socks and shirt next to the car and drove away, leaving them there as a present for any local willing to deal with the bur removal (See picture 38). Being used to it, they probably even had special techniques for removing those nasty burs from clothes.

Thanks to Eric for taking the time to post it all on his fantastic website!!

Best wishes,

Fernando Rivadavia

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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Hi Fernando and Eric,

thank you for sharing those fantastic photos of the Moctezuma Canyon.

It's really great that you found this species as nobody knew if this populations still exists.

I heard from friends that they didn't get access to the Canyon because of guards hiding the damn.

How did you get access?

You also confirmed that P. moctezumae does build winter leaves how one can also read in the description.

In cultivation P. moctezumae never do this. Only some plants I grew from seeds also form winter-rosettes.

I can only confirm that there must be natural hybrids of P. elizabethiae and P. moctezumae or maybe another species that is quite between those species as there is also such a plant in culture that originates from the wild.

Cheers,

Markus

Edited by Markus
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Hello Markus,

>It's really great that you found this species as nobody knew if this populations still exists.

I heard from friends that they didn't get access to the Canyon because of guards hiding the damn.

How did you get access?

I think your friends are talking about the opposite end of the canyon, where there is an actual dam further upriver (south). At the northern end, near La Mora, there is a hydroelectric power plant, but no dam. They drilled a hole through the mountain from the Moctezuma Canyon to the nearby Toliman Canyon (they meet a little further downstream), and the heavy waterflow coming from Toliman apparently drives the electric turbines. You can walk right past this hydroelectric plant, I never saw any guards there (except further back along the road, they block entry after the last tunnel).

>You also confirmed that P. moctezumae does build winter leaves how one can also read in the description.

In cultivation P. moctezumae never do this. Only some plants I grew from seeds also form winter-rosettes.

>I can only confirm that there must be natural hybrids of P. elizabethiae and P. moctezumae or maybe another species that is quite between those species as there is also such a plant in culture that originates from the wild.

This is very interesting info, I did not know! Are you saying that even when exposed to dry conditions, P.moctezumae does not form winter rosettes?? And that in cultivation there is an intermediate plant (maybe a hybrid) collected in the wild? So maybe the plants I saw at the 1st site were actually a mix of P.moctezumae, P.elizabethiae and their hybrids? Or maybe just one big hybrid swarm??

Hmmm, looking at my pictures, I see that although winter rosettes are present, summer leaves (or their remains) are still visible and they mostly seem to be long like those of P.moctezumae. I'll see if I can post more pics of the winter rosettes here...

Best wishes,

Fernando

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Hello again,

Here are some more pics of P.moctezumae at the 1st site. Maybe some of you will spot a P.elizabethiae in there or maybe a hybrid I didn't see...

Best Wishes,

Fernando

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon08.jpg

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon10.jpg

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon11.jpg

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon12.jpg

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon13.jpg

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon15.jpg

PmoctezumaeMoctezumaCanyon16.jpg

Edited by Fernando Rivadavia
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