Astrophytum coahuilense acting self-fertile?

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BarryRice
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Astrophytum coahuilense acting self-fertile?

Post by BarryRice »

Hey Guys,

Something really wacky going on.....

I have a couple of Astrophytum coahuilense plants, and EVERY TIME these things flower, they make seed. The weird thing is, a couple of times I could swear they were the only Astrophytum plants flowering in my collection. I know, I know the conventional wisdom is that all Astrophytum plants are self sterile. But has anyone else seen this behavior?

By the way, my plants are enclosed in a screen which keeps nearly all pollinators out. So while it could be possible one of my neighbors is a secret cacto-phile, so there's an Astrophytum in my neighborhood within a bee's flight, but even so the pollinators would have trouble getting at my plants.

I guess I'm going to bag these plants in a mesh next time they're in a flowering mood.
I'll grow it as long as it doesn't have glochids. Gaudy flowers a plus.
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Brunãozinho
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Location: Paraíba, Eastern Brazil

Re: Astrophytum coahuilense acting self-fertile?

Post by Brunãozinho »

That's quite interesting and I believe that some individuals can act as self fertile plants sometimes. Normally they need some interference that will make them accept their own polen, like strange polen from another plant, as you might know. But in your case this is happening with more than one individual, intriguing.

Some pollinators can be really small and I have found even some small ants inside cacti flowers. Using the bag should give a definitive answer.
Bruno
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Saxicola
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Re: Astrophytum coahuilense acting self-fertile?

Post by Saxicola »

I don't think my plant does that, but it is certainly possible. Do they produce viable seed? Sometimes a plant can "self" but produce fruit without any seeds, or produce seeds that look good but aren't viable when you sow them. Bagging them or otherwise separating them will make for an interesting experiment.
I'm now selling plants on Ebay. Check it out! Kyle's Plants
wetpossum
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Re: Astrophytum coahuilense acting self-fertile?

Post by wetpossum »

I have a myriostigma columnare and a myriostigma x ornatum which both produce viable seeds on every bloom they produce. They frequently bloom at the same time, so they may be cross pollinating, however.
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