Friday 16 November 2018 – Diamantina to Jequitai
Before our two days away to Itamarandiba, we had asked the staff in our Diamantina hotel to do some washing for us and to have it ready for our departure this morning, after breakfast. I’m not quite sure what went wrong, but when we came to check out, the washing had not yet arrived back from the laundry. A couple of hours later and the problem was resolved, with some tuning to the still damp items needed as various items got mixed up.
Our first stop (S3670) was for a Discocactus population that had survived a flash fire that had damaged the epidermis but had not killed the plants. In fact, the plant was in bud, ready to flower tonight.
Next, we stopped to photograph Cipocereus bradei (S3671) that Graham Charles includes in his category ‘best left in habitat’ as the plants that he includes in his Brazil talks are quite marked, not worthy of including in a show back home. But the plants here were unmarked and would certainly look great on any show bench!
S3672 was for another Discocactus population (D. placentiformis?)
At S3673 we saw a moss-like plant that still has me confused:
At various presentations back in the UK and in Denmark wanted to help me out and suggested Llareta – Azorella compacta. And that is what I would have said if I was standing at over 3,000 m. altitude somewhere in the Andes. But we were in Minas Gerais, Brazil at around 700 m. So what is the plant? A moss?
S3674 was another Discocactus population. Still D. placentiformis? Marlon, help!!
The Cactus Trip Diaries 