Urban Root Management: Big Infrastructure, Small Space, Stressed Roots

Summary: Urban root management defends six species-specific root types in three climate-specific root systems against infrastructural intrusions into small spaces.

Urban root management looks for symptoms of stressed roots, such as buttressing; buttress root injury to Wye Oak, largest white oak in the United States, toppled during thunderstorm Thursday, June 6, 2002; Wye Mills, Talbot County, Eastern Shore of Maryland: Randy Cyr/Greentree/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

The article Root Management: An Introduction for the April 2017 issue of Arborist News assigns at least one non-structural or structural kind of root to all the world's conifers, hardwoods and palms.

Conifers and hardwoods as dicots and palm trees as monocots bear roots to absorb minerals and water, anchor and support trees, produce hormones and store carbohydrates. Urban root management considers interactions with infrastructure, plants, property and soil, site usage and tree health, longevity and stability in compacted space and infrastructural conflict contexts. Tree health and mature size depend upon root space size and soil quality whereas root type number and size display variability by soil conditions and species.

Urban trees rarely entertain tap roots, first seed-released root, first axis for other roots, seedling stage's deep mineral- and water-absorbing, dominant, gravitropic (vertically oriented), tapering root.

Absorbent, anchoring, horizontal, near-surface, ropelike, untapered lateral roots fit between fine terminal roots and, below damage-prone root collars or trunk flares, the trunk's rapid taper zone.

Wind loading generates buttress roots, or lateral roots with buttressing, as wood tissue on upper unions between laterals and trunks whose bases grapple with mechanical stress. Anchoring, branching, diagonally downward-growing, mineral- and water-uptaking heart or oblique roots at below-ground trunk bases, between lateral and tap roots, have smaller diameters than tap roots. Urban root management identifies drip lines from trunks to outermost branch tips as below-ground occurrences of absorbent, anchoring sinker roots inclining vertically downward from lateral roots.

Continually replaced, multi-branching, near-surface, omnidirectional, relatively short-lived fine roots 0.002 to 0.07 inches (0.05 to 1.78 millimeters) in diameter juggle origins from all other root types.

Fine roots keep tree crowns and root systems balanced and, with symbiotic fungal colonies of mycorrhizae, fungal pathogen threats lower and mineral and water uptake higher. They lack the group status of adventitious, lateral, oblique, sinker and tap roots as structural roots that lend anchorage or support to the tree canopy crown.

Lower trunks in contact with moist soil or organic matter, palm trees, secondary tissue of older roots and vegetatively propagated tree cuttings muster adventitious true roots. Their mineral and water absorption and their structural support after fine, lateral, oblique, sinker losses from injury, pruning or soil environment changes nurture mature tree health.

Urban root management obtains lateral and heart, or tap, root systems respectively more and less frequently on species native to semitropical, temperate and tropical climate zones.

Heart or oblique root systems predominate on woody species native to arid, Mediterranean and semi-arid climate zones while tap root systems with laterals prove least common.

Soil environment qualifies as the greatest determinant of root system depth and spread, with a deep, uniform soil-dwelling, heart root system-tending species oblique-rooting in shallow soils. Its compacted, hardpan, subsurface clay, decreased oxygen diffusion, high water tables and increased bulk density result in asymmetrical, non-uniform horizontal and vertical root development and spread. Its upper foot (30.48 centimeters) around palm tree trunk root initiation zones sustains adventitious roots that support no secondary growth for annual rings or increased diameters.

Urban root management tracks impacts of compacted spaces and intrusive infrastructures upon species-specific root systems, according to co-authors Larry Costello, E. Thomas Smiley and Gary Watson.

Urban root management considers soil environment, including presence of compaction, as most critical determinant of tree root system's depth and spread; compacted soil and high pH in parking lot island account for nutrient deficiency's effect on below-ground roots; Virginia Tech campus, Blacksburg, southwestern Virginia: Mary Ann Hansen/Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to:
talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet;
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for superior on-campus and on-line resources.

Image credits:

buttress root injury to Wye Oak, largest white oak in the United States, toppled during thunderstorm Thursday, June 6, 2002; Wye Mills, Talbot County, Eastern Shore of Maryland: Randy Cyr/Greentree/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ https://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=1238350

Urban root management considers soil environment, including presence of compaction, as most critical determinant of tree root system's depth and spread; compacted soil and high pH in parking lot island account for nutrient deficiency's effect on below-ground roots: Mary Ann Hansen/Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University/Bugwood.org, CC BY 3.0 United States, via Forestry Images @ https://www.forestryimages.org/browse/detail.cfm?imgnum=5334097

For further information:

Costello, Larry; Watson, Gary; and Smiley, E. Thomas. April 2017. "Root Management: An Introduction." Arborist News 2(2): 12-18.

Gilman, Ed. 2011. An Illustrated Guide to Pruning. Third Edition. Boston MA: Cengage.

Hayes, Ed. 2001. Evaluating Tree Defects. Revised, Special Edition. Rochester MN: Safe Trees.

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/03/flexural-elasticity-modulus-trees-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2017. “Plant Health Care Diagnostics When Plants and Places Wrong One Another.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/02/plant-health-care-diagnostics-when.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 January 2017. “Tree Fertilization for Fine Root Growth and Whole Root System Effects.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2017/01/tree-fertilization-for-fine-root-growth.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 December 2016. “Abiotic and Biotic Stress in Low Maintenance Tree Health Care Programs.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/12/abiotic-and-biotic-stress-in-low.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 November 2016. “Organic Amendments to Compacted Degraded Urban Highway Roadsides.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/11/organic-amendments-to-compacted.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/10/tree-protection-zones-by-arborists-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 September 2016. “Stormwater Runoff Landscaping With Urban Canopy Cover and Groundcover.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/09/stormwater-runoff-landscaping-with.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/08/changing-places-tree-nutrient-movement.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/07/treated-or-untreated-oriental.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 June 2016. “Tree Injection Site Procedures: Manufacturer's Instructions and Labels.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/06/tree-injection-site-procedures.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/05/electrical-utility-area-temperate-urban.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/04/tree-injection-methods-treatment-option.html

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Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/03/bare-rooted-ornamental-urban.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 February 2016. “Bark Protective Survival Mechanisms Foil Deprivation, Injury, Invasion.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/02/bark-protective-survival-mechanisms.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 23 January 2016. "LITA Model: Linear Index of Tree Appraisal of Large Urban Swedish Trees." Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2016/01/lita-model-linear-index-of-tree.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 December 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems: Site, Soil, Species True Designs.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/12/tree-lightning-protection-systems-site.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 24 October 2015. “Tree Lightning Protection Systems Tailored to Sites, Soils, Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/10/tree-lightning-protection-systems.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 August 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Amend, Fertilize, Mulch, Till!” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/08/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 June 2015. “Tree Friendly Urban Soil Management: Assemble, Assess, Assist, Astound.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/06/tree-friendly-urban-soil-management.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 April 2015. “Tree Wound Responses: Healthy Wound Closures by Callus and Woundwood.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/tree-wound-responses-healthy-wound.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2015. “Urban Forest Maintenance and Non-Maintenance Costs and Benefits.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/02/urban-forest-maintenance-and-non.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 December 2014. “Tree Dwelling Symbionts: Dodder, Lichen, Mistletoe, Moss and Woe-Vine.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/12/tree-dwelling-symbionts-dodder-lichen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 October 2014. “Tree Cable Installation Systems Lessen Target Impact From Tree Failure.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/10/tree-cable-installation-systems-lessen.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 August 2014. “Flood Tolerant Trees in Worst-Case Floodplain and Urbanized Scenarios.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/08/flood-tolerant-trees-in-worst-case.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 June 2014. “Integrated Vegetation Management of Plants in Utility Rights-of-Way.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/06/integrated-vegetation-management-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 April 2014. “Tree Twig Identification: Buds, Bundle Scars, Leaf Drops, Leaf Scars.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/04/tree-twig-identification-buds-bundle.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 February 2014. “Tree Twig Anatomy: Ecosystem Stress, Growth Rates, Winter Identification.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2014/02/tree-twig-anatomy-ecosystem-stress.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 December 2013. “Community and Tree Safety Awareness During Line- and Road-Clearances.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/12/community-and-tree-safety-awareness.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2013. “Chain-Saw Gear and Tree Work Related Personal Protective Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/chain-saw-gear-and-tree-work-related.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2013. “Storm Damaged Tree Clearances: Matched Teamwork of People to Equipment.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/10/storm-damaged-tree-clearances-matched.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 17 August 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Damage Assessments: Pre-Storm Planned Preparedness.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/08/storm-induced-tree-damage-assessments.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2013. “Storm Induced Tree Failures From Heavy Tree Weights and Weather Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/06/storm-induced-tree-failures-from-heavy.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 April 2013. “Urban Tree Root Management Concerns: Defects, Digs, Dirt, Disturbance.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/04/urban-tree-root-management-concerns.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 February 2013. “Tree Friendly Beneficial Soil Microbes: Inoculations and Occurrences.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2013/02/tree-friendly-beneficial-soil-microbes.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 December 2012. “Healthy Urban Tree Root Crown Balances: Soil Properties, Soil Volumes.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/12/healthy-urban-tree-root-crown-balances.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 October 2012. “Tree Adaptive Growth: Tree Risk Assessment of Tree Failure, Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/10/tree-adaptive-growth-tree-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 August 2012. “Tree Risk Assessment Mitigation Reports: Tree Removal, Tree Retention?” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/08/tree-risk-assessment-mitigation-reports.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 16 June 2012. “Internally Stressed, Response Growing, Wind Loaded Tree Strength.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/06/internally-stressed-response-growing.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 14 April 2012. “Three Tree Risk Assessment Levels: Limited Visual, Basic and Advanced.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/04/three-tree-risk-assessment-levels.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Risk Ratings for Targets and Trees.” Earth and Space News. Sunday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment-risk.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 18 February 2012. “Qualitative Tree Risk Assessment: Falling Trees Impacting Targets.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2012/02/qualitative-tree-risk-assessment.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 December 2011. “Tree Risk Assessment: Tree Failures From Defects and From Wind Loads.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/12/tree-risk-assessment-tree-failures-from.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 October 2011. “Five Tree Felling Plan Steps for Successful Removals and Worker Safety.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/10/five-tree-felling-plan-steps-for.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 August 2011. “Natives and Non-Natives as Successfully Urbanized Plant Species.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/08/natives-and-non-natives-as-successfully.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 June 2011. “Tree Ring Patterns for Ecosystem Ages, Dates, Health and Stress.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/06/tree-ring-patterns-for-ecosystem-ages.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 9 April 2011. “Benignly Ugly Tree Disorders: Oak Galls, Powdery Mildew, Sooty Mold, Tar Spot.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/04/benignly-ugly-tree-disorders-oak-galls.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 February 2011. “Tree Load Can Turn Tree Health Into Tree Failure or Tree Fatigue.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2011/02/tree-load-can-turn-tree-health-into.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 December 2010. “Tree Electrical Safety Knowledge, Precautions, Risks and Standards.” Earth and Space News. Saturday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-electrical-safety-knowledge.html

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Theft: Kurkjian on Plea Bargaining

Summary: Master Thieves by Stephen Kurkjian introduces a South Boston runaway who ideated the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft for plea bargaining.

Stephen Kurkjian, author of Master Thieves; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Thursday, March 9, 2017, 21:36: Արարատ Թրվանց, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons

The dreams of a runaway teenager anticipated the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft March 18, 1990, according to Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist.

Stephen Kurkjian, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the Boston Globe, broaches Louis Royce as possible ideator of the art crime in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A junior high school student's field trip, a teenage runaway's sleepover and a theft-planner's predilection for art construct the profile of potential ideator, not actual perpetrator. Negotiability of stolen masterpieces, not appreciation of Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, March 28 or April 6, 1483-April 6, 1520), drove perpetrators nine years after ideation.

Suspected master ideator Royce expects a percentage whenever exile ends for the missing Gardner 13 artworks, all of which "should be back with the museum now."

13 artworks removed from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during March 18, 1990 art theft: Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team

The museum's comfortable warmth fueled the eighth-grader's fascination during a field trip from Patrick Gavin Junior High School in South Boston, one of Boston's poorest neighborhoods. The third-floor Long Gallery's crimson tapestry-covered table for Matteo Civitali's (May 5, 1436-Oct. 12, 1501) Virgin Adoring the Child painted terracotta gave him a canopy bed. The museum's antiques, masterpieces and security heralded the South Boston native's first art theft, of 11 paintings and prints, during a jewelry-related break-in Feb. 21, 1981. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Middlesex County Superior Court records indicate recovery of the $50,000-valued artworks and of the $50,000-plus-valued jewelry stolen in Newton, Massachusetts.

The negotiability of stolen art for immunity or reward jumpstarts the return of the Newton, and hopefully of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, art theft casualties.

Louis Royce's field trip as an eighth grader at South Boston's Patrick F. Gavin School inspired a subsequently fascinating sleepover at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; exterior shot of Patrick F. Gavin School by Herbert E. Glasier & Company, Dorchester Street, South Boston, Massachusetts: City of Boston Archives, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

FBI records keep track of two recovery raids for the Marc Chagall (July 7, 1887-March 28, 1985) and Salvador Dalí (May 11, 1904-Jan. 23, 1989) artworks. They list August 1981 as the first recovery raid near William F. Callahan Jr. (June 12, 1891-April 20, 1989) Tunnel between downtown Boston and Logan Airport. They mention recovery of one Chagall lithograph, two Dalí lithographs and three Dalí paintings during Royce's meeting with Edward F. Clark, FBI Special Agent undercover 1964-1995. They note subsequent recovery, during a raid of a North Shore motel, in July 1982 of the five remaining missing artworks from the Newton residential break-in.

Royce's offer "If you drop the charges against Ralph [Rossetti], I'll tell you where you can find the rest of the score" obtained his boss's immunity.

First recovery raid of artworks stolen from Feb. 21, 1981, Newton, Massachusetts, residential break-in took place August 1981 near Boston Harbor's Callahan Tunnel; Lieutenant William F. Callahan Jr. Tunnel, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, 14:48: Tony Webster from San Francisco, California, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

"Under the norms of the criminal life," facilitators and ideators pluck 15 percent from a theft's profits, "depending on the tipster's clout with the actual thieves."

William Butchka, FBI Special Agent undercover in Boston, queues up with FBI Special Agent Clark regarding Royce's proficiency as a master ideator and a master thief. He reveals, "[Royce] was clever, and he'd study a job for however long it took to figure out the best way of pulling it off successfully."

Royce suggests, "Maybe they were taken to get someone out of jail, but that obviously hasn't happened. So they're just laying somewhere now, unseen and unappreciated."

Rivals terminally thwarted Robert Donati's (June 4, 1940-Sept. 21, 1991) trading, Royce-style, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft casualties for boss Vincent Ferrara's 22-year prison sentence.

aftermath of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft March 18, 1990: Watertown Library @WatertownPubLib, via Twitter July 14, 2015

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Stephen Kurkjian, author of Master Thieves; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Thursday, March 9, 2017, 21:36: Արարատ Թրվանց, CC BY SA 4.0 International, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stephen_A._Kurkjian.jpg

13 artworks removed from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum during March 18, 1990 art theft: Public Domain, via FBI Art Crime Team @ https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/5-million-reward-offered-for-return-of-stolen-gardner-museum-artwork

Louis Royce's field trip as an eighth grader at South Boston's Patrick F. Gavin School inspired a subsequently fascinating sleepover at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; exterior shot of Patrick F. Gavin School by Herbert E. Glasier & Company, Dorchester Street, South Boston, Massachusetts: City of Boston Archives, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patrick_F._Gavin_School_-_403002065_-_City_of_Boston_Archives.jpg

First recovery raid of artworks stolen from Feb. 21, 1981, Newton, Massachusetts, residential break-in took place August 1981 near Boston Harbor's Callahan Tunnel; Lieutenant William F. Callahan Jr. Tunnel, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, 14:48: Tony Webster from San Francisco, California, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lieutenant_William_F._Callahan_Tunnel,_Boston_(22084667302).jpg

aftermath of Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art theft March 18, 1990: Watertown Library @WatertownPubLib, via Twitter July 14, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/WatertownPubLib/status/621106041523163136

For further information:

Broderick, Ericka. 1 December 2016. "Stephen Kurkjian: Gardner Museum Theft Started As 'Get Out of Jail Free' Scam." InDepthNewHampshire > Courts and Corrections.
Available @ http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-opinion/article/A-final-attempt-to-recover-stolen-art-7223006.php

Connelly, Sherryl. 15 February 2015. "Possible Leads in $500 Million Boston Museum Robbery 25 Years Later: Book." New York Daily News > Crime.
Available @ http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/leads-500m-boston-museum-robbery-1990-article-1.2115903

Kurkjian, Stephen. 13 March 2005. "Secrets Behind the Largest Art Theft in History." Boston Globe > Globe Special Report > The Gardner Heist.
Available @ http://archive.boston.com/news/specials/gardner_heist/heist/

Kurkjian, Stephen. 2015. Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist. New York NY: PublicAffairs.

Kurkjian, Stephen. 1 April 2016. "A Final Attempt to Recover Stolen Art." TimesUnion > TU Plus > Opinion.
Available @ http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-opinion/article/A-final-attempt-to-recover-stolen-art-7223006.php

"The 'Master Thieves' Behind Boston's Greatest Cold Case." WBUR > Radio Boston > 12 March 2015 > Stephen Kurkjian.
Available @ http://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2015/03/12/stephen-kurkjian

Murphy, Shelley; and Kurkjian, Stephen. 18 March 2017. Six Theories Behind the Stolen Gardner Museum Paintings. Boston Globe > Metro.
Available @ https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/03/18/six-theories-behind-stolen-gardner-museum-paintings/JmwHou86qo5MtBzX1fb9cI/story.html

Watertown Library @WatertownPubLib. "Cunning in the way that they got into the museum, but brutal in dealing with the paintings. @kurkjian" Twitter. July 14, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/WatertownPubLib/status/621106041523163136

2017 Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks April 22 and 23

Summary: The 2017 Lyrid Meteor Shower, known popularly as April Lyrids or, simply, Lyrids, peaks Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23.

Lyrid Meteor Shower radiant or apparent source; credit NASA Science (science.nasa.gov): Bard Anton Zajac (Bard Anton Zajac), Public Domain, via Flickr

The 2017 Lyrid Meteor Shower, which is also known popularly as Lyrids or April Lyrids, peaks Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower takes place annually from around April 16 to April 26. Peak rates usually are centered on April 22.

The 2017 Lyrid Meteor Shower’s peak rates begin to occur beginning around 10:30 to 11 p.m. local time, Saturday, April 22. Best viewing happens early Sunday, April 23, after midnight and before dawn.

Time and Date website (www.timeanddate.com) identifies Northern Hemisphere viewers as favorably located for viewing the April Lyrids. The Lyrids are also viewable by observers in mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower derives its name from Lyra the Harp constellation. The meteor shower’s radiant, or apparent point of origin, lies near Lyra’s eastern border with constellation of Hercules the Hero. Meteors are visible anywhere in the sky, but tracing shooting stars back to their apparent point of origin is helpful in differentiating between annual and sporadic activity. The radiant is not, however, the actual point of origin.

Amateur astronomer Gary W. Kronk orients observers in the Northern Hemisphere to face east-northeast to locate the meteor shower’s radiant east of Lyra the Harp’s brightest star, Vega. Lyra is high above the horizon at midnight local time in mid-northern latitudes worldwide.

Southern Hemisphere observers face north-northeast to locate the Lyrids’ apparent radiant. At about 3 a.m. local time in mid-southern latitudes worldwide, Lyra is above the horizon, though not as high as in the Northern Hemisphere.

Lyra’s brightest star, Vega, shines with unmistakable brightness as the night sky’s fifth brightest star. In the Northern Hemisphere, Altair, brightest star in Aquila the Eagle constellation and the night sky’s twelfth brightest star, appears below the Lyrids’ radiant, diagonally southeast of Vega. In the Southern Hemisphere, Altair resides above the Lyrids’ radiant, diagonally northeast of Vega.

The April 2017 moon cooperates with the Lyrid Meteor Shower’s peak and ending dates via non-competitive phases. The waning crescent, which succeeds Wednesday, April 19’s last quarter phase, segues from Saturday’s 21 percent visibility to Sunday’s 13 percent and reaches new moon blackout by Wednesday, April 26.

The April Lyrids’ shoot across the sky at a medium rate of speed. The American Meteor Society (AMS) times the velocity of the Lyrids’ shooting stars at about 30 miles per second (48.4 kilometers per second).

The Lyrid Meteor Shower displays a usual peak rate of 10 to 20 meteors per hour. Extreme outbursts in the shower’s zenital hourly rate (ZHR) for unknown reasons, at undetermined intervals, have been recorded. Kronk cites maximum hourly rates of 96 on April 21, 1922, in Greece; 112 on April 22, 1945, in Japan; and 90 to 100 on April 22, 1982, in Colorado and Florida.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower of April 20, 1803, illuminated the United States’ east coast with a meteor storm, with an hourly rate of 670 or more, lasting for several hours. A letter from an observer in Richmond, Virginia, published Saturday, April 23, 1803, in the Virginia Gazette, described the outburst as:

“From one until three, those starry meteors seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of sky rockets.”

Universe Today contributor David Dickinson notes the prime meteor shower viewing conditions that prevailed in 1803. On April 20, the moon was one day away from the darkness of its new moon phase.

April 2017’s waning crescent lunar phase favors easy viewing of the Lyrid Meteor Shower’s peak date.

Meteor showers mostly originate as debris and dust cast off by comets. The Lyrid Meteor Shower claims Comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher) as its parent comet. The long period comet roughly takes about 415 years to complete its orbit around the sun.

Gary W. Kronk notes that in 1867 German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle (June 9, 1812-July 10, 1910) mathematically confirmed Comet Thatcher’s parentage of the annual Lyrid Meteor Shower. Galle also included the April Lyrids’ history, tracing the shower back to March 16, 687 BCE.

The takeaway for the 2017 Lyrid Meteor Shower peak date Saturday evening, April 22, to before dawn, Sunday, April 23, is the favorable shooting star viewing conditions afforded by the moon’s waning crescent phase, only three days away from a new moon blackout.

meteor speeds, with April Lyrids at 110,000 miles per hour, according to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Meteoroid Environment Office: NASA/MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center)/Danielle Moeser, Public Domain, via NASA Blogs

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Lyrid Meteor Shower radiant or apparent source; credit NASA Science (science.nasa.gov): Bard Anton Zajac (Bard Anton Zajac), Public Domain, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/128032454@N02/20640325510/

meteor speeds: NASA/MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center)/Danielle Moeser, Public Domain, via NASA Blogs @ https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2014/08/12/live-chat-and-ustream-2014-perseid-meteor-shower/

For further information:

“2017 Lyrids.” Society for Popular Astronomy > Meteor Showers > Activity.
Available @ http://www.popastro.com/meteor/activity/activity.php?id_pag=310

Cooke, William B. (wcooke). “Live Chat and Ustream! 2014 Perseid Meteor Shower.” NASA Blogs > Watch the Skies. Aug. 12, 2014.
Available @ https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2014/08/12/live-chat-and-ustream-2014-perseid-meteor-shower/

Dickinson, David. “The Curious History of the Lyrid Meteor Shower.” Universe Today. Dec. 23, 2015.
Available @ http://www.universetoday.com/101602/the-curious-history-of-the-lyrid-meteor-shower/

Fisher, Willard J. “Records of the Lyrid Meteor Shower of 1803: A Search by the Bond Astronomical Club, With Notes on the Leonids of 1799.” Popular Astronomy, vol. 39 (1931): 256-263.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?db_key=AST&bibcode=1931PA.....39..256F&letter=.&classic=YES&defaultprint=YES&whole_paper=YES&page=256&epage=263&send=Send+PDF&filetype=.pdf

Harbaugh, Jennifer. “Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks Tomorrow, April 22.” NASA > Press Release > Meteor & Meteorites. April 21, 2015. Last updated July 30, 2015.
Available @ https://www.nasa.gov/features/watchtheskies/lyrid-meteor-shower-peaks-tomorrow-april22.html

Kronk, Gary W. “Observing the Lyrids.” Meteor Showers Online.
Available @ http://meteorshowersonline.com/lyrids.html

Lindblad, Bertil A.; V. Porubcan. “Activity of the Lyrid Meteor Stream.” In Lunar and Planetary Institute,  Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 1991. Pages 367-370. December 1992.
Available via Harvard ADSABS (NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstracts) @ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1992acm..proc..367L

“Lyrid Meteor Shower in 2017.” Time And Date > Sun & Moon > Meteor Showers.
Available @ http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/lyrids.html

“Lyrids.” American Meteor Society > Meteor Showers > Meteor Shower Calendar.
Available @ http://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/

Marriner, Derdriu. “Lyrid Meteor Shower: April’s Annual Shooting Stars From Comet Thatcher.” Earth and Space News. Friday, April 24, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/lyrid-meteor-shower-aprils-annual.html

“Meteors & Meteorites: Lyrids.” NASA Solar System Exploration > Planets > Meteors.
Available @ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/meteors/lyrids#!

Phillips, Tony. “Look, Listen, Lyrids!” NASA Science > Science News > Science at NASA > 2001. April 18, 2001.
Available @ https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast19apr_1/

Eugene Onegin Is the April 22, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: The April 22, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast is Eugene Onegin, a three-act opera by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Anna Netrebko appears as Tatiana in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Feb. 19, 2017

Eugene Onegin, a three-act opera concerning a dandy’s youthful foolishness by Russian late-Romantic composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893), is the April 22, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast.

The composer collaborated with Russian librettist Konstantin Shilovsky (1849-May 22, 1893) in organizing the Russian libretto. The literary source is Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse by Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (June 6, 1799-Feb. 10, 1837).

Eugene Onegin premiered March 29, 1879. The venue was Moscow’s Maly Theatre (“Small Theatre”). Designed by Italian-Russian neoclassical architect Joseph Bové (Nov. 4, 1784-June 28, 1834), Maly Theatre opened Oct. 14, 1824, on Theatre Square in central Moscow. Maly Theatre appeared on the list of nationally significant properties approved Feb. 20, 1995, by Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (Feb. 1, 1931-April 23, 2007), as First President of the Russian Federation (July 10, 1991-Dec. 31, 1999).

The composer and librettist honored Pushkin's setting of his novel around 1820 in St. Petersburg and the surrounding countryside. The Metropolitan Opera's 2016-2017 production fast forwards the opera's time setting to the late 19th century, around the time of the opera's premiere in 1879.

The Saturday matinee broadcast of Eugene Onegin begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (5 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time). The estimated run time for the performance is about 3 hours 38 minutes.

The opera, sung in the original Russian, comprises three acts and two intermissions. Act I is timed for 78 minutes. A 33-minute intermission succeeds Act I.

Act II is timed for 44 minutes. A 25-minute intermission follows Act II.

Act III is timed for 38 minutes. The opera ends with Act III’s final notes.

Robin Ticciati is scheduled to conduct all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast, of Eugene Onegin. His birthplace is London, United Kingdom. The British conductor of Italian ancestry debuted with the Met’s 2011 production of Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck (Sept. 1, 1854-Sept. 27, 1921).

Illness prevents Robin Ticciati from conducting two of the Russian opera's seven performances. American conductor Joel Revzen makes his Metropolitan Opera debut by leading performances on April 15 and 18.

Peter Mattei appears in the title role for performances from April 12 through the Saturday matinee broadcast. He was born in Piteå, Norrbotten County, northeastern Sweden. The Swedish operatic baritone debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002 as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Jan. 27, 1756-Dec. 5, 1791). This season Peter Mattei also appears as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Antonio Rossini (Feb. 29, 1792-Nov. 13, 1868).

Peter Mattei shares the title role this season with Mariusz Kwiecien. Born in Kraków, southern Poland, Mariusz Kwiecien debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 1999 as Kuligin in Kátá Kabanová by Czech composer Leoš Janáček (July 3, 1854-Aug. 12, 1928). The Polish operatic baritone also appears this season in the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

Anna Netrebko appears as Tatiana Larin, a young girl whose affections the youthful Eugene Onegin rejects. Her birthplace is Krasnodar, southwestern Russia. The Russian operatic soprano debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2002 as Natasha Rostova in War and Peace by Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (April 23, 1891-March 5, 1953). This season Anna Netrebko also appears in the title role of Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924).

Elena Maximova appears as Tatyana’s younger sister, Olga, whose fiancé is killed in a foolishly-motivated duel with his friend, Eugene Onegin. Elena Maximova was born in Perm, west central Russia. The Russian mezzo-soprano reprises her 2013 Metropolitan Opera debut role.

Alexey Dolgov appears as Lenski, Olga Larin’s fiancé. His birthplace is Moscow, northwestern Russia. The Siberian tenor debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2013 as Cassio in Otello by Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901).

Štefan Kocán appears as Prince Gremin, whom Tatyana Larin grows up to auspiciously marry. He was born in Trnava, western Slovakia. The Slovak operatic bass debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in 2009 as the King of Egypt in Verdi’s Aida. This season Štefan Kocán also appears as the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and as Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto.

Operabase, an online database, places Pyot at number 9 in a ranking of 1,281 most popular composers for the five seasons from 2011/2012 to 2015/16. Eugene Onegin places at 16 in the list of 2,658 most popular operas.

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016 Repertory Report gives performance statistics through Oct. 31. Eugene Onegin holds place 49, with 148 performances, for the period from first Met performance, March 24, 1920, to last performance, Dec. 12, 2013. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-2017 season falls outside the report’s parameters.

The takeaway for Eugene Onegin as the April 22, 2017, Metropolitan Opera Saturday matinee broadcast are Eugene’s missteps as a foolish youth that cost him the life of his friend Lenski and true love with Tatiana, who traces a fulfilling character arc from sentimental adolescent to mature, successful young woman.

Tatiana (Anna Netrebko) wisens to Eugene Onegin's character flaws in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook March 30, 2017

Acknowledgment

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

Image credits:

Anna Netrebko appears as Tatiana in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin: Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera, via Twitter Feb. 19, 2017, @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/833225331700006912

Tatiana (Anna Netrebko) wisens to Eugene Onegin's character flaws in the 2016-2017 Met Opera season's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook March 30, 2017, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158568574120533.1073741932.20807115532/10158568574550533

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

“The List of Properties of Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Federal (All-Russian) Significance Approved.” Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library > History. Feb. 20, 1995.
Available @ http://www.prlib.ru/en-us/History/Pages/Item.aspx?itemid=424

Meet Me At The Opera @MMATOpera. "Anna Netrebko Leading Soprano at the Leading Opera Houses Across the Globe: Season 2016/17." Twitter. Feb. 19, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MMATOpera/status/833225331700006912

Metropolitan Opera. "Anna Netrebko on Eugene Onegin." YouTube. March 29, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J_NSvOcQhA

Metropolitan Opera. “Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera.” YouTube. Feb. 28, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSeHgiJwEE&spfreload=5

Metropolitan Opera. "Eugene Onegin: Lenski's Aria." YouTube. March 29, 2017.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjpUw1isGEM

Metropolitan Opera. "Eugene Onegin: Letter Scene -- Anna Netrebko." YouTube. Sept. 20, 2013.
Available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d56MMagyMXs

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "The Metropolitan Opera added 11 new photos to the album: Eugene Onegin Starring Anna Netrebko. March 30, 2017 · Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin starring Anna Netrebko as Tatiana and Peter Mattei in the tile role is on stage tonight, Apr 18! Live in HD worldwide, April 22. . . .Photos by Marty Sohl/Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera." Facebook. March 30, 2017.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10158568574120533.1073741932.20807115532/10158568574550533

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

"Picturing Onegin." The Metropolitan Opera > Discover > Articles > Interviews. April 1, 2017.
Available @ https://www.metopera.org/Discover/Articles/Interviews/picturing-onegin-peter-mattei/

Yannick Nézet-Séguin @nezetseguin. "Tomorrow 1st orchestra rehearsal of Flying Dutchman . . . . Excited beyond belief! (Nice help studying)." Twitter. March 29, 2017.
Available @ https://twitter.com/nezetseguin/status/847244514968215553

Wild Brazilian Easter Cactus: Kin to Cultivars and Parent to Hybrids

Summary: Wild Brazilian Easter cactus fits into coastal mountain and, as cultivated hybrids and varieties, indoor and outdoor Northern Hemisphere habitat niches.

pink-flowered Hatiora graeseri, a hybrid of Hatiora gaertneri and Hatiora rosea; Saturday, May 14, 2016, 13:43:07: John Rusk, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Brazilian Easter cactus appreciates strict light, moisture, nutrient and temperature requirements in coastal southeast Brazil's Mata Atlântica (Atlantic Forest) but astounds holiday plant-lovers with commercially successful, cultivated Easter- and Whitsunday-blooming cactus hybrids.

Wild Brazilian Easter and Whitsunday cactus bears its common name because of its cultivated hybrids' and varieties' spring bloom times in naturalization-friendly, Northern Hemisphere habitat niches. It cooperates with Rose Easter cactus (Hatiora rosea), wild relative in the same three coastal, mountainous southeast Brazilian states, in cultivated hybridization of Hatiora x graeseri. Beloved cultivated hybrids and varieties dominate indoor and outdoor gardens since endemic, wild Brazilian Easter cacti do best in protected areas within their exclusive, three-state homelands.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) enters vulnerability alerts for threatened occurrences at five locations within a 3,861.02- to 5,791.65-square-mile (10,000- to 15,000-square-kilometer) area.

English naturalist Thomas Harriot (1560-July 2, 1621) and German botanist Joseph Gaertner (March 12, 1732-July 14, 1791) furnish wild Brazilian Easter cactus's scientific name Hatiora gaertneri.

Gartner's and Harriot's cactus, described in 1882 by German botanist Eduard August von Regel (Aug. 13, 1815-April 15, 1892), grows branching, chlorophyll-rich, jointed, leafless, overhanging stems. Its dull green, flattened, 1.57- to 2.76-inch- (4- to 7-centimeter-) long, 0.79- to 0.98-inch- (2- to 2.5-centimeter-) wide, photosynthesis-friendly segments, called cladodes, have notched, purple margins. They include bumpy, specialized, white-wooled, yellow-bristled areoles for floral buds and for one to three dark scarlet, funnel-shaped, 1.58- to 1.97-inch- (4- to 5-centimeter-) long flowers.

The wild Brazilian Easter cactus flower joins petals and sepals into a perianth of five erect, inner segments and five, outer, short, spreading, thick, triangular segments.

Wild cactuses, described by German botanist Wilhelm Barthlott in 1987, know October to November blooms at lofty, 1,148.29- to 4,265.09-foot (350- to 1,300 meter), remote altitudes.

Wild flowers, in a radial symmetry called actinomorphism, link angled, dark red, 0.47-inch- (12-millimeter-) long ovaries, cream-colored, linear, six-lobed stigmas and red, 0.59-inch- (1.5-centimeter-) long styles. Unlike wild Brazilian Christmas cacti, they manage just one, not two, series of yellow stamens and never merge petals and sepals into basal, short floral tubes. The starburst-like flowers on the wild rock-dwelling lithophyte or tree-dwelling lithophyte nurture oblong, red, 0.59-inch- (15-millimeter-) long fruits and seeds for gravity, wildlife and wind dispersals.

Clean air, endemic vegetation, open spaces, panoramic views and unique wildlife offer wild Brazilian Easter cactus threats from collectors, eucalyptus plantation developers, small-scale planters and tourists.

Brazilian Easter cactus and rose Easter cactus, described by Swedish botanist Nils Gustaf Lagerheim (Oct. 18, 1860-Jan. 2, 1926) in 1912, produce Easter-blooming, world-renowned cultivated hybrids.

Brown-bristled, purple-segmented, yellow-fruited rose Easter cactus, described by German horticulturalist Wilhelm Barthlott in 1987, queues up rose flowers from 3,280.84- to 6,561.68-foot (1,000- to 2,000-meter) altitudes. The hybridization results in Hatiora x graeseri, described by Erich Werdermann (March 2, 1892-April 20, 1959) and by Reid Venable Moran (June 30, 1916-Jan. 21, 2010). The beloved, commercially successful, world-famous cultivated hybrid, named for German horticulturist Alfred Gräser (1895-1973), shows 1.58- to 2.36-inch- (4- to 6-centimeter-) long, pink to red flowers.

Holiday plant-lovers treasure Easter- and Whitsunday-blooming cultivated hybrids and varieties that tribute the plucky, vulnerable, wild Brazilian Easter cactus threatened by collectors, developers, planters and tourists.

Hatiora gaertneri, known popularly as Easter cactus: Teunie from nl, 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:

pink-flowered Hatiora graeseri, a hybrid of Hatiora gaertneri and Hatiora rosea; Saturday, May 14, 2016, 13:43:07: John Rusk, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/john_d_rusk/26962398631/

Hatiora gaertneri, known popularly as Easter cactus: Teunie from nl, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lidcactus.jpg

For further information:

Barthlott, Wilhelm. 1987. "New Names in Rhipsalidinae (Cactaceae)." Bradleya, no. 5 (December 1987): 97-100.
Available via BioOne Complete @ https://bioone.org/journals/bradleya/volume-1987/issue-5

Barthlott, W.; and Taylor, N.P. 1995. "Notes Towards a Monograph of Rhipsalidaeae (Cactaceae)." Bradleya, no. 13 (November 1995): 43-79.
Available via BioOne Complete @ https://bioone.org/journals/bradleya/volume-1995/issue-13

"Hatiora gaertneri - Christmas Cactus." Encyclopedia of Life.
Available @ http://eol.org/pages/5184640/data

"Hatiora gaertneri (Regel) Barthlott." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/50102068

"Hatiora rosea." Encyclopedia of Life.
Available @ http://eol.org/pages/5181678/overview

Regel, Eduard. 1884. "Epiphyllum Russellianum Hook. var. Gärtneri." In: Gartenflora. Monatschrift für deutsche und schweizerische Garten und Blumenkunde. Band 33, Erlangen. S. 323-324.
Available via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42128303#page/390/mode/1up

"Schlumbergera gaertneri (Regel) Britton & Rose see Mol Phyl & Evol 58: 456-468. 2011 = H. gaertneri (Regel) Barthlott, syn. nov." Rhipsalis.com.
Available @ http://rhipsalis.com/species/gaertneri.htm

"Schlumbergera rosea (Lagerh.) Calvente & Zappi, comb nov Mol Phyl & Evol 58: 456-468. 2011 = Rhipsalis rosea Lagerh., Svensk Bot. Tidskr. 6: 777. 1912. Hatiora rosea (Lagerh.) Barthlott, syn. nov." Rhipsalis.com.
Available @ http://rhipsalis.com/species/rosea.htm

Taylor, N.P.; and Zappi, D. 2013. "Hatiora gaertneri." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T152569A652289. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T152569A652289.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152569/0

Taylor, N.P.; and Zappi, D. 2013. "Hatiora rosea." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T152766A675994. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T152766A675994.en.
Available @ http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/152766/0