Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

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cactushobbyman
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Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by cactushobbyman »

Mixed results on the internet. CactiGuide has it as Ferocactus hamatacanthus, other sites all over the place. :-k I sure there is a good reason? What is it?
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:lol: :lol:
peterb
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by peterb »

It was placed for convenience into Ferocactus, where it clearly does not belong. The trend has been a reduction of small genera and moving the species into larger genera. But hamatacanthus is not a member of any reasonably defined genus Ferocactus. I prefer to still use Hamatocactus, for lack of anything more sensible.

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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

I got one of those and I labeled it both, because it really isn't a Fero in my eyes...
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Saxicola
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Saxicola »

I did a quick (and not especially thorough) google search looking for any paper that did a molecular phylogenetic study that included Hamatocactus but didn't find anything. When someone does a DNA study we will probably get a good answer. Short of that I did find this paper from 2000 dealing with morphological characters in Thelocactus. They concluded Hamatocactus should be retained. It also has a key to Thelocactus which may be useful to some.

http://www.thelocactus.cactus-mall.com/ ... adleya.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Wallydraigle
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Wallydraigle »

Was yours actually hamatacanthus? I picked one of those up for $3 hoping it was actually setispinus, which is what I really wanted.
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

mine actually was. I have a T. setispinus as well. It's an awesome plant with great flowers. Mine got bad sunburn last year tho, so I dont know if it's going to flower for me or not this year..:(
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Wallydraigle
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Wallydraigle »

Interesting. Someone on another board posted a pic of one that actually looked like setispinus. Could be a mixed bag. I'll just have to wait and see.
fanaticactus
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by fanaticactus »

I got one of those guys at Lowe's last evening, ID'd as the same. No way is it a Fero; I'm just hoping it's the Thelo. setispinus because I lost mine a while back. Besides those horrid strawflowers, which usually deter me from buying a cactus, it had several good buds on it. So we'll wait and see what shows up. Meanwhile, neither Anderson nor the Preston-Mafham dictionary mention v. hamatacanthus. Anderson does show a former/aka classification as Echinocactus, with Hamato. & Fero. as secondaries. Both Anderson and P-M now list it as Thelocactus.
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peterb
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by peterb »

The one pictured in the first post above is definitely hamatacanthus, in my opinion. "var. hamatacanthus" is used to distinguish from a localized population called "var. sinuatus." It does look to me that setispinus and hamatacanthus are closely related, but those appearances can be deceiving.

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tumamoc
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by tumamoc »

Well whatever it is, it's almost time to repot it :D .
iann
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by iann »

Be careful what you wish for. If you keep complaining that Ferocactus and Thelocactus and Hamatocactus are all confused and mixed up they might just throw them all in together ;)

Seriously, the sooner someone comes up with a taxonomy that isn't based on how wide and flat the central spine is, the better.
--ian
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Peterthecactusguy
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Peterthecactusguy »

tumamoc wrote:Well whatever it is, it's almost time to repot it :D .
Since it's from Altman's I would suggest sooner rather than later, although for this years crop I have been lazy. I need to get them into some real soil, but I couldn't help buying a few of them. the M. mystax from Altman's has been in bloom almost since I got it.. til now.
Here's to you, all you insidious creatures of green..er I mean cacti.
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Wallydraigle
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Wallydraigle »

Well, crap. Mine bloomed while I was out of town and I didn't get to see. I tried to necropsy a spent flower, but it was kind of gooey. It looked like it had red centers, but hard to tell. The next buds won't be ready for a while. It has one flower that looks pretty bad, but still could possibly open again.
promethean_spark
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by promethean_spark »

I almost bought a couple of those, but I decided to buy seed for them next year instead.
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Wallydraigle
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Re: Hamatocactus hamatacanthus

Post by Wallydraigle »

Well it bloomed again and I was out of town again. But I had a spotter this time, and it does have a red center. So does that mean I have setspinus? I thought hamatacanthus had solid yellow flowers, but maybe it's not that simple. It's not that important now, I guess, since I just wanted the red centers.
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