All the information and photos in cactus art file are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

Lobivia jajoiana is probably the best species for really flashy flowers
that are of a unique beauty.
 

Description: It is a small cactus that usually grows solitary or in groups.
Stem: Soft, about 5 to 7 cm across, gray-green to dark green, at first spherical, egg-shaped, then elongate as they ages. The crown is slightly depressed and covered with whitish wool
Ribs: 10-14, compressed, running downward and divided into slanting tubercles whose arrangement creates the impression of a wavy line.
Areoles: 3 mm across, with grey-white felt.
Spines: Of different length, usually straight or slightly bent, directed upward, dark brown to blackish in youth, later grey.
Radial spines: Approximately 10 or less, about 1 cm long.
Central spines: 1 to 3, strong, dark, frequently red; the upper spine usually attains a length of 3 cm and is often hooked and thickened basally (but sometime the longest of them may reach the length of 4-6 cm).
Root: Thick taproot.
Flowers: Arising from the basal tubercles on the side of the plant, up to 7 cm wide, their colors is very variable, going from yellow to orange, tomato-red, vine-red and also happening through all the imaginable tones of violet.  All of them have in common that the hymen (or throat ring of the flower) is always of a very dark purple-violet to black, thickened at the edge and glossy. The stamens are purple, the anthers yellow.

There are a number of varieties and forms of this highly variable cactus species, but not all are universally recognized. Some authorities recognize the following varieties: 

• Lobivia jajoiana var. aurata
• Lobivia jajoiana var. caspalasensis
• Lobivia jajoiana var. elegans
• Lobivia jajoiana var. fleischeriana  Plant with red flower
• Lobivia jajoiana var. nidularis
• Lobivia jajoiana var. nigrostoma  Plant with yellow or orangish flower, frequently with somewhat violet margins
• Lobivia jajoiana var. paucicostata Plant with fewer ribs and a with a white throat
• Lobivia jajoiana var. pungens
• Lobivia jajoiana var. striatipetala
• Lobivia jajoana var. vatteri

Curiosity:  It's a hopeless task to cross-pollinate Echinopsis and L. jajoiana. But nobody has yet had any success in transferring the black throat of L jajoiana flower to that of an Echinopsis. The attempts to produce a pure white flower with a black throat in Lobivia has also failed.
 

Cultivation: It is a summer-growing species that offers no cultivation difficulties.  Water regularly in summer (but do not over-water).  The fluctuations of temperature between the day and the night (especially the temperature reduction at night) and fresh soil, greatly contribute to the health of plants. They require as much sun and light as possible, and pure air availability.  They cannot tolerate stagnant heat. The substratum must be very porous, slightly acidic, with good drainage.  They require a deep pot to accommodate a large root system.  It is quite frost resistant if kept dry (hardy to  -5° C)

Propagation: Propagate by seed or shoots.

Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants belonging to the Echinopsis (lobivia) marsoneri  complex (This Taxon has lots of synonyms ( like many other cacti), with several controversial varieties and subspecies, and comprises a multitude of different forms, but where each form is linked to others by populations of plants with intermediate characteristics):

• Lobivia jajoiana (Echinopsis marsoneri)
• Lobivia jajoiana v. paucicostata (Echinopsis marsoneri v. paucicostata)

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Scientific name:  Lobivia jajoiana Backeberg.
KuaS, 1985, H. 2, S. 21.

Origin:  North Argentina (Province of Salta and Jujuy) at around 3000 m in altitude.

Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2.
 

• Echinopsis marsoneri Werderm. 1932
• Echinopsis jajoiana Hort.
• Lobivia chrysantha subsp. jajoiana
• Lobivia jajoiana var. aurata
• Lobivia jajoiana var. caspalasensis
• Lobivia jajoiana var. elegans
• Lobivia jajoiana var. fleischeriana Backeb., 1934
• Lobivia jajoiana var. nidularis
• Lobivia jajoiana var. nigrostoma
• Lobivia jajoiana var. paucicostata
• Lobivia jajoiana var. pungens
• Lobivia jajoiana var. striatipetala
• Lobivia jajoana var. vatteri (Krainz) Ulmann, 1990

The hymen are always of a very dark purple-violet-black, thickened at the edge and glossy. The stamens are purple, the anthers cream-yellowish and the stigma greenish.

All the information and photos in cactus art file are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.