Turb ID please!

[Steve Johnson]

I have what I believe to be a Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. schmiedickeanus. The Turb didn't flower at all last year, but it finally gave me one today:

Turbinicarpus_schmiedickeanus_ssp_schmiedickeanus07232012_01.JPG (190.2 KiB) Viewed 146 times

Turbinicarpus_schmiedickeanus_ssp_schmiedickeanus07232012_02.JPG (227.45 KiB) Viewed 146 times

I know flowers help to get the right species, so hopefully this'll be confirmation for what I have ID'd.

Thanks!

[iann]

More likely ssp klinkerianus.

[hendryterok]

Hi Steve,
I'm with Iann....below is my small Turb Klinkerianus flower.
Note: The focus is on pot not flower

Regards,
Hendry

[CactusFanDan]

Yes, it looks very similar to my klinkerianus, and as other people agree on this, I would go with Klinkerianus.

[Steve Johnson]

Okay, I'll have to update the name on my plant list, photos, etc. I find Turbs rather baffling, so I really appreciate your help on nailing down species by the flower. By the way, I posted a photo before I saw the flower -- this was back in May. Ian said that the Turb looks like an old one. Any idea how old? Not that it matter, just kinda curious. (This plant could be a remnant of the Cactus Data Plants collection when Woody sold it to the California Cactus Center.)

[CactusFanDan]

Well I can tell you that your plant is indeed very old. See the curly, corky-type central spines? Those are the adult spines, as Turbs tend to have two forms of spination: the juvenile spines and the adult spines. Since all you can see on that plant is adult spines, then i'm guessing that plant must be, at the very least, 20 years old, and it's very likely that it could be 30 years or older, especially if it has been grown in less than ideal conditions. It's an oldie, for sure.