Hechtia gayorum is a species of plant in the genus Hechtia and is the only monoecious species within the genus.[1] It is known commonly as the Gay hechtia. This species is endemic to a small region west of San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico.[2]
| Hechtia gayorum | |
|---|---|
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| The illustration from the protologue | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Bromeliaceae |
| Genus: | Hechtia |
| Species: | H. gayorum
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| Binomial name | |
| Hechtia gayorum | |
| Synonyms | |
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Ed and Betty Gay of Tarzana, Los Angeles, California initially discovered the species in 1968 in a canyon west of San José del Cabo. The couple collected propagules and gave them to the Huntington Library, who subsequently introduced the plants into cultivation under Hechtia montana as the cultivar 'Burgundy', in reference to the red coloring of the leaves on the cultivated plants.[3]
No 'Burgundy' plants had ever bloomed in cultivation, until a specimen grown at the California Botanic Garden (formerly the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, or RSABG) finally bloomed in March of 1994. The inflorescence was evidently not that of Hechtia montana, the only known Hechtia on the Baja California Peninsula, and so the undescribed species was named in 1995 as Hechtia gayii by Lee W. Lenz, after Ed and Betty Gay.[3]
References edit
- ^ Espejo-Serna, Adolfo; López-Ferrari, Ana Rosa; Ramírez-morillo, Ivón; Holst, Bruce K.; Luther, Harry E.; Till, Walter (1 June 2004). "Checklist of Mexican Bromeliaceae with Notes on Species Distribution and Levels of Endemism". Selbyana. 25 (1): 33–86. ISSN 2689-0682. JSTOR 41760147.
- ^ Rebman, Jon P.; Gibson, Judy; Rich, Karen (15 November 2016). "Annotated Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Baja California, Mexico" (PDF). Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 45. San Diego Natural History Museum: 275 – via San Diego Plant Atlas.
- ^ a b Lenz, Lee W. (1995). "A New Species of Hechita (Bromeliaceae, Pitcairnoideae) from the Cape Region, Baja California Sur, Mexico". Aliso. Claremont, CA: Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden: 59–61. doi:10.5642/aliso.19951401.06.
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