Offsetting... Eriocactus?

[Shelilla]

Just recently started wondering what species of cacti has been growing in my plant room for several years now.
I asked one person on the UBC forum, but they didn't know what exact species it was, just said it was most likely of the Eriocactus family.

What I find very confusing about trying to ID cacti is that, while many look very similar at a glance, look completely different up close. It's like trying to ID pitcher plants all over again. You look up one species on Google Images and come up with like 50 random species. Or one cacti labelled as a certain species may look utterly different from another labelled the same.

Most of all, I don't know if the shape is what defines a cactus, and they look extremely varied and different in ages. The closest image result I could find for mine that looks the same shape at least it this one, labelled as "Notocactus warasii"

Notocactus_warasii_810.jpg (147.99 KiB) Viewed 787 times

But then, mine is offsetting and the little cacti pups look totally different!

[DaveW]

Recently Eriocactus and Notocactus were lumped into Parodia, but many do not agree with the lumping, so you may find them listed in all three genera.

Your plant is a bit small yet to really identify, since it has not yet taken on it's adult characteristics, but may be Eriocactus (Notocactus-Parodia) warasii or E. claviceps.

E. warasii does offset quite a bit from the base and unusually for many cacti often higher up nearer to the crown, something that is quite normal and often characteristic for this species. Also whilst the plant may grow up straight the crown eventually angles towards the light as it gets larger, again quite normal as all the Eriocactus do this, including E. leninghausii and does not mean you need to turn the plant.

There is an E warasii in the fourth photo down mislabelled as Notocactus leninghausii showing it producing offsets towards the top and also the crown inclined towards the light, as said both typical of the species. In fact there are several down the link labelled leninghausii that are obviously other species of Eriocactus.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/n ... teresting/

https://www.amazon.com/Parodia-Warasii- ... B00TQQF9FA

[Shelilla]

Recently Eriocactus and Notocactus were lumped into Parodia, but many do not agree with the lumping, so you may find them listed in all three genera.

Your plant is a bit small yet to really identify, since it has not yet taken on it's adult characteristics, but may be Eriocactus (Notocactus-Parodia) warasii or E. claviceps.

E. warasii does offset quite a bit from the base and unusually for many cacti often higher up nearer to the crown, something that is quite normal and often characteristic for this species. Also whilst the plant may grow up straight the crown eventually angles towards the light as it gets larger, again quite normal as all the Eriocactus do this, including E. leninghausii and does not mean you need to turn the plant.

There is an E warasii in the fourth photo down mislabelled as Notocactus leninghausii showing it producing offsets towards the top and also the crown inclined towards the light, as said both typical of the species. In fact there are several down the link labelled leninghausii that are obviously other species of Eriocactus.

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/tags/n ... teresting/

https://www.amazon.com/Parodia-Warasii- ... B00TQQF9FA

Thank you very much for the information, it is very helpful and interesting! Yes it's annoying how often people mislabel cacti and provide false info on the web without checking their facts first, and it messes a lot of people up.
Yeah, I was thinking that it might be a bit small to tell, cause it might get long and like a barrel in the future or who knows.
So I guess it will be one of two species, we'll just have to wait and see.

I don't like how they were all shoved into one family either btw, I found it very confusing and unhelpful trying to find out what species it was, as Wikipedia had them all grouped together unnecessarily.

[DaveW]

Some of them do get quite large in age, larger than most Notocactus and certainly Parodia's.

There is a good article on Eriocactus in Cactus Explorer No. 7, pages 27-39 which can be downloaded for free here:-

http://www.cactusexplorers.org.uk/journal6.htm

[Shelilla]

I'm a little bit worried- the cacti has started getting wrinkly and soft. I checked the soil and it was dry to the bone, all the way down. My dad gave it a ton of water to wetten the soil. I last gave it water when I posted the picture at the top, and only enough to wet the soil around it. Is it getting wrinkly because it's dying or because it actually needs/needed water?

[7george]

I'm a little bit worried- the cacti has started getting wrinkly and soft. I checked the soil and it was dry to the bone, all the way down. My dad gave it a ton of water to wetten the soil. I last gave it water when I posted the picture at the top, and only enough to wet the soil around it. Is it getting wrinkly because it's dying or because it actually needs/needed water?

It may be feeling the end of the growing season and going into dormancy. Overwatering could only kill it. What is you climate?

[Shelilla]

Oh that's good to know. And it turns out it desperately needed water! The soil was so bone-dry that when we poured it the soil became like a soup until he stirred it. The last few days it's gotten very rigid and isn't squishy at all anymore. It's still a little wrinkly though, I'm not sure why. The climate here is dry and hot during the fall, boiling hot sun but cold nights, very annoying.