Truncated Brazilian Christmas Cactus: Parent to Cultivated Hybrids

Summary: Truncated Brazilian Christmas cactus is the wild parent to three commercially successful cultivated hybrids that inspire holiday plant-lovers every year.

indoor Schlumbergera truncata plants with orange, pink and red flowers; Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017, 16:39:53: Maja Dumat (blumenbiene), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Truncated Brazilian Christmas cactus accepts commercially successful, cultivated hybridization with Orssich, padded stem and Russell Christmas cacti, three of coastal and near-coastal southeastern Brazil's five other cool weather-loving, high-altitude, moisture-tolerant, related cactuses.

Truncated cactus, with its Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest) address and branching, jointed stems, bears little resemblance to the barrel-bodied icons of North America's droughty Old Southwest. It calls home rocky crevices as an epilith, and shaded branches as an epiphyte, in lush, mountainous, nutrient-rich forests unlike the Old Southwest's nutrient-poor, sandy soils. Its green, leafless exteriors, like those of its bristly, hairy, spiny, woolly Northern Hemisphere counterparts, direct photosynthetic interactions with carbon dioxide, chlorophyll, sunlight and water vapor.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) enters vulnerable status alerts for truncated Brazilian Christmas cactus because of the endemic's exclusive, legally protected habitat occurrence.

French collector Frédéric Schlumberger (April 19, 1823-Feb. 21, 1893) and its flattened, jointed, segmented stems' non-pointed, toothed, truncated ends furnish truncated cactus's scientific name Schlumbergera truncata.

Dark, glossy green, 1.6- to 2.4-inch- (4- to 6-centimeter-) long, 0.6- to 1.4-inch- (1.5- to 3.5-centimeter-) wide segments get two to three terminal, variously shaped teeth. Specialized structures called areoles, with brown-wooled, 1-inch- (2.54-millimeter-) long bristles, at segment edges and ends, hold buds and 2.36- to 3.15-inch- (6- to 8-centimeter-) long flowers. Brown-wooled, terminal areoles, with 1-inch- (2.54-millimeter-) long bristles, hold 2.36- to 3.15-inch- (6- to 8-centimeter-) long flowers 1.58 to 2.36 inches (4 to 6 centimeters) across. Truncated cactus flowers, with undifferentiated petals and sepals called tepals, incline above the horizontal in a bilateral symmetry called zygomorphism of different higher and lower sides.

Truncated Brazilian Christmas cactus flowers join six to eight backward-bending tepals into base-fused, inner, longer series at the tips and outer, shorter series at the bases.

The inner tepals keep together the hummingbird-friendly, nectar-filled, 0.79-inch- (2-centimeter-) long floral tube, which keeps company with the outer of two series of truncated cactus stamens.

Magenta styles with six- to eight-lobed styles and inner stamens with white filaments and yellow anthers and pollen lead to May bloom times in southeast Brazil. Naturalization-friendly niches for cultivated hybrids and varieties moved to the Northern Hemisphere mean common names as the Thanksgiving cactus from induced October to November bloom times. Bloom times nudge truncated cactus into stages of pear-shaped, red, 0.47- to 0.9-inch- (1.2- to 2.3-centimeter-) long berries and of shiny black, 0.04-inch- (1-millimeter-) long seeds.

Truncated Brazilian Christmas cactus owes fleshy fruit to pollinating hummingbirds and germinating seeds to bird dispersal at altitudes from sea level up 4,265.09 feet (1,300 meters).

Ten locations within a 2,702.72-square-mile (7,000-square-kilometer) area including Parque Nacional Floresta da Tijuca, Serra dos Órgãos and Serra do Mar provide granite, gneiss and tree homes.

Truncated cactus, described by botanists Adrian Hardy Haworth (April 19, 1767-Aug. 24, 1833) and Reid Venable Moran (June 30, 1916-Jan. 21, 2010), qualifies for vulnerability alerts. Cultivated Buckleyi (Schlumbergera x buckleyi) hybrids of Russell and truncated cacti, described by T. Moore and William Louis Tjaden, revel in sustainability unknown to either parent. Cultivated Exotica (S. x exotica) hybrids of padded stem and truncated cacti, described by Wilhelm A. Barthlott and Werner Rauh, shows a similar household, worldwide recognition.

Cultivated Reginae (S. x reginae) hybrids with Orssich's cacti, described by A.J.S. McMillan, take truncated cactus characteristics well outside their native state of Rio de Janeiro.

Schlumbergera truncata flowering outdoors in early December in Florida; Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, 11:13: JennTM, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

indoor Schlumbergera truncata plants with orange, pink and red flowers; Jan. 21, 2017, 16:39:53: Maja Dumat (blumenbiene), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/blumenbiene/31703609554/

Schlumbergera truncata flowering outdoors in early December in Florida; Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, 11:13: JennTM, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schlumbergera_Truncata.jpg

For further information:

Combernoux, Michel. "History of Schlumbergera orssichiana and Its Hybrids." Epiphytic Cacti.
Available @ http://cactus-epiphytes.eu/z_page_histoire_schl_orss_et_hybrides_1.htm

McMillan, A.J.S.; and Horobin, J.F. 1995. Christmas Cacti: The Genus Schlumbergera and Its Hybrids. Sherbourne, Dorset: David Hunt.

"Schlumbergera truncata - Christmas Cactus." Encyclopedia of Life.
Available @ http://eol.org/pages/588963/overview

"Schlumbergera truncata (Haw.) Moran." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/5100450

"Schlumbergera truncata (Haworth) Moran in Gentes Herb. 8: 329 (1953)." Rhipsalis.com.
Available @ http://www.rhipsalis.com/species/truncata.htm

"Schlumbergera truncata (Syn: Zigocactus truncatus)." Cactus Art > Cactus Art Encyclopedia > Cactuspedia > Schlumbergera.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152554/0

Taylor, N.P.; and Zappi, D. 2013. "Schlumbergera truncata." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e. T152554A650443. http://dx.doi/org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T151940A578806.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/151940/0

Russell Brazilian Christmas Cactus, Wild Parent of Cultivated Hybrids

Summary: Russell Brazilian Christmas cactus, with two related southeast Brazilian wild cacti, outsources cultivated hybrids to the world's holiday plant-lovers.

Schlumbergera russelliana; Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 13:06: Laura Chinelli (Cola borator), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Russell Brazilian Christmas cactus accommodates holiday plant-lovers as one of six wild endemics in coastal and near-coastal mountainous southeast Brazil and as one of four co-parents to beloved, commercially successful, cultivated hybrids.

Cloud-forest (mata de neblina) occurrences at three locations within a 540.45-square-mile (1,400-square-kilometer) area at 4,365.09- to 6,561-68-foot (1,300- to 2,000-meter) altitudes above sea level bespeaks vulnerability. Clean air, natural resources, prime locations, pristine environment, scenic views and unique vegetation characterize high-altitude, wild Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. They draw builders and occupants of holiday homes, collectors of exotic animals and plants, loggers of Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest) trees and wildlife-lovers of jungle ecotourism.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) enters endangered status alerts for Russell Brazilian Christmas cactus because of all the collecting, developing, logging and touristing.

Russell cactus sometimes falls to humus-rich forest floors of the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos from niches on rocks as epiliths or trees as epiphytes.

Light-filtered, moisture-rich southeast Brazil's Russell cacti get hormones and nutrients from ground-, rock-, tree-embedded roots and hormones and photosynthates from branching, leafless, jointed stems called cladodes. Edge- and end-ensconced notches on the 0.39- to 1.49-inch- (1- to 3.8-centimeter-) long, 0.32- to 0.79-inch- (0.8- to 2.0-centimeter-) wide segments hold specialized structures called areoles. Each areole, with 0.19-inch- (5-millimeter-) long bristles, is home for the Russell cactus's flower buds and 1.58- to 1.97-inch- (4- to 5-centimeter-) long, red-purple, regular flowers.

Russell Brazilian Christmas cactus joins pink-shaded petals and sepals, called tepals, into inner and outer series on its vivid flowers hanging downward in a radial symmetry.

The flower within a flower look during Russell cactus bloom times keeps inner, longer tepals basally fused into a hummingbird-friendly, 1.18-inch- (3-centimeter-) long, nectar-filled floral tube.

The inner series of two sets of pale pink stamens with pink pollen-filled anthers lounge around a dark pink style with a six- to eight-lobed stigma. The outer series of the two sets merge into the floral tube for efficient nectaring and pollinating from February to April in naturalization-friendly, Northern Hemisphere niches. Russell cactus, described by Sir William Jackson Hooker (July 6, 1785-Aug. 12, 1865), nurtures four- to five-ribbed, red fruits and dark brown, 0.04-inch (1-millimeter) diameter seeds.

Russell Brazilian Christmas cactus, named by Nathaniel Lord Britton (Jan. 15, 1859-June 25, 1934) and Joseph Nelson Rose (Jan. 11, 1862-May 4, 1928), occasions natural hybridization.

The cloud-forest proximity of Russell and truncated cacti prompt wild hybridization while their respective importations in Europe by 1818 and 1839 provoke cultivated hybridization in 1832.

Schlumbergera russelliana, for Frédéric Schlumberger (April 19, 1823-Feb. 18, 1893) and for John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (July 6, 1766-Oct. 20, 1839), qualifies as co-parent. Buckley hybrids, Schlumbergera x buckleyi, cultivated by William Buckley in 1852 and named by William Louis Tjaden and T. Moore, reveal Russell and truncated cacti inputs. The Eprica cultivated hybrid, Schlumbergera x eprica, named by Frank Süpplie for the Epiphytic Plant Research and Information Centre, show traits from Orssich and Russell cacti, Brazilian relatives and co-parents.

Exacting, wild Russell Brazilian Christmas cactus tests a gardener's expertise and therefore tends toward high-profile, lucrative existence as a cultivated hybrid and in its cultivated varieties.

Schlumbergera russelliana as Epiphyllum russellianum; color lithograph by Walter Hood Fitch (Feb. 28, 1817-Jan. 14, 1892); Sir William Jackson Hooker, Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1840), Vol. LXVI: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Schlumbergera russelliana; Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 13:06: Laura Chinelli (Cola borator), CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Schlumbergera_russelliana.JPG

Schlumbergera russelliana as Epiphyllum russellianum; color lithograph by Walter Hood Fitch (Feb. 28, 1817-Jan. 14, 1892); Sir William Jackson Hooker, Curtis's Botanical Magazine (1840), Vol. LXVI: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/466424;
Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/61021753@N02/9128643682/

For further information:

Britton, N.L. (Nathaniel Lord); J.N. (Joseph Nelson) Rose. 1923. "2. Schlumbergera russelliana (Gardner) Britton and Rose." The Cactaceae: Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family. Vol. IV: 184-185. Washington DC: The Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/cactaceaedescri04brit/#page/184/mode/1up

Hooker, Sir William Jackson Hooker. 1840. "Epiphyllum Russellianum, the Duke of Bedford's Epiphyllum." Curtis's Botanical Magazine; or Flower Garden Displayed. Vol. LXVI (new series XIII): 3717. London, England: Edward Couchman.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/466424

McMillan, A.J.S.; and Horobin, J.F. 1995. Christmas Cacti: The Genus Schlumbergera and Its Hybrids. Sherbourne, Dorset: David Hunt.

"Schlumbergera russelliana." Encyclopedia of Life.
Available @ http://eol.org/pages/5184924/data

"Schlumbergera russelliana (Hook.) Britton & Rose." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/5107374

"Schlumbergera russelliana (Hooker) Britton and Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 261. (1913)." Rhipsalis.com.
Available @ http://www.rhipsalis.com/species/russeliana.htm

Taylor, N.P.; and Zappi, D. 2013. "Schlumbergera truncata." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T152554A650443. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T152554A650443.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152554/0

Ashmolean Museum Cézanne Art Theft: Unsolved Since Dec. 31, 1999

Summary: The Ashmolean Museum Cézanne art theft Dec. 31, 1999, in Oxford, United Kingdom, leaves the world's oldest university museum without a £3 million canvas.

"View of Auvers-sur-Oise," treasured as the only painting by Paul Cézanne in collection of UK's Ashmolean Museum, was removed during millennial fireworks celebration Friday, Dec. 31, 1999: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Thames Valley police records attribute the success of the Ashmolean Museum Cézanne art theft Dec. 31, 1999, to light and sound, millennium-celebrating firework shows in Oxford, England, United Kingdom, and to smokescreens.

The removal of View of Auvers-sur-Oise befits the standards for inclusion on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of the FBI's top 10 unsolved art thefts. The wayward 19th-century, £3 million-valued painting's theft conjures up Title 18, United States Code, Sections 668 concerning museum artwork and 2314 and 2315 regarding foreign commerce. Uniqueness as the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology's sole painting by Paul Cézanne (Jan. 19, 1839-Oct. 22, 1906) drives inclusion on Art Loss Register databases.

The $4.8 million-valued oil on canvas from 1879 to 1882 emerges as the only theft from the 19th-century paintings in the museum's Hindley Smith (1863-1939) Gallery.

Museums and Galleries Commission records furnish Elias Ashmole's (May 23, 1617-May 18, 1682) namesake museum A1 security ratings months before the 1999 New Year's Eve break-in.

The Thames Valley Police give one burglar nine minutes to break through a skylight, climb in by rope, drop a canister and exit with one painting. The territorial police force gives as evidence abandoned canister and fan for smoke-screening closed circuit security cameras, gloves, hold-all, scalpel and tape and smashed frame pieces. Museum records and police reports have the perpetrator's fan hurtling smoke from the canister toward the Hindley Smith Gallery's burglar and fire alarms and security cameras. They indicate firefighter involvement after a university porter's call to the fire brigade and police involvement by 1:43 a.m. Greenwich Mean, Oxford and Coordinated Universal Times.

John Carr and Duncan McGraw of the Thames Valley Police and James Emson of the Art Loss Register judge the Ashmolean Museum Cezanne art theft similarly.

The Ashmolean Museum's Hindley Smith Gallery keeps masterpieces by such 19th-century Impressionist (1870s-1880s) painters as Pierre-Auguste Renoir (Feb. 25, 1841-Dec. 3, 1919) of Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France.

Artwork by graphic artist, illustrator, painter, sculptor François Auguste René Rodin (Nov. 12, 1840-Nov. 17, 1917) likewise leads daily visitors into Regency-styled Beaumont Street's art gallery. Cézanne, Renoir and Rodin masterpieces mix with representation of Post-Impressionism (1880s-1900s) by draughtsman, illustrator, painter, printmaker Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (Nov. 24, 1864-Sept. 9, 1901).

Superintendent Carr noted that, concerning the Ashmolean Museum Cézanne art theft, "Whoever has taken [only] this painting has given some thought to how to steal it." He observed that, as motives, "The person has some reason for it, and some outlet for it. One possibility is it has been stolen to order."

Spokesman McGraw postulated that "The theory we're going on is that it was stolen to order" for an "art lover somewhere in Britain or the world."

Made-to-order by professionals qualifies as a motive concerning stolen antiques and art for ideology-driven destruction, loan collateral, personal enjoyment, ransom or re-sale, according to Director Emson. Destruction, personal enjoyment by possessive staff members and ransom for prisoner exchanges remain less likely than loan collateral and quick re-sale since nobody reports any viewings. Malcolm Kenwood, Emson colleague at Art Loss Register, specifies that "The majority of items are stolen because they are readily convertible to cash in the underworld."

Director Christopher Brown thinks of the Ashmolean Museum Cezanne art theft as "criminal" and "selfish" since "It is the only Cézanne we have in the Ashmolean."

Ashmolean Museum's new year's eve Cézanne art theft was achieved by skylight entry, not by outside door entry; Ashmolean Museum's entrance screen and steps fronting Beaumont Street; Oxford, Oxfordshire, South East England; May 25, 2015, 15:38: Magnus Manske, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"View of Auvers-sur-Oise," treasured as the only painting by Paul Cézanne in collection of UK's Ashmolean Museum, was removed during millennial fireworks celebration Friday, Dec. 31, 1999: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_of_Auvers-sur-Oise_Paul_Cezanne.png

Ashmolean Museum's entrance screen and steps fronting Beaumont Street; Oxford, Oxfordshire, South East England; Monday, May 25, 2015, 15:38: Magnus Manske, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashmolean_museum,_Oxford,_Entrance_Screen_And_Steps_Fronting_Beaumont_Street.jpg

For further information:

Ezard, John. 2 January 2000. "Smoke Bomb Masks Burglar's Theft of £3M Cezanne." The Guardian > Arts > Art & Design > Paul Cezanne.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jan/03/johnezard

Hopkins, Nick. 7 January 2000. "How Art Treasures Are Stolen to Order." The Guardian > World > UK > UK News.
Available @ https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/jan/08/nickhopkins

Lyall, Sarah. 3 February 2000. "Art World Nightmare: Made-to-Order Theft; Stolen Works Like Oxford's Cezanne Can Vanish for Decades." The New York Times > Arts > Art.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/03/arts/art-world-nightmare-made-order-theft-stolen-works-like-oxford-s-cezanne-can.html

"Theft of Cezanne's View of Auvers-sur-Oise." Federal Bureau of Investigation > What We Investigate > Violent Crime > Art Theft > Top Ten Art Crimes.
Available @ https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/violent-crime/art-theft/fbi-top-ten-art-crimes/theft-of-cezannes-view-of-auvers-sur-oise

Blue Moon Month January 2018 Opens New Year With Two Full Moons

Summary: Blue moon month January 2018 opens the new year with two full moons in the same month, with the second appearance known as blue.

Blue moon month January 2018 showcases two full moons that are supermoons, with the first rating as 2018's closest full moon and the second bestowing blueness upon the month and participating in 2018's first eclipse: Caribe Devine @CaribeDevine, via Twitter July 30, 2015

Blue moon month January 2018 opens the 18th new year of the 21st century with two full moons in the same month and derives blue moon status from the second full occurrence.

Two definitions of blue moon exist. A calendrical definition calls for the occurrence of two full moons within the same month. A seasonal definition identifies the third of four full moons within a single season of three months as a blue moon. January 2018’s second full moon owes its blueness to the calendrical definition.

The first full moon in blue moon month January 2018 reaches fullness Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 2:24 a.m. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). For North America, fullness occurs Monday, Jan. 1. Variations in dates and times of fullness reflect Earth’s time zones. In reality, fullness takes place at the same instant everywhere.

The second full moon in January 2018 accords blue moon month status to the new year’s first month. January 2018’s blue moon marks entry into fullness Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 13:27 p.m. UTC. (8:27 a.m. Eastern Standard Time; 6:27 a.m. Pacific Standard Time).

Each of the two full moons in blue moon month January 2018 stands out with unique contributions, beyond blue moon month January 2018, to the new year. The Jan. 1-2 full moon claims status as the first full moon of the new year as well as of the new year’s opening month.

The first full moon of blue moon month January 2018 also is recognized as 2018’s closest full moon. The Jan. 1-2 full moon marks a center-to-center distance with Earth of 356,846 kilometers. Turning full only 4.5 hours after the new year’s maximum lunar perigee accounts for the Jan. 1-2 full moon’s status as 2018’s closest full moon.

Lunar perigee (Ancient Greek: περί, perí, “near” + γῆ, gê, “Earth”) signifies the closest center-to-center distance between Earth and moon. Astronomers note lunar perigee for each month as well as for each year. The closest center-to-center distance between Earth and moon occurs Monday, Jan. 1, at 21:54 p.m. UTC (4:54 p.m. EST; 1:54 p.m. PST).

Although the first full moon of blue moon month January 2018 shines as 2018’s closest full moon, the month’s second full moon shares in supermoon status. Credit for coining the term supermoon goes to astrologer Richard Nolle’s article in the October/November 2007 issue of the Mountain Astrologer. EarthSky lead writer Bruce McClure explains Nolle’s term as encompassing any new moon or full moon that has a center-to-center distance with Earth of less than 362,000 kilometers.

January 2018’s blue moon exceeds the month’s first full moon super closeness of 356,846 kilometers by 3,353 kilometers. The month’s second full moon registers a center-to-center distance of 360,199 kilometers.

Blue moon month January 2018’s two full moons participate in a trio of three successive full moon supermoons. The first full moon supermoon in the trio happened Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017, at 15:47 UTC. December 2017’s full moon supermoon logged a center-to-center distance of 357,987 kilometers.

The second full moon of blue moon month January 2018 opens the year’s eclipse lineup of two total lunar and two partial solar eclipses. January 2018’s blue moon rates as marking the year’s first eclipse and also the year’s first lunar eclipse. The new year’s first eclipse begins Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 11:48 a.m. UTC (3:48 a.m. PST).

January 2018’s lunar eclipse begins while the moon is transitioning from its waxing gibbous phase into its full phase. Passage of the moon through Earth’s shadow precedes fullness by 1 hour 39 minutes.

Fullness, however, precedes greatest eclipse by three minutes. Greatest eclipse happens at 13:30 p.m. UTC (5:30 a.m. PST). Greatest eclipse references the instant of the moon’s closest passage with the axis of Earth’s shadow.

The takeaway for blue moon month January 2018 is the spectacle of lunar events happening within the new year’s first month. Two full moon supermoons increase their appeal with proximity to the new year’s closest lunar perigee as a month opener and with participation in a total lunar eclipse as a month closer.

Blue moon month January 2018 features two full moon supermoons that complete a trio of full moon supermoons initiated by 2017's solitary supermoon: Joanne Feldman FOX 5 @JoanneFOX5, via Twitter. Dec. 4, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"Friday's Blue Moon! Last time it happened: Aug 2012. Next blue moon: Jan 2018 #12news.": Caribe Devine @CaribeDevine, via Twitter July 30, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/CaribeDevine/status/626912015387262976

"A real treat to start 2018! The January 31st full moon is not only a "supermoon", but also a "blue moon" (2nd full moon in the same month)!": Joanne Feldman FOX 5 @JoanneFOX5, via Twitter Dec. 4, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/JoanneFOX5/status/937665428129828866

For further information:

Caribe Devine‏ @CaribeDevine. "Friday's Blue Moon! Last time it happened: Aug 2012. Next blue moon: Jan 2018 #12news." Twitter. July 30, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/CaribeDevine/status/626912015387262976

Espenak, Fred. “2018 Phases of the Moon Eastern Standard Time.” AstroPixels > Ephemeris > Moon > Phases of the Moon From 2001 to 2100.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/astrocal/astrocal2018est.html

Espenak, Fred. "Enlargement of Earth's Shadow." NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipses > Special Interest.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEcat5/shadow.html

Espenak, Fred. “Moon at Perigee and Apogee: 2001 to 2100.” AstroPixels > Ephemeris > Moon > Perigee and Apogee.
Available @ http://astropixels.com/ephemeris/moon/moonperap2001.html

Espenak, Fred. “Total Lunar Eclipse of 2018 Jan 31.” NASA Eclipse Web Site > Lunar Eclipse Page > Lunar Eclipses 2011 – 2020.
Available @ https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2018Jan31T.pdf

Hiscock, Philip. “Once in a Blue Moon.” Sky & Telescope > Observing > Types of Objects to Observe. Aug. 24, 2012.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/once-in-a-blue-moon/

“January 31, 2018 -- Total Lunar Eclipse.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Eclipses. <br />
Available @ https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2018-january-31

Joanne Feldman FOX 5‏ @JoanneFOX5. "A real treat to start 2018! The January 31st full moon is not only a "supermoon", but also a "blue moon" (2nd full moon in the same month)!" Twitter. Dec. 4, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/JoanneFOX5/status/937665428129828866

Lafleur, Laurence J. Question-and-Answer Column. Sky and Telescope. July 1943: 17.
Available via Shop at Sky @ https://www.shopatsky.com/sky-telescope-july-1943-digital-issue

Marriner, Derdriu. "Blue Moon Month July 2015 Ends With Golden Full Moon and Meteor Shower." Earth and Space News. Thursday, July 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/07/blue-moon-month-july-2015-ends-with.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Blue Moon Month July 2015 Opens With Full Moon Red From Wildfire Smoke." Earth and Space News. Monday, July 6, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/07/blue-moon-month-july-2015-opens-with.html

McClure, Bruce. “Supermoon on December 3.” EarthSky > Tonight. Dec. 3, 2017.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/full-supermoon-on-december-3

McClure, Bruce, and Deborah Byrd. “When Is the Next Blue Moon?” EarthSky > Astronomy Essentials. Dec. 1, 2017.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

McClure, Bruce, and Deborah Byrd. “When Is the Next Supermoon?” EarthSky > Human World / Space. Dec. 4, 2017.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-supermoon

Nolle, Richard. “The SuperMoon and Other Lunar Extremes.” The Mountain Astrologer (Oct/Nov 2007): 20-24.
Available @ http://www.mountainastrologer.com/oldfiles/Nolle1007.html

Nolle, Richard. “Supermoon: What It Is, What It Means.” Astropro > Features > Articles. Last updated March 22, 2011.
Available @ http://www.astropro.com/features/articles/supermoon/

Olson, Donald W., Richard Tresch Fienberg and Roger Sinnott. “What Is a Blue Moon?” Sky & Telescope > Observing > Types of Objects to Observe. July 27, 2006.
Available @ http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/what-is-a-blue-moon/

Pruett, James Hugh. “Once in a Blue Moon.” Sky and Telescope. March 1946: 3.
Available via Shop at Sky @ https://www.shopatsky.com/sky-and-telescope-march-1946-digital-issue

The Merry Widow Is Dec. 30, 2017, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The Dec. 30, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is The Merry Widow by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's production of The Merry Widow revives Susan Stroman's staging, which debuted as a new production Dec. 31, 2014; Stroman in choreography rehearsals for the 2014-2015 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 13, 2014

The Merry Widow by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár (April 30, 1870-Oct. 24, 1948) is the Dec. 30, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

The setting for The Merry Widow is the cosmopolitan world of Paris at the turn of the 20th century. Celebrations of the birthday of the Grand Duke of the fictional Balkan principality of Pontevedro occasion confusion and strategems about love and money for French and Pontevedrin attendees.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s production of The Merry Widow is sung in English. British theatre director Jeremy Sams is credited with the English adaptation of the original German libretto for Die lustige Witwe.

The three-act opera begins at 1 p.m. EST (Eastern Standard Time). Its run time is estimated at 2 hours 47 minutes. Acts I spans 50 minutes. An intermission of 32 minutes precedes the last two acts. Acts II and III last for 85 minutes.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season offers nine performances of The Merry Widow. The Saturday matinee radio broadcast is the production’s sixth performance.

Ward Stare conducts all nine performances. The American conductor was born in Rochester, Monroe County, western New York. The Merry Widow’s season premiere, on Thursday, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m., marks Maestro Stare’s Metropolitan Opera debut.

Susan Graham appears in the title role as Hanna Glawari for all nine performances. The American mezzo-soprano’s birthplace is Roswell, Chaves County, southeastern New Mexico. She debuted Sept. 26, 1991, at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of the second lady in Die Zauberflöte by Classical Era composer Wolfgang Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791).

Andriana Chuchman performs as Valencienne, a baroness whose love-messaged fan causes confusion and then happy endings. The Ukrainian-Canadian soprano was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, central Canada. She debuted Jan. 9, 2014, at the Metropolitan Opera as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore by Italian bel canto opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Paul Groves appears as Count Danilo Danilovitsch, the merry widow’s first love, who wins his second chance at her love. The American operatic tenor’s birthplace is Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish, southwestern Louisiana. He debuted Jan. 9, 1992, in the Metropolitan Opera as the steersman in Der Fliegende Holländer by German composer Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813-Feb. 13, 1883).

Taylor Stayton performs in the Saturday matinee’s role of Camille, Count de Rosillon, whose love message on Baroness Zeta’s fan creates confusion. The American tenor’s hometown is Sidney, Shelby County, west central Ohio. He debuted Oct. 18, 2011, at the Metropolitan Opera as Riccardo (Lord Richard Percy), in Act II of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena.

This season, Taylor Stayton shares the role of the flirtatious count with David Portillo. The American tenor’s birthplace is Houston, Harris County, southeastern Texas. He debuted Dec. 16, 2015, at the Metropolitan Opera as Count Almaviva in the opera house’s abridged, English version of Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868). This season, David Portillo also appears as Eduardo in the Metropolitan Opera’s American premiere of The Exterminating Angel by British composer, conductor and pianist Thomas Adès.

Sir Thomas Allen appears as Baron Mirko Zeta, who is overly concerned about the merry widow’s wealth. The English operatic baritone was born in Seaham, County Durham, North East England. He debuted Nov. 5, 1981, at the Metropolitan Opera as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's presentation of The Merry Widow revives staging that debuted under the direction of Susan Stroman during the 2014-2015 Met Opera season. The American choreographer and theater director also choreographs the production.

Her production team comprises Julian Crouch as set designer and William Ivey Long as costume designer. Paule Constable is lighting designer and Mark Grey is sound designer.

Constable and Crouch debuted April 11, 2008, in Met Opera's premiere of Satyagraha by modern American composer Philip Glass. Long reprises his debut role, Dec. 31, 2014, in Stroman's new production of The Merry Widow. Grey debuted Oct. 13, 2008, in Met Opera's 2008-2009 premier of Doctor Atomic by contemporary American composer John Adams.

The Merry Widow is performed as the fifth of the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s 23 Saturday matinee broadcasts. The season’s fourth Saturday matinee broadcast was Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Le Nozze di Figaro aired Saturday, Dec. 23, at 1 p.m.

The season’s sixth Saturday matinee broadcast is Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck. The holiday-favorite opera is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2018, at 1 p.m.

The Merry Widow is the 102nd most performed opera, according to the Metropolitan Opera's 2016 Repertory Report. Performance statistics for 330 operas through Oct. 31, 2016, tally 40 performances of Mozart's Figaro opera between first performance, Feb. 17, 2000, and the report's last reported performance, May 7, 2015.

Operabase, an online database, rates Franz Lehár as the 13th most popular composer in a worldwide ranking of 1,281 composers for the five seasons from 2011-2012 to 2015-2016. Die lustige Witwe (“The Merry Widow”) holds 19th place in a worldwide list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The takeaway for The Merry Widow as the Dec. 30, 2017, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is that the 2017-2018 Met Opera season’s fifth Saturday matinee broadcast waltzes ebulliently through the comedy of errors set into play by love and money.

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-2018 season features holiday performances of Franz Lehár's happy opera, The Merry Widow: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 13, 2017

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 2017-2018 Met Opera season's production of The Merry Widow revives Susan Stroman's staging, which debuted as a new production Dec. 31, 2014; Stroman in choreography rehearsals for the 2014-2015 Met Opera season: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Aug. 13, 2014, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10154531471465533/

The Metropolitan Opera's 2017-2018 season features holiday performances of Franz Lehár's happy opera, The Merry Widow: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Dec. 13, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/1015984954602553

For further information:

"Composers: Composers Ranked by the Number of Performances of Their Operas Over the Five Seasons 2011/2012 to 2015/16." Operabase > Opera Statistics.
Available @ http://operabase.com/top.cgi?lang=en

“David Portillo (Tenor).” Bach Cantatas Website > Biographies of Performers.
Available @ http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Portillo-David.htm

“Franz Lehár: The Merry Widow.” Metropolitan Opera > On Stage 2017-2018.
Available @ http://www.metopera.org/Season/2017-18-Season/merry-widow-lehar-tickets/

Marriner, Derdriu. “Le Nozze di Figaro Is Dec. 23, 2017, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 18, 2017.
Available @ p;https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/12/le-nozze-di-figaro-is-dec-23-2017-met.html

Metropolitan Opera. "The Merry Widow in Rehearsal." YouTube. Nov. 24, 2014.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE2MAxLZUrQ

Metropolitan Opera. "The Merry Widow Trailer." YouTube. Jan. 6, 2015.
Available 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hq9n2JjXwo0

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Director Susan Stroman works out some of the choreography for The Merry Widow’s grisettes. http://bit.ly/1vI0g95 Photo: Jonathan Tichler/Met Opera." Facebook. Aug. 13, 2014.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10154531471465533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "The Merry Widow returns tomorrow, Dec 14, starring Susan Graham as the glamorous woman of the world set to retrieve the one thing that has eluded her—a commitment from her first love. Tickets from $25. Photos by Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. Dec. 13, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/10159849546025533

"Performances Statistics Through October 31, 2016.” MetOpera Database > The Metropolitan Opera Archives > Repertory Report.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Database%20Opera%20Statistics.xml

Orssich Brazilian Christmas Cactus: Wild Parent of Cultivated Hybrids

Summary: Orssich Brazilian Christmas cactus suffers from firewood harvesters and illegal collectors but serves as one of four parents to two cultivated hybrids.

Schlumbergera orssichiana is usually grown in hybrid form with other species, especially as the artificial hybrid Schlumbergera x reginae Mcmillan (Schlumbergera orssichiana x Schlumbergera truncata); the S. Reginae group often displays significant amounts of white: February 2007: Nino Barbieri, CC BY SA 2.5 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Orssich Brazilian Christmas cactus adds to cool weather-loving, high-altitude, moisture-tolerant Western Hemisphere cacti as one of four parents to cultivated hybrid relatives and as one of six of southeast Brazil's wild cactuses.

Orssich cacti bear branching, chlorophyll-rich, leafless, non-cylindrical, segmented stems in contrast to the barrel-bodied, bristly, drought-resistant, heat-tolerant, prickly, spiny cactuses that beautify North America's Old Southwest. Non-spherical shapes and non-tubular sizes compel the Orssich cactus's membership with four of coastal and near-coastal mountainous southeast Brazil's six high-altitude, wild species in flat-stemmed subgroups. Flat stems called cladodes drive Orssich cactus life cycles by drawing energizing, sugary photosynthates from chlorophyll- and sunlight-determined divisions of carbon dioxide and of water vapor.

Declining habitats and populations from firewood harvesters and illegal Orssich Brazilian Christmas cactus collectors exact endangered alerts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Variously shaped teeth fill the edges and ends of 1.97- to 2.95-inch- (5- to 7.5-centimeter-) long, 1.26- to 1.77-inch- (3.2- to 4.5-centimeter-) wide Orssich cactus segments.

Specialized structures called areoles along the edges and at the ends of stem segments grow buds and 3.54-inch- (9-centimeter-) long flowers 3.54 inches (9 centimeters) across. Pinkish, wide-open flowers hang somewhat vertically and have dark red styles, higher and lower sides in a slight radial asymmetry called zygomorphism and six-to eight-lobed styles. Inner, longer series of 20 to 30 red-tipped, undifferentiated, white-centered petals and sepals called tepals integrate fused bases into a nectar-filled, 0.39-inch- (10-millimeter-) long floral tube.

Orssich Brazilian Christmas cactus joins 5.59- to 6.6-inch- (5.5- to 6.5-centimeter-) long, white-filamented stamens with yellow pollen-filled anthers into base-fused inner and floral tube-juxtaposed outer series.

Orssich cactus knows as fruits five-angled to six-ribbed, fleshy, green-yellow to white, pulpy, succulent, 0.79-inch- (20-millimeter-) long, 0.63-inch- (16-millimeter-) broad berries, each with about 100 seeds.

Fruiting stages at 3,280.84- to 6,561.68-foot (1,000- to 2,000-meter) altitudes above sea level lead to dark brown, flat, semi-curved, 0.19-inch- (1.5-millimeter-) long, 0.04-inch- (1.5-millimeter-) broad seeds. Orssich cacti manage attention-getting displays with brown seeds, green stem segments with curled, reddish margins, green-yellow to green-white berries, magenta styles and yellow anthers and pollen. Cloud forests (matas de neblina) nourish flowering, fruiting and seeding stages of Orssich cactuses, described by German botanist Wilhelm A. Barthlott and English botanist A.J.S. McMillan.

Orssich Brazilian Christmas cactus occurs epiphytically on high-altitude trees, over a 463.32-square-mile (1,200-square-kilometer) area, in Serra do Mar and Serra da Bocaina's Morro dos Três Picos.

Historical records no longer preserve the discovery point in southeast Brazil's coastal states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo where Orssich cactus pulls endemic status.

Schlumbergera orssichiana, from French collector Frédéric Schlumberger (April 19, 1823-Feb. 21, 1893) and from Austrian discoverer, Julie Beatrix Aninger, Countess Orssich, qualifies as the scientific name. Countess Orssich's discovery remains best known as co-parent, respectively with Russell's cactus (Schlumbergera russelliana) and with truncated cactus (S. truncata), to the two cultivated hybrid "Queens." Schlumbergera x eprica, named by Frank Süpplie, and S. x reginae, named by A.J.S. McMillan, synthesize Orssich cactus's respective hybridizations with Russell's and with truncated cacti.

Collectors and harvesters threaten Orssich Brazilian Christmas cactus on cloud-forest tree homes even though naturalization-friendly Northern Hemisphere niches throng with its March-, August- and November-blooming hybrids.

Schlumbergera orssichiana grows natively in Parque dos Três Picos, Rio de Janeiro state, southwestern Brazil; Três Picos is the highest point in Rio de Janeiro's protected area mosaic, Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic (Portuguese: Mosaico da Mata Atlântica Central Fluminense); Sunday, April 27, 2014, 10:56: Jorge Antonio de Oliveira Vicente, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Schlumbergera orssichiana is usually grown in hybrid form with other species, especially as the artificial hybrid Schlumbergera x reginae Mcmillan (Schlumbergera orssichiana x Schlumbergera truncata); the S. Reginae group often displays significant amounts of white: February 2007: Nino Barbieri, CC BY SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-_Schlumbergera_trunctata_-.jpg

Schlumbergera orssichiana grows natively in Parque dos Três Picos, Rio de Janeiro state, southwestern Brazil; Três Picos is the highest point in Rio de Janeiro's protected area mosaic, Central Rio de Janeiro Atlantic Forest Mosaic (Portuguese: Mosaico da Mata Atlântica Central Fluminense); Sunday, April 27, 2014, 10:56: Jorge Antonio de Oliveira Vicente, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parque_Dos_Tres_Picos.jpg

For further information:

Combernoux, Michel. "History of Schlumbergera orssichiana and Its Hybrids." Epiphytic Cacti. Available @ http://cactus-epiphytes.eu/z_page_histoire_schl_orss_et_hybrides_1.htm

McMillan, A.J.S.; and Horobin, J.F. 1995. Christmas Cacti: The Genus Schlumbergera and Its Hybrids. Sherbourne, Dorset: David Hunt.

Meier, Eckhard. "Die Schlumbergera Orssichiana Story." Re-published with permission from Kakblüte april 2006. CactusAndaluz > Schlumbergera > Botanishe Arten.
Available @ http://www.cactusandaluz.de/Text_OrssichianaStory.php

"Schlumbergera orssichiana." Encyclopedia of Life.
Available @ http://www.eol.org/pages/5184923/overview

"Schlumbergera orssichiana Barhlott & McMillan." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/100438720

"Schlumbergera orssichiana Barthlott & McMillan in Cact. Succ. J. (US) 50; 30 34 (1978)." Rhipsalis.com > Species.
Available @ http://rhipsalis.com/species/orchissiana.htm

Taylor, N.P.; and Zappi, D. 2013. "Schlumbergera orssichiana." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e. T151940A578806. http://dx.doi/org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T151940A578806.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/151940/0

Padded Stem Brazilian Christmas Cactus: Parent to Cultivated Hybrids

Summary: Padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus calls collectors and tourists to high altitudes and creates cultivated hybrids with Russell's and truncated cacti.

padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera opuntioides); Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011: sadambio, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus accounts for one of the Federative Republic's six high-altitude, wild cacti and appears as one of the four that accept cultivated hybridization into commercially successful, holiday-blooming cacti.

Coastal and near-coastal mountainous southeast Brazil's padded stem cacti bear many stems, like their five other moisture-loving relatives, and padded segments, reminiscent of drought-loving Opuntia cactuses. They claim seven native locations exclusively within the coastal states of Rio de Janeiro and of São Paulo and within the inland state of Minas Gerais. They demand rocky, tree-filled niches in the cool, humid, lofty mata de neblina (cloud forest) 5,600 to 7,900 feet (1,700 to 2,400 meters) above sea level.

Declining populations and decreased coverage because of illegal collection and habitat loss elicit near threatened status alerts from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Padded stem cacti fit into the Schlumbergera genus, named for French collector Frédéric Schlumberger (Apr. 19, 1823-Feb. 18, 1893), with four hybridized and five wild relatives.

Southeast Brazil's padded stem cactuses get the species name opuntioides because of their mature, padded segments recalling the bigger, thicker pads on the Opuntia cactus genus. Their leafless stems harbor growth tendencies toward maximum heights of 3.93 feet (1.2 meters), have somewhat flattened segments when fresher and younger and hold photosynthetic organs. They include many specialized structures called areoles, whose bristles indicate age by stiffening with maturity, along the edges and at the ends of their green segments.

Mature padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus juggles many 0.59- to 2.76-inch- (1.5- to 7.0-centimeter-) long, 0.19- to 1.18-inch- (0.5- to 3.0-centimeter-) wide, 0.35-inch- (9-millimeter-) thick stems.

Southeast Brazilian padded stem cacti keep their floral buds and their tubular flowers, which know only horizontal arrangements, in the terminal areoles on their segmented stems.

A bilateral asymmetry called zygomorphism leaves lower and upper sides different on mature, pink to purple, 2.36-inch- (6-centimeter-) long flowers 1.77 inches (4.5 centimeters) in diameter. The flower tip-located, inner, longer series of 20 to 30 undifferentiated petals and sepals called tepals merge basally into the pollinating hummingbird-friendly, nectar-filled, white floral tube. Outer, short, sometimes backward-curving, sometimes spread-out, unconnected tepals nudge floral bases while inner and base-merged outer stamens respectively nestle along floral tubes and into tubular structures.

Padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus, described by Swedish botanist John Albert Constantin Löfgren (Sept. 11, 1854-Aug. 30, 1918), offers red styles and six- to eight-lobed stigmas.

Four- to five-ribbed, green, spherical padded stem cactus fruits produce black to brown, 0.07-inch (1.75-millimeter-) long seeds on less than 193.05 square miles (500 square kilometers).

Minas Gerais's Serra do Ibitipoca, Rio de Janeiro's Serra de Itatiaia and São Paulo's Serra do Mantiqueira qualify as legally protected prime viewing locations for cacti. Padded stem cactuses, described by Swedish botanist Per Karl Hjalmar Dusén (Aug. 4, 1855-Jan. 22, 1926) and, in 1969, by David R. Hunt, remain somewhat hybridizable. They serve as parents, with truncated cacti (Schlumbergera truncata) to the exotic Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x exotica) group described by Wilhelm A. Barthlott and A.J.S. McMillan.

Padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus tender collectors and tourists cloud-forest colors that, like Kautsky's cactus (Schlumbergera kautskyi), thrive in March and April as Northern Hemisphere transplants.

illustration of Schlumbergera opuntioides as Zygocactus opuntioides Löfg.; Alberto Löfgren, Archivos do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (1917): Biodiversity Heritage Library (BioDivLibrary), Public Domain, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

padded stem Brazilian Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera opuntioides); Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011: sadambio, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fájl:Schlumbergera_opuntioides.JPG

illustration of Schlumbergera opuntioides as Zygocactus opuntioides Löfg.; Alberto Löfgren, Archivos do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro (1917), Estampa IV: Biodiversity Heritage Library, Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/61021753@N02/7747289146/;
Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31211434

For further information:

Dusén, P. (Per Karl Hjalmar). 1905. "Epiphyllum opuntioides Loefgren et Dus. n. sp." Pages 49-50. In "Sur la Flor de la Serra do Itatiaya," Archivos do Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro, vol. 13: 1-119.
Available @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/27146810

"Epipyllum opuntioides Loefgr. & Dusén." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/5107379

Hunt, D.R. (David Richard). 1969. "Contributions to the Flora of Tropical America: LXXVII: A Synopsis of Schlumbergera Lem. (Cactaceae)." Kew Bulletin, vol. 23, no. 2: 255-263.
Available @ http://www.jstor.org/stable/4108963?

Löfgren, Alberto. 1917. "Zygocactus opuntioides Löfg (Estampa IV)." Pages 26-28. In "Novas Contribuições para as Cactaceas Brasileiras Sobre os Generos Zygocactus e Schlumbergera," Archivos do Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, vol. II: 19-32.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/31211425

McMillan, A.J.S.; and Horobin, J.F. 1995. Christmas Cacti: The Genus Schlumbergera and Its Hybrids. Sherbourne, Dorset: David Hunt.

"Schlumbergera opuntioides - Christmas Cactus." Encyclopedia of Life.
Available @ http://eol.org/pages/5184922/hierarchy_entries/57218682/overview

"Schlumbergera opuntioides (Lofgren and Dusen). Hunt in Kew Bull. 23:260 (1969)." Rhipsalis.com.
Available @ http://rhipsalis.com/species/opunt.htm

"Schlumbergera opuntioides (Loefgr. & Dusén) D.R. Hunt." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/5107378

Taylor, N.P.; and Zappi, D. 2013. "Schlumbergera opuntioides." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e. T40875A2939603. http://dx.doi/org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T40875A2939603.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/40873/0