journal

6 THE CACTUS AND SUCCULENT January, 1951
THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO SUCCULENTS
Champions of fact, fad and fable
By GORDON D. ROWLEY
INSTALMENT ONE
The news of the formation of an International Organisation for Succulent Plant Research—news that will be
welcomed by all seriously interested in the study of succulents—re-opens the old thorny question of the relations
between the scientist and the amateur grower. For years a gulf between them has been apparent, and at worst
this has led to harsh words and isolationism on behalf of just those parties that should be working hand in hand.
The amateurs, forming the vast majority, saw no inducement to attempt to understand the savants, whom they
regarded (often quite justifiably) as incomprehensible and out of touch with any such down-to-earth everyday
topics as plant cultivation. The scientists, for their part, grew cliquish and looked down their learned noses at
anything that had not the official sanction of a University or Research Station. Shall the twain never meet ?
My interest here is two fold. I want, first, to show that both scientist and amateur have something to offer
each other ; that by joining forces their joint effort would be more than merely the sum of the two parts put
together. Then, second, I want to suggest how you,—yes, even the humble grower with a tiny glasshouse—can
make real contributions to the study of succulents if you have but three qualifications ; time, patience, and the
enthusiasm to learn.
First Impressions ; The dark ages
If one looks into the history that lies behind succulent growing in England today, or makes any attempt to
assess how much is reality and how much old wives' tales in current literature, one fact stands out pre-eminently.
It is that the amateur, not the scientist, laid the foundations, ran up the walls, and very nearly tiled the v/hole roof
of our present day knowledge of these most curious plants. In cultivation, at least, practically all our notions go
back to the Smiths and the Joneses who killed a hundred plants in growing three successfully on their sitting-room
window sills or conservatory shelves.
The Scientist
On the other hand, in botanic gardens, universities and research stations no group of plants has been more
neglected, and hence none has lagged farther behind in specialist treatment. The reasons for this, so far as any can
be assigned, are obvious to those with a little experience of growing these plants. They have, to begin with, the
initial and largely false reputation of being difficult to grow. Some, undoubtedly, are. Others are so amenable
to glasshouse treatment that they are every bit as difficult to kill. Then they lack the utilitarian value of the potato,
and the obvious voluptuous gorgeousness of the rose ; theirs is a much more subtle beauty that is often only fully
realised when one has lived with the plant all the year round. Again, because many are so prolific and multiply
so freely, they escape that " rarity complex " that enshrouds the orchids, which are collectors' pieces from the
moment their fungal partner launches the seedling into its perilous and fragile existence. Finally—and this is
perhaps the most potent influence of all in bringing disfavour on succulents—they never know when they are
beaten. Where every other greenhouse plant succumbs to drought, overcrowding, suffocation and starvation,
the Cactus lives on, wrinkling with age and adversity like some embittered hermit to a ghastly skeleton of living
death, expressing in every gnarled deformity the torment of a hostile world. The result ? That collections
everywhere are cluttered up with these veteran warriors, and the public at large sees no reason to change its belief
that Cacti are the freaks of the vegetable world ; nature's little legpull for all the other beautiful things she has
provided. A succulent collection can, after a remarkably short period of neglect, lose its sparkle and freshness ;
if the plants died, no one would be any the wiser, but they do not—they go on, unless a rare benefactor again takes
them in hand, to shout aloud for the rest of their days the struggles of their youth.
So much for the scientist ; our duty to him lies clear. We must build up and publicise collections of such
high quality, authenticity and clean condition that he will be attracted to grow and study them.
The Amateur
Now for the amateur—what of his rights and wrongs ?
I have already handed him a bouquet for so much donkey-work in building up our knowledge of succulents
in cultivation, but how much of that knowledge will stand the test of experiment ?