Hi! I see you there, reading away on your phone. I hope you are enjoying your lovely warm summer, I know I am. Did you ever wonder how many plants you could fit on your deck alongside the bbq grill? I am now ready to reveal this answer for you.
But first I would like to share with you the fun fact that there are 1600 species of cactus in the world, not including varieties and cultivars. Of course, even if I weren’t making that number up, I would have to say that you can’t make any claim like that with perfect confidence since there may be undiscovered species, maybe high in the Andes. etc. So how many cactus species are there actually? According to Wikipedia, there are actually about 1750 species of cactus, referencing: Christenhusz, M. J. M. & Byng, J. W. (2016), “The number of known plants species in the world and its annual increase”. I checked the reference and they do count plant species.
“We have counted the currently known, described and accepted number of plant species as ca 374,000, of which approximately
308,312 are vascular plants, with 295,383 flowering plants”
and by Family, the part that includes Cactus, click here.
Cactus, Cactaceae have 1750 species. Iceplants, Aizoaceae have 1900! Ocotillos, Fouquieriaceae have just 11 species.
Please note that we will be CLOSED for Inventory Sept. 2-9, 2026. Please do not stop by and bang on doors, and I know you want to, but we will not respond. This is the first time in many years that we are doing this, please be patient with us – we will be back Sept. 10!!! Yay.
Cactus Jungle, Marin
Ross Valley Nursery
130 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
San Anselmo, CA 94960
(415) 870-9930
Hours:
Wed-Fri 10a-4:30p
Sat-Sun 10a-5p
Closed Mon-Tue
Annual Inventory:
Closed Sept 2 – 9, 2026
Reopen Sept 10, 10am
PLANTS
Trichodiadema barbatum is one of those 1900 species in the Iceplant family (Aizoaceae). They have pretty daisy-like flowers, though they are not daisies. They are iceplants. Wikipedia prefers to call it the Fig-Marigold family. Though neither Figs nor Marigolds are in this particular plant family. Figs (Ficus) are in the Mulberry Family (Moraceae) and Marigolds are daisies, in the Aster (Asteraceae) Family.
Sedum “Atlantis” is a lot of fun. It exudes fun. It wallows in everyday fun activities like taking walks along the creek and jumping once or twice on a trampoline but not more than that because then it’s not fun, it’s just sarcasm.
Aeonium floresens is small fleshy rosettes. I use the word fleshy like this were a Rubens painting, but it’s not like that at all. Well, maybe a little.
Pedlianthus macrocarpus is called the Slipper Plant because those little red flowers are slipper shaped. Makes sense to me. See this picture of a red slipper and compare it to the photo above and let me know if you agree.
Ferocactus gracilis is a red-spined barrel cactus, known as the Red-Spined Barrel Cactus so it’s pretty easy to remember.
Aralia “Ming” is known as the Ming Aralia, so it’s easy to remember. It’s species name is Polyscias fruticosa which is not as easy to remember but I have a trick – I go to cactusjungle.com and enter Ming Aralia in the search bar and click and follow and read and back up and try other plants to see if it works and it still does so you know it’s good.
Today’s email text has no theme, it’s just a bunch of random thoughts, my thoughts. You have thoughts too? Get your own monthly email! This one is mine and this picture is Aeonium atropurpureum cristata.
Now I feel bad, I didn’t mean to snipe at you it just came out that way. Instead, if you send me your thoughts I promise I will include (some of) them in next month’s email that is mine. This plant is Parodia magnifica.
PLANTS, PART 2
Peperomia prostrata is the small-leaved String of Turtles. Some think it looks more like a Dischidia, which is me, I think that, but they tell me I am wrong. The flowers are the real tell though, they do not lie, and there is no question that those are Peperomia flowers.
Kalanchoe “Fire Rainbow” is not to be confused with Kalanchoe “Dragonfire”. This one is “Fire Rainbow”. You can tell the difference because I am posting these photos right here for you – look at the photos! These are nothing alike.
Kalanchoe “Dragonfire” is nothing like the Kalanchoe “Fire Rainbow” right above. There is some real clarity going on here, distinguishing 2 plants with similar names that look nothing alike, but are closely related anyway. Wouldn’t it be funny if I got the pictures backwards?
Euphorbia obesa, the baseball plant, has been featured here recently so instead I’ll talk about baseball – how about them Giants! Not that I care, I’m a Red Sox fan, so you can hate me for that. Go Sox.
Conophytum christiansenianum is almost out of stock, they have been selling so fast. But you’ll still have this picture to treasure even after they are all gone.
Euphorbia lactea “White Ghost” reminds me of this story from 3-Sentence Horror Stories, “When we first bought our house, I found a random door in our basement. However, when I tried to show my wife the door, she asked me if I was pranking her because she couldn’t see it. No one else that I’ve shown the door to can see it or feel it, and when people started getting worried, I dropped it to save face. The only reason I bring it up now is because the scratching from the other side is getting louder, and I feel the door will not hold it back much longer.”
Do you know how many short ghost stories I read before deciding to share that one with you? It’s a lot of work to write these! Like this one: Haworthia “Choco Red” is a windowed Haworthia with chocolate-red hue. See! This is a job.
Bulbine frutescens, but what about the upcoming super El Niño this winter? Let’s treat this as an Open Thread for El Niño discussions. I’ll keep it open thru Sunday for your discussion.
Salvia greggii “Mirage Cherry Red” comes along and asks the question, “Why is Tr*mp insulting South Korea for Kim Jong Un’s benefit?”
Cuphea “Strybing Sunset” is a cigar plant covered with orange cigars the size of a tiny orange cigar, which is not a thing that exists, except right here, right now. And here, click here, you will not be disappointed.
PLANTS, PART 3
Sansevieria “Black Coral” is neither black, nor coral. I love it!
Plectranthus “Emerald Lace” is both emerald and lacy. Fine.
Opuntia pycnantha has very sharp spines so you will want to handle it from a distance of no less than 3 meters. Spiny damn plants.
Agave medio-picta “Alba” hasn’t been featured in our emails since probably back in the 20th century but that doesn’t mean we stopped carrying them. We still have them! Big ones, too!
Echinocactus grusonii is golden-spined and will glow gold in full sun. But it is very dangerous so don’t fall over. It is pretty and dangerous, pretty dangerous, like a King Midas of cactus.
Our final plant today, before we get to the non-plant pictures I will share with you below, is the Sedum “Firestorm”. Shall we move on?
Gifts, Vases, Pots, AND Toys
Howlite Quartz Crystal Sphere is the whitest gem we carry and it’s ROUND!
Gabrielle Vase is the first sample I am sharing with you of a new collection of vases and bowls we will be adding to our store over the next few months. Look for more to come.
Wild Mushroom Pot is one of our newest pots that come with a saucer and is not like our other pots, so not just a new color, but a new design and shape. We’re changing things up!
Like this Gingko Biloba Pot that comes with a substantial deep saucer.
For new toys we have blind box iRobotCat. Some sit upright on their robot vac, others are more comfortable lying low.
And Lulu Piggy Animal Party Blind Box – so many choices!
We are now carrying plushies – adding a whole new toy type to our collections. These are the Croco Nanas. They are soft and cute, just like you like your plushies.
Finally, if you have read all the way down, we have new soaps and lotions from Twisted Tomboy for you.