Bridgesii
Baker
Well documentedBaker, more precisely Baker 5452, is a collected in the La Paz region of Bolivia and obtained for B. Baker by J. Cruz. Growers know it for slim columns and bright yellow-green spines in threes, with occasional melty growth, and it appears constantly as a parent in Misplant seed lists under the short name Baker. The catch is that a second, unrelated plant also travels under the name Baker, so the label alone does not tell you which one you have.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
- glaucous green
- yellow-green spines
- slim columns
- sometimes melty
At a glance
Species
Parents
No source names a mother or a father for this one.
Origin
no source says whether it is seed-grown or a cutting line
In the yard
Family line
No source in this library records a confirmed cross for Baker, and no other entry here names it as a parent. What the record does hold is below.
A wild-collected plant rather than a bred one; it is used as a parent in other people's crosses, where seed lists shorten its name to Baker.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
The longer version
It was collected from a garden in Jayuri, Murillo Province, La Paz, Bolivia.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
The breeder Misplant has used it heavily in crosses, listing it in seed offerings simply as Baker, as in Baker x Reynolds or Baker x Eileen.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
A second, genetically separate plant also circulates as Baker; it was handed out around 2018 or 2019 and is reported to have come from Diego .Reported, but not confirmed.
A Californian nursery selling this collection gives it far more precisely than the wiki page does: collected by Julio Cruz at Murillo in the Jayuri province of Bolivia on 20 March 1983, out of the Bill Baker collection.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.That is a second source on the collector, and the first anywhere here to carry a date and a locality for the number.Reported, but not confirmed.
The same nursery separately sells a different bridgesii it calls Baker #2, sourced from a grower who raised many plants from the Baker collections, and says in as many words that it is a separate plant from the better-known 5452.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.The warning above — that more than one plant circulates as Baker — is therefore not only the wiki's: it is visible in one seller's catalogue as two products.Reported, but not confirmed.
Where the name comes from
The plant carrying the number 5452 was obtained for B. Baker by J. Cruz.Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
Character
Not documented yet.
- nearly smooth to heavily spined: this one leans towards heavily spined, read from the spines line below.
Not documented yet.
- Skin
- Glaucous green, in the usual bridgesii style.One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. Glaucous green skin is entirely typical for this group.
- Spines
- Fairly long and bright green to yellow, typically three to an .One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. Long spines in the green-to-yellow range and three per areole are all within normal range for the genus.
- Growth habit
- Slim bridgesii columns, occasionally turning semi-monstrose or melty.One source states this, and our house botanist has checked it. The source only reports occasional semi-monstrose or melty growth, which does not support calling the plant monstrose.
- Notes
- The wiki page notes sensitivity to humidity, which can leave dark spots on the .Too little stands behind this for us to confirm it.
What the sources say
At least two genetically distinct plants circulate as Baker: the 5452 collection and a separate distributed around 2018 or 2019. The habit of shortening Baker 5452 to Baker in seed lists is named on the wiki page as the direct cause of the confusion.Reported, but not confirmed.
Related names
Keep exploring
Cultivar histories in this hobby are passed between growers; where sources disagree we say so rather than pick a side.