That's the good news. Here's the bad:
Look at that label. Here's a closeup--
Gack. Now these Lithops were all in pretty good shape, in very suitable soil, and had been watered only sparingly. So the nursery where they grew up had obviously done good work. So why not add a real label? It would not take much time or effort to put the genus and species on the sticky label. Now I'm stuck (again) trying to figure out which species I've got here. There are no live experts on the subject in my area, and pictures on the Web can be accurate, or misleading. And let's face it, a lot of Lithops species look like...a lot of other Lithops species! I can't keep pestering my readers who are more expert by far than I am, hoping for an ID. So I make a plea to nurseries everywhere to give us the data!
But what is this little guy?? I'm thinking lesliei, but it could, just maybe, be an aucampiae. I'll figure it out eventually.
1. Genus and species
2. Origin of the plant (ancestrally, and the individual, that's a big CITES deal for some of these)
3. Specific care instructions. (If instructions are included, they're usually something like, "Full sun and regular water." Your basic Lithops Death Sentence....)
Now of course, the nursery owner wouldn't have to put every little detail on the sticky label. There could just be a URL/QR code that would point nerds like me to a website with the relevant data. But genus and species are a must. And lots of people are curious, not just obsessive nerds like me. Every time I've bought a Lithops I've spent maybe 15 minutes answering other customers' questions about them. People get fascinated. At one local nursery, I've actually been nicknamed, "The Lithops Lady"! So there's really a hunger for good info out there. People don't want to kill these little guys. And a label that says, "Living Stone" is not enough.
How do your nurseries do in terms of giving you the data?? What would your ideal be??
The problem is not just with Lithops - most of the orchid plants sold in general plant nurseries and supermarkets don't even have a label on the pot, just a tag somewhere that says "orchid". Of course most of the orchids sold in big stores are hybrid clones (I suppose the Lithops could be hybrids, too?), but it would still be nice to know what cross and cultivar was used to make all of the "orchid" clones.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just laziness. It's easier to make one generic label for everything than to go to the trouble of properly labeling with genus and species.
"Orchid"- argh! They can't even say "Phal"? I'm not surprised. What's sad is that they expect the plants to die quickly in their new homes, so they don't bother with the info that would help the new owner. Imagine selling puppies and calling them, "Mammals" with no info out there at all...!
DeleteWhy yes! We have that too, Succulents even tagged as cacti! Here is the thing, you go to smaller specializing nurseries, you may find better tags or even someone to give you the name, but the bigger guys are all volume, not interested in what it is, just does it sell, needs to move in and out...therefore they could not give a damn what is on the label. That's my opinion anyway.
ReplyDeleteI always try to buy from the smaller, specialized nurseries if I can. If they don't have an answer for me, they usually get one, because they generally care a lot about their stock. So I'd rather give them my money than to a big box store! Although I've noticed Lowe's buys from some wholesale nurseries that label pretty well.
DeleteLooks like a L. lesliei to me too. Yes, I've noticed some plants sold in large nurseries are generic. Specialist nurseries/growers are best for rare/specific varieties. Beautiful Lithops (x) nonetheless. Congrats!! ;)
ReplyDeleteHurray for the specialist growers! May they prosper.
DeleteFabulous find! Yip - L. lesliei sometimes has those tinges of blue. Love it love it love it.... if you ever have some seeds you don't know what to do with ----> please let me know :)
ReplyDeleteOh... the names yes. I get my dose of no name rage with potted lilies. They're labelled oriental lile (nice spelling), asiatic lily, potted lillie... the variants are quite numerous. You dare to enquire, "Do you know what the cultivar is? "Comes the reply, "The >what<..?" And these are the largest supermarkets in the country. I've emailed the headoffices to ask if they could find out from the grower (I emailed pictures too...) Just forget it!
Hi, Paddarotti!
ReplyDeleteSo it's happening with lilies,too? I'm not surprised. And you're cultivar comment had me laughing-- When I've said the word, "cultivar", people have sometimes looked at me like I'm cussing!
And being stingy on the label is false economy- I can't tell you how many people I've met who've said, "I bought x number of these, didn't know how to take care of them, killed them all, I'll never buy them again...."
I'm not sure what's worse, a generic name, or big companies adding scientific names on labels. We have a few companies that label the succulents and cacti, but they are often wrong. So now I'm not so sure I want those big companies labeling things. I have never seen a labeled lithops with even so much as "living stone" on it though, haha! Our stores usually say "Assorted Cacti" on lithops pots...
ReplyDeleteIf it matters anyway, yours looks just like my lesliei, colors a bit different but that doesn't mean anything. Beautiful no matter what they are.
Oh, that's happened to me, too, Melody! In a way, it's even worse than no label, because you'll doubt yourself, thinking, "Well, they must know if it's a Mammillaria or not, right? So I guess I'm wrong if I think it's a Rebutia...." I've seen the labels get the genus right most of the time, actually, but not the species, especially if it's a cross.
DeleteLeslieis are great, aren't they? Really gorgeous.