The first one is coast hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus maritimus maritimus) that has decided to bloom in November. I have seen this plant in the wild on Punta Banda just south of Ensenada, and it was blooming profusely. But flowering is a rare event for the one in my garden, so I'm super excited about it.
The Echinocereus genus is commonly called hedgehog cactus because of its resemblance to the small, shy, spiny European mammal. There are six taxa of Echinocereus native to California, all from the interior deserts. In contrast, maritimus is found only along the coast from Ensenada southward. The wild plants I've seen were large mounds, not very tall but 3-6 ft. in diameter. Rebman and Roberts say that it prefers sea air and sedimentary soils, both of which I have, so it appears to be very happy. I've had this plant 20+years. It started as a single stem. It now has 22 stems, so it has added a stem per year, on average. Maritimus is the only species of Echinocereus in Baja that produces a yellow flower, and mine has probably bloomed 5-10 times since I've had it. I don't know what its pollinator is, and I don't think I have ever seen mine produce fruit. Maybe it will flower more often now that it has reached a more mature size.
The second plant that is changing is Dudleya candida. This lovely succulent is endemic to the Coronados Islands, just south of the border, and I have had a couple of them for about 10 years. I've never been to the Coronados, so I've never seen candida in the wild. Like the Echincereus, it seems quite happy in my garden. In fact, I have them planted almost side-by-side. The change that is happening now is a new rosette emerging right at the base of the Echinocereus.
This is the second time my D. candida have produced offspring (see my post of Sept. 29), and I don't know whether these babies are coming from seed or sprouting from the roots. I know that Dudleyas can produce pups around their base, but my two babies are several inches away from the base of the mother plants, so I'm inclined to think they are seedlings. In either case, it's a great sign whenever a plant is able to reproduce.
The third plant of this Baja trilogy is Dudleya pachyphytum. It is endemic to Cedros Island which is much further south. I have never been there either, but I was attracted to the somewhat unusual leaf morphology of this plant. The leaves are quite plump for a Dudleya. The prefix "pachy" refers to elephants, so one could say the leaves are elephantine. Of course, they swell and shrink depending on how much moisture is available to them.
I've had this one for somewhat less than 10 years. It has been growing happily in a pot, but recently the larger of its two stems broke off. This happens with some succulents, and it is often possible to get the broken off stem to re-root by laying it on the soil and leaving it undisturbed for awhile. So I'm going to try that and see if it works. The stem is also swollen, like a caudex, as you can see in the photo below.
I did this successfully once before with a Cochemia poselgeri, another Baja cactus. Stems break off this species quite easily. When I accidentally broke one, I just laid it back on the soil and it eventually re-rooted. In the photo below, the large stem on the right is the one that broke off and re-rooted. So I'm optimistic about the pachyphytum.
Apparently these Dudleya species have become very popular in Asia, and poachers have been stealing them from Cedros Island and other places. Here's a link to an article about the problem.
https://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/succulent-smuggling-ring-california-dudleya
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