Epithelantha ilariae

Epithelantha ilariae D.Donati & Zanov. (2010)

🌵 Author(s)

Etymology

Named for “Ilaria Montanari, a young child suffering a very serious illness, and to all the suffering children in the world”.

Davide Donati (Acta Succulenta 2(1): 3. 2014):

Once upon a time there was an Epithelantha so nice and white that it had to be named “Epithelantha nivea” (i.e. snow-white). It was like a tiny snowball in the middle of the desert, where the dryness is extreme: what a contrast! And, in these conditions, the plant survived, or even better, actually thrived!

Once upon a time there was a beautiful child…

Then a phone call: “Ilaria feels very poorly”.

Ilaria, one year old, was suffering a terrible, incurable liver disease, and her health was getting worse every day.

Everybody was powerless; then someone dedicated this Epithelantha to Ilaria, not as an obituary, but with the hope of these words:

“Epithelantha ilariae is dedicated to Ilaria Montanari, a young child suffering a very serious illness, and to all the suffering children in the world. We hope in this way that the fight for life of this little plant in its harsh environment will testify that, whatever occurs, Life remains the strongest for ever”.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful child… and she is still here.

The dedication, the fate, the will to live of the Epithelantha… the reason doesn’t matter, life remains the strongest. After a lot of troubles and a liver transplant, Ilaria now runs around, is always hungry, and grows and grows … and often she takes a look at the photo of a small cactus fixed to the wall. And one smiles when she makes her parents crazy with her mischief.

Some children have a lucky star, Ilaria has a cactus, far away in Mexico. She will soon understand that the cactus needs her help. Unfortunately, she’s too young at the moment, so we have to do something now to protect her cactus (and many others).

The life of a small white ball, the life of a child, Life…