That is real nice color. Might have to give this one a try myself.

No doubt Lisa, I also found that Orth. burle-marxii var. seabrae
grows faster than the typical one, here the pic shows both of mine,
I got them from Michael last August, while 'seabrae' looks more vigorous
and ready to bloom on the left, its brother would need much more time.

{{gwi:487921}}

The different of spines between both varieties.

Orthophytum burle-marxii
{{gwi:487922}}

Orthophytum burle-marxii var. seabrae
{{gwi:487923}}

Stephania, yours has a lot more leaves on it than mine, so maybe you will get a flower soon!

Michael says that v. seabrae is easier to grow than the regular burlemarxii and grows faster for him too. It's a really nice plant. If anybody is debating which of the two to get, I'd go with this one.

Here's my Ortho. burle-marxii. One of very few Ortho that I have. It has come close to two years already from Michael. I find the growth is extremely slow. Perhaps it was ignored by me!

{{gwi:487924}}

close-up
{{gwi:487925}}

Lisa / Stephania,
Your photos of b-m seabrae are excellent looking plants.
I noticed a difference in the leaf spines in the two pics of seabrae. Lisa's leaf spines are evenly spaced,none inbetween, where Stephania's are evenly spaced but have two or three smaller spines inbetween the larger evenly spaced spines.
[And both plants came from Michaels.]
Lisa's is a shade darker and more compact,while Stephania's is a much lighter green shade,has more leaves,and is more open.
I'm wondering if this species has sub varieties,as I never noticed these differences before.
And another thing I noticed,...I don't have one. ;^(
Bob

Well, Stephania is obviously fertilizing his plant more than I am, Bob. That would account for all the lush green growth but I'm not sure it would account for all the little teeth-between-the-teeth. His also looks a bit more glossy than mine. Hmmmm.........

Bob / Lisa, if you take a look closely again, Lisa's plant also has that sub-spines too,
see at 14.00 o'clock angle, you can notice some leaves have that kind of spines.

Actually, we never known where did Michael got the 'seabrae',
are they the same clone from vegetative propagation or came from seed-grown ?
If from seed, that why they would have some differences.
I think the best way to find out is asking him (^_

Stephania,
I see what you mean at 14:00,but it may be the leaf below it showing one tip of its spine.
But at 19:00,one of the upper leaves does show one extra inbetwen spine on it. May be another at 21:30,the leaf with the damaged tip. However,tho showing some similarity,your plant is by far,more 'spiney'.
Each plant is very attractive,each in its own way.
How about future photo updates Lisa,as your plant changes color,and blooms.

Bob

14:00? My clocks only go up to 12:00. Does that mean I have to pass 2:00 and go around a second time before I can see it? ;-)

I will post another picture when the flowers open, Bob, but in the meantime here's the picture of Michael's plant that he sent me. If that is a 6" pot, then his plant is clearly much bigger than mine. I'm not seeing too many of the sawtooth spines on his either, but there are a couple at roughly the same location as the ones on mine.

I don't think he grew them from seed, I'm pretty sure they're offsets. He told me he once had a 3-headed one bloom, that must have been something!

{{gwi:438472}}

Yes,...you have it Lisa,...must go around twice. Fast learner ;))
I can spot the extra teeth on M's photo,as you said,about the same area as on yours,2pm and 8pm-ish.
The many extra teeth on Stephania's plant reminds me of the saw blade design you find on the hand saws they sell for cutting tree limbs VvvvV--VvvvV--VvvvV (hard to draw with a keyboard,but you get the idea)
Bob

beautiful Ortho,
i only have comm ordinary variety ^^
Have never expected
Ortho can be so beautiful too

Bob...LOL (^_^) you remind me of a vampirical movies.
Last night, I just watched 'From Dusk Till Dawn' a Star Movies programme.
My 'Seabrae' would be a kind of vampirish mutation :-)

Yes Max, you will not believe how beautiful they could turn up.

This is a pic that was sent to me from one of my good friend,
Dr Joachim Saul in Berlin. I guess it's an Orth. burle-marxii.
He took the pic at xeric collection of Stadtische Sukkulenten Samulung in Switzerland.

{{gwi:487926}}

And this was my blooming Orth. 'Blaze' two months ago
{{gwi:487927}}

In FCBS site, they mentions unclearly that
who is the 'Blaze' hybridizer? DeLeon? or Hendrix?
Anyways, it's a wonder of nature that 'Blaze' came from these parentages.

Ortho. vagans (My plants here are albomarginata variegated)
{{gwi:487928}}

Ortho. navioides (Mine is going to bloom, as its leaves have turned red)
{{gwi:487929}}

By the way, I've tried some crosses by using 'Blaze' as seed parent
and choosing Ortho. 'Iron Ore' and 'Mother Lode' as pollen parents.

What I had done : Exposed the stigma.
{{gwi:487931}}

Collected pollens from 'Iron Ore' which has gene pool of
Ortho. magalhaesii and O.saxicola 'Green form.
{{gwi:487933}}

And from 'Mother Lode' which has both, Ortho gurkenii & magalhaesii.
{{gwi:487935}}

Pollinating.
{{gwi:487937}}

And weeks later, I think it's done (^_^)
{{gwi:487939}}

Progress report-- 10 days after the first picture:

{{gwi:487942}}

Stay tuned.....

Very interesting, I can't wait mine in bloom (^_^)

First flower opened this morning, so that makes it about 3 1/2 weeks since it started to color up.

I brought it up to the house to play with, although Michael said he didn't have any luck trying to cross it to anything. Still I'm going to try...... ;-)

{{gwi:487945}}

Very impressive Lisa (*_*)"

As you mentioned, mine also gonna bloom...it's colored up now.

{{gwi:487948}}

{{gwi:487953}}

{{gwi:487955}}

Why is yours so glossy, Stephania? Is it wet? It doesn't even look like the same species, but with that size I'm sure it will be spectacular when it blooms, so be sure to post pictures!

More flowers open today:

{{gwi:487957}}

I wish I had an O. navioides still blooming, but I collected some of b-m's pollen and put it in the freezer, so hopefully it'll still be good by the time I get another nav bloom.

I have a lot of the "tall" Orthos blooming, so I'll try it with gurkenii and aff. magelhaesii, but I really am more interested in putting it on the Neos. The pollen is fairly copious, loose and bright yellow, so you can really see it sticking to the stigma. I wish Neo pollen was as visible.

{{gwi:487961}}

The stamens surround and cover its own stigma, though, so it's impossible to remove them without self-pollinating it. Not that I'd mind getting a bunch of self seed of this, but I have the feeling it's probably self-infertile. I'll have to ask Michael about that. At any rate, it seems better to use it as a pollen parent.

I'm not overly optimistic, but we'll see. I'd really like to get something along the lines of O. 'Andrea', but a xNeophytum!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:487919}}

Lisa, your Ortho pics just keep getting better and more interesting each time you post. Its a pleasure to see it develop in time-lapse,as you have been showing them. I'd have to say that the low,flat growing Orthos are really eye appealing,and put on a great technicolor show for us.
Really 'lost world' kind of broms.
I was wondering why Stephania's plant was so glossy too.
Looking forward to its blooming cycle as well.
Bob

Thanks, Bob. They look to me like something that should be growing on a coral reef.

I want them all: amoenum, hatchbachii, humile, heleniceae, mucugensis, sanguinea...... and I can't wait for my albopictum to bloom!

Lisa, yep,coral reef is the right location for them .They remind me of starfish. Hope you manage to get all of those 'heart's desires'. That would be quite the show when in bloom.
Bob

Hi Lisa & Bob (^_^)

Yep, I took photos in the morning after a heavy rain.
Anyway, the plant looks less glossy as normal, a day before the above photos.

{{gwi:487963}}

Up to date...

{{gwi:487964}}

Stephania,

Correct me if I'm wrong. Looks like your ortho. have 2 flowering heads

I only see one head but it looks like the rising sun!

Funny how much more sunk in the middle yours is, Stephania, probably because it's got so much more foliage on it than mine.

When the flowers do start to pop, they burn fast and furious. I took this 4 days ago when it had 15 flowers open at once. It's just about finished now.

{{gwi:487966}}