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This Month's Program

Annual Holiday Potluck& Silent Auction

6:00pm6:00pmDecember 12th @ 6:00

St. Paul's Church, 2216 17th St.

Election &Installation ofOfficers this

month

We need you!

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BAKERSFIELD CACTUS & SUCCULENT SOCIETY

Volume 20 December 2017 Number 12

The Cactus Patch Opuntia basilaris var. treleasei

December 12th

Family Potluck Dinner &

Installation of Officers&

Silent AuctionSilent Auction

The Cactus PatchVolume 20 Number 12

December 2017The Cactus Patch is the official publication of the Bakersfield

Cactus & Succulent Society of Bakersfield, California

Membership in the Bakersfield Cactus & Succulent Society costs$20 per year for an individual and $25 a year for a family.

Visit Us On the Web!www.BakersfieldCactus.org

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Annual Holiday Potluck& Silent Auction

6:00pmThe rules for the potluck are simple:

There are no rules.Bring any kind of dish you want to share, and don't forgetsomething sweet to eat. You may want to bring your own forks,knives and good plates, the Club will furnish plastic forks andknives and paper plates and cups. Bring drinks for yourself and toshare. The whole family is invited!We will also have our Silent Auction, where members bid onspecial plants provided by the club. For this reason the auction isfor members only. If you have a special item that has something todo with Cacti & Succulents and would like to donate it to beauctioned off, please bring it and add it to the auction tables.

LOOKING FORWARDTO A NEW YEAR

Election of Officers for 2018• PRESIDENT: Paul Bowles will not be able to continue

next year.Others are willing to continue:

• VICE – PRESIDENT: Jill Brennan

• SECRETARY: Pat Tennant

• TREASURER AND MEMBERSHIP:L. Maynard Moe

• NEWSLETTER: Polly Hargreaves

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December 12December 12thth MEETING MEETING

CONTACT INFORMATIONVice - President: Jill Brennan jbrennan@bak.rr.comMembership: Maynard Moe lmmoe44@gmail.comNewsletter: Polly Hargreaves pollypearl@hotmail.comWebsite: Stephen Cooley thecactuspatch@bak.rr.com

December 12th, 2017

So, what exactly IS a succulent?Maynard Moe

It was a very interesting talkwithout being too technical

His book is Kern County Flora

Are we the “Cactus and OTHERSucculent Society?”

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BRAG TABLE

I brought a copy of Bradleya to show off the two articles with my name in it (as mentioned in last month’s newsletter.)

Polly brought an Ocotillo as it was the plant of the month.Sidney Kelley brought a hybrid Aloe X Christmas Sleigh

which was in flower.Stephen Cooley brought a Conophytum which had

beautiful, but tiny flowers.Paulette brought a hybrid medusa-type Euphorbia.Jill brought the Cussonia natalensis which I had

commented on in the last news letter.An Aloe with strange growths was brought in for

diagnosis. It is a disease commonly referred to as Aloe mite and credited to the microscopic mite Aceria alcinis. It is better referred toas Aloe cancer and is due to a viruswhich is spread by the mite. The bestcure is to destroy the Aloe as it willquickly spread the disease to otherAloes.

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Plants and SingingA Letter From Bruce

On the 21st of October we went to the Native Plant Sale at Cal State. I bought a Pipe vine which is a small version of the

Dutchman’s pipe with its’ name derived from the curved flower. WhenI went to pay for it I found they had a copy of Maynard’s book, Kern County Flora, so I bought that too. Thus I have finally read it and I find a lot has changed since I studied the subject (some fifty odd

years ago). Not only have new plants been found, but a lot of the names have changed. Agaves, which I had learned as members of the Amaryllis family, are listed in their own family Agavaceae. (But elsewhere I find them in the Asparagus family –it’s the ongoing battle between lumpers and splitters.)

After the plant sale wewent to Sabina’s for her wildlywacky garden of everythingfrom mermaids to Halloweendisplays. We ended with alight lunch of hot dogs andchili. It’s a pity the notice forthe event never reached theeditor so that it wasn’t in thenewsletter, but there wereplenty of people there anyway.

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On the 26th we had a party at ourexercise group to celebrate 25 years ofSilver Sneakers as well as the birthdayof Yolanda Avalos, our group leader. Itwas a potluck lunch and there was toomuch food. We’ll never be able toexercise enough to make up for it. [Hardto believe Bruce and I have beenmembers for over nine years. Polly]

On the 2nd of November we wentto Fresno and heard Peter Beirsdoferspeak on succulents “Around theWorld”. He started in Germany and ended in North Carolina. It was a great talk with good animation. I hope he will speak in Bakersfield. Coming back on Friday we stopped at a Subway shopand had a two for one sandwich as they were celebrating National

Sandwich Day.On the 12th we went to the

Stockdale Country Club and our Goldenairs choir sang for our friend Audrey’s 80th birthday. They also had a family blue-grass band. We then proceeded to the Millcreek Church to join a larger choir to sing in Memory of Bob Clatterbuck. He composed and arranged many songs of which we sang a long selection. After that we went with the family to Rose-Mary’s. It was a long day.

On the 14th we heard Maynard’s talk on what makes a plant a succulent. It is complicated and there is no one answer, but he did a good job of clarifying some points. In spite of everything, however, wewill never get most people to say “Cacti and other succulents” as they should.

Bruce Hargreaves[Bruce's opinions are his own and are not necessarily that of the BCSS]

Plant of the MonthOpuntia streptacantha

I was at the botanic garden onCatalina Island recently and much impressed by the Prickly Pear cacti. The perm “prickly pear” is used to identify many of the flat pad cacti found in the western hemisphere but O. streptacantha also known as Opuntia ficus-indica (Indian fig) is the most wide spread of the bunch. It is native to central Mexico but because of its adaptability and usefulness as

food and medicine it has been spread by humans across the globe and is now found in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia as well as North and South America.

Mature plants reach 10 ft. (3 M) in height with woody tree-liketrunks surmounted by clusters of green-grey pads. The pads are about 12 in. (30 cm.) long and 8 in. (20 cm.) wide. Areoles are white with yellow glochids. Spines if present are white to yellow, 1in. (2.5 cm.) long usually 2-6 in number. Many varieties lack spines.

Flowers are yellow to orangeabout 2.5 in. (7 cm.) long. Darwindiscovered that the anthers were sensitiveto touch (thigmotactic) and would curldown toward the stigma when touched. An interesting adaptation to ensurepollination.

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The fruits are red, orange and even green. They are a favored fruit in Mexico eaten after glochids are removed by peeling or burning. Fruits are made into jams and jellies as well. Medicinal values have also been found. The pulp contains an unidentified substance that lowers blood sugar. Folk medicine has found uses for easing child birth, wound healing and other things. Cochineal scale insects are “farmed” on the pads to yield a red dye which is much prized.

This cactus will easily grow in Bakersfield and could form a pleasing specimen plant in a landscape. It is cold tolerant and will easily propagate from cuttings or seed. Every yard should have one.

Jack G. Reynolds

Visit Us On the Web!www.BakersfieldCactus.org

Facebook:Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BakersfieldCactus

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December 12th

Family Potluck Dinner &Silent Auction

< 2018 >

January 9th

Marcia Tatroe"Rockin' with Cacti and Succulents."

February 13th

BCSS Meeting

Garden Fest @ BCSaturday, April 21st 2018

Visit Us On the Web!www.BakersfieldCactus.org

Facebook:Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/BakersfieldCactus

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