Woody Minnich

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Wendell S. Minnich, better known as "Woody" Minnich (born 1947), is an American field explorer, photographer, grower, and lecturer primarily known for his extensive field documentation of cacti and succulents.

Contents

Early life

Born in Ohio in 1947, Woody was raised in the Mojave Desert by his father, an outdoorsman and a rocket scientist involved in the development of the Sidewinder missile, and his mother, a painter. [1] He developed an interest in desert flora and fauna during the 1950s when his father would bring him along to the desert areas surrounding the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake. [1] [2] During college he would commute home through the Simi Valley, driving by a house with a cactus garden. The owners (Bill and Ellen Lowe) gifted him his first plants and introduced him to the cactus scene in Baja. [1]

Later on he was noticed by Werner Rauh, then Director of Heidelberg's botanical gardens, who introduced him to field research and invited him on his expeditions. [1]

Contributions

Woody has traveled the world documenting cacti and succulents in their habitats on more than 128 major trips. [3] While over 70 were in Mexico, [4] he has also explored Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Madagascar, Namibia, New Zealand, Peru, South Africa, the United States, and Yemen. [3] [5] During his trips he claims to have discovered three major species of Mammillaria, including Mammillaria minnichii, found in Oaxaca, Mexico and named after him. [2] However, the name Mammillaria minnichii has not been validly published in the scientific literature, and is not found in any biodiversity databases (e.g. Plants of the World Online).

His photographs have been published in many books and journals, including Mammillaria: the cactus file handbook (Pilbeam, 1999), Echeveria Cultivars (Schulz and Kappitany, 2005), The New Cactus Lexicon (Graham and Hunt, 2006), Copiapa (Schulz, 2016), Cactus and Succulent Journal, as well as Xerophile: Cactus Photographs from Expeditions of the Obsessed (Cactus Store, 2021), where he is listed as the primary photographer.

Woody is a recognized international speaker, having used his experience in both the field and his nursery to lecture at conventions, events, and organizations around the world, in countries such as Argentina, Australia, England, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, and the United States. [6]

He is an honorary life member of 9 clubs and a life member of the CSSA (Cactus & Succulent Society of America). Over the span of his career, he has covered many leadership roles at various organizations, including being President of the Los Angeles Cactus and Succulent Society [4] and co-creator and current President of the Santa Fe Cactus and Succulent Club. [3] While it has been claimed he was President of the CSSA, [7] this contradicts CSSA records.

Since 1975, Woody has operated the nursery Cactus Data Plants, known for catering to hardcore cactus growers and collectors. [2]

Following an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in March 1985 undercover agents seized 220 endangered cacti, including Aztekium ritteri and Ariocarpus agavoides, smuggled to the United States from Mexico, from several locations, including Cactus Data Plants operated by Woody, then located in Littlerock, CA. Woody and others were indicted on federal charges in May 1986. [8] Being found guilty of charges of conspiracy and unlawful importation of CITES- and ESA-protected species, Woody was fined $2,500, put on supervised probation for five years, and had his car confiscated. [9]

Personal life

Woody lives with his wife in Cedar Grove, New Mexico. He is of German and 1/64 Sac and Fox heritage. In the 60s he played guitar in The Humane Society (band). [1] For over 32 years he worked as a secondary school teacher of Graphics, Art, and Architecture, until he retired in 2003. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cactus</span> Family of mostly succulent plants, adapted to dry environments

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word κάκτος (káktos), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. They are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north, with the exception of Rhipsalis baccifera, which is also found in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cacti are adapted to live in very dry environments, including the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of true leaves, cacti's enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barrel cactus</span> Type of cactus

Barrel cacti are various members of the two genera Echinocactus and Ferocactus, endemic to the deserts of Southwestern North America southward to north central Mexico. Some of the largest specimens are found in the Sonoran Desert.

<i>Echinopsis</i> Genus of cacti

Echinopsis is a genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. As of October 2023, there are about 20 accepted species, ranging from large and treelike types to small globose cacti. The name derives from echinos hedgehog or sea urchin, and opsis appearance, a reference to these plants' dense coverings of spines.

<i>Mammillaria</i> Genus of cactus mostly from Mexico

Mammillaria is one of the largest genera in the cactus family (Cactaceae), with currently 200 known species and varieties recognized. Most of the mammillaria are native to Mexico, but some come from the southwest United States, the Caribbean, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala and Honduras. The common name "pincushion cactus" refers to this and the closely related genus Escobaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishhook cactus</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Fishhook cactus is a common name for any hook-spined species of the genera Mammillaria, Echinomastus, Sclerocactus, or Cochemiea. They are small cacti, usually growing up to 6-7 inches (20 cm) high, and are shaped similar to a barrel cactus. They are not to be confused with the fishhook barrel cactus of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts. The Fishhook cactus is a large category of around 150 species.

<i>Cochemiea dioica</i> Species of cactus

Cochemiea dioica, also called the strawberry cactus, California fishhook cactus, strawberry pincushion or fishhook cactus, is a cactus species of the genus Cochemiea. Its common name in Spanish is biznaga llavina. Temperature along with precipitation are consequential factors in distributing plant species.

The Cactus and Succulent Society of America (CSSA) is a horticultural society which is based in Pasadena, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamaulipan matorral</span> Xeric shrubland ecoregion in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, Mexico

The Tamaulipan matorral is an ecoregion in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Oriental range in northeastern Mexico. It is a transitional ecoregion between the Tamaulipan mezquital and the Sierra Madre Oriental pine-oak forests to the west and the Veracruz moist forests to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert Garden Conservatory</span> Botanical greenhouse in San Marino, California

The Desert Garden Conservatory is a large botanical greenhouse and part of the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, in San Marino, California. It was constructed in 1985. The Desert Garden Conservatory is adjacent to the 10-acre (40,000 m2) Huntington Desert Garden itself. The garden houses one of the most important collections of cacti and other succulent plants in the world, including a large number of rare and endangered species. The 3,000-square-foot (280 m2) Desert Garden Conservatory serves The Huntington and public communities as a conservation facility, research resource and genetic diversity preserve. John N. Trager is the Desert Collection curator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huntington Desert Garden</span>

The Huntington Desert Garden is part of The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. The Desert Garden is one of the world's largest and oldest collections of cacti, succulents and other desert plants, collected from throughout the world. It contains plants from extreme environments, many of which were acquired by Henry E. Huntington and William Hertrich in trips taken to several countries in North, Central and South America. One of the Huntington's most botanically important gardens, the Desert Garden brought together a group of plants largely unknown and unappreciated in the beginning of the 1900s. Containing a broad category of xerophytes, the Desert Garden grew to preeminence and remains today among the world's finest, with more than 5,000 species in the 10 acre garden.

<i>Mammillaria spinosissima</i> Species of cactus from Mexico

Mammillaria spinosissima, also known as the spiny pincushion cactus, is a species of flowering plant in the cactus family Cactaceae, endemic to the central Mexican states of Guerrero and Morelos, where they grow at elevations of approximately 1,600 to 1,900 metres. The species was described in 1838 by James Forbes, gardener of the Duke of Bedford. Botanist David Hunt collected a specimen in 1971, when he located one near Sierra de Tepoztlan, Mexico.

Richard Ernest Kunze was a physician. He came to the United States in 1854, and was graduated at the Eclectic Medical College of New York in 1868, subsequently becoming a member of the board of trustees of this institution, was president of the New York Therapeutical Association in 1880, introduced to the medical profession various drugs derived from cacti, and added greatly to the previous knowledge of medical botany. He published a series of monographs on Cactus ; Cereus Grandiflorus and Cereus bonplandi (1876); Cereus triangularis and Phyllocactus grandis (1876); Cardinal Points in the Study of Medical Botany ; and The Germination and Vitality of Seeds (1881).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erich Werdermann</span> German botanist (1892–1959)

Erich Werdermann was a German botanist.

<i>Pelecyphora sneedii</i> Species of cactus

Pelecyphora sneedii is a rare species of cactus known by the common names Sneed's pincushion cactus and carpet foxtail cactus. It is endemic to the Chihuahuan Desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is a small, variable cactus with a lengthy taxonomic history, and is often subdivided into a number of subspecies or varieties. It is usually found on steep, rocky habitats, primarily of limestone geology, in desert scrub or coniferous forest. A species of conservation concern, P. sneedii faces threats from poaching, urban encroachment, and wildfires.

Robert Runyon was an American photographer, botanist, and politician who served as the mayor of Brownsville, Texas from 1941 to 1943.

<i>Cochemiea barbata</i> Species of cactus

Cochemiea barbata is a small cactus native to Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango, with the common name greenflower nipple cactus. It is found in mountainous locations in the Sierra Madre Occidental. It has delicate white to pink flowers. The fruits are red and oblong. They are edible but too small to be of much food value to humans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heinrich Poselger</span> German botanist (1818–1883)

Heinrich Poselger was a German botanist who specialized in studies of succulent plants.

<i>Mammillaria bocasana</i> Species of cactus

Mammillaria bocasana is a species of cactus in the subfamily Cactoideae. It is often sold as a "powder puff" cactus, and also as a "Powder Puff Pincushion." The plant is protected from collecting in the wild in Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helia Bravo Hollis</span> Mexican botanist (1901–2001)

Helia Bravo Hollis was a Mexican botanist who did research in the Faculty of Science at UNAM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gordon Rowley</span> British botanist and writer (1921–2019)

Gordon Douglas Rowley (1921–2019) was a British botanist and writer specialising in cacti and succulents.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Xerophile: Cactus Photographs from Expeditions of the Obsessed (Revised ed.). Ten Speed Press. 2021. pp. 331–333. ISBN   9781984859341.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Eryn (2005-09-29). "He knows their every spine". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  3. 1 2 3 "Woody Minnich | March 1st Speaker". Gates Cactus and Succulent Society. 2023-02-24. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  4. 1 2 Woody Minnich - Bromeliads in the Americas - Sept 5, 2015 - Part One , retrieved 2024-03-14
  5. ↑ "Inside the Indiana Jones-like World of Cactus Explorers". PBS SoCal. 2017-08-25. Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  6. ↑ "Brief Biography of Wendell S. (Woody) Minnich" (PDF). New Mexico Cactus Society. 2011.
  7. ↑ McGivney, Annette (2019-02-20). "'Yanked from the ground': cactus theft is ravaging the American desert". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-03-14.
  8. ↑ Palermo, Dave (1986-05-30). "Rare Plants From Mexico : 9 Indicted in Cacti Smuggling". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
  9. ↑ "Cacti Collectors Fined" (PDF). Traffic Bulletin. 8 (3): 35. 4 November 1986.
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