Do you like cristate or monstrose forms in cacti?

[Carbo]

I can only speak for myself, but I assure you; it’s not political correctnes that has formed my opinion on such plants It’s more like an instant gut feeling ; ‘that plant looks sick’ reaction. I can assure you; I am not known for my political correctnes..

But back to my question that may have disappeared in the thread; do cristate/monstrose cacti bloom less than the natural ones?

I think they bloom more rarely than normal...I mean "normal" forms
I've never seen it in person but I've seen both monstrose and cristate cacti in bloom on the internet. In case of cristate forms, flowers are also cristate (fasciated). I believe monstrose cacti bloom much less frequently than crests

[7george]

I think flowers on such forms are mostly normal but less in number and frequency.
http://www.wstarke.de/Galerie1.html

Also many have to be grafted for better growth and look that is kind of inconvenience.

[nopahl]

some cristate/monstrose forms wont bloom at all unless a reverted offset grows on them.

personally I really enjoy them both and they are a big reason why i got into cacti in the first place. My first cactus was a trichocereus bridgesii f monstrosa "clone b" or the little small jointed clumping one also known as the penis plant haha. now I have a few different monstrose bridgesii forms and a grafted monstrose/cristate form. sadly none of them will bloom as far as I know. Possibly one I have will that grows both normally and monstrose but its still to small to know.

[Hanazono]

I propagate cacti from seed. Not many but some of seedlings are abnormal.
I jus keep both of normal and abnormal seedlings together. unfortunately abnormal ones have shorter life than normal ones.

1st photo is a cristate Turbinicarpus species.
2nd photo is a normal asterias but the flower is cristate.

[Mrs.Green]

Thank you Carbo, 7george, Nophal and Hanazono . Hanazono; interesting! Thank you for the photos. The first one was nice, reminded me of a diadem . Isn’t that a bit unusual, that normal cacti produce cristate flowers? I have seen cristate flowers in nature and on some garden plants ( not cacti).

[7george]

Isn’t that a bit unusual, that normal cacti produce cristate flowers?

A flower is actually kind of small offset and thus can be different from the main stem. It is a physiological deviation, not at genetic level so everything is possible.

[Mrs.Green]

Isn’t that a bit unusual, that normal cacti produce cristate flowers?

A flower is actually kind of small offset and thus can be different from the main stem. It is a physiological deviation, not at genetic level so everything is possible.

Thank you 7george



Back to the monstrose and cristate cacti; I must admit that I am not overly fond of most of them but a couple of them I find intersting and wouldn’t mind having. First the Totem pole cactus Lophocereus schottii f. monstrosus, which looks like ( to me anyway) if is made of plastilina. A plastilina sculpture in other words The other one; the P*nis cactus Trichocereus Bridgesii Monstrose . With the risk of offending the main population here on Cactiguide; I must say the cactus looks way better than the ‘real deal’...

[ohugal]

Do monstrose and cristate cacti not appear in the wild? In cultivation, what causes these physiological variations? If a cactus grows slower because of it or produces fewer flowers, is it then considered an unhappy cactus? I have a few (Cereus Peruvianus Monstrose Minor, Mammilaria Elongate Cristata, Euphorbia Lactea Cristata,...) and am just curious.
I read earlier a comparison being made with animals (a three headed cat, a five legged dog, ...). The comparison does produce a shock effect, but is it an accurate one?

[samhain]

Do monstrose and cristate cacti not appear in the wild? In cultivation, what causes these physiological variations? If a cactus grows slower because of it or produces fewer flowers, is it then considered an unhappy cactus? I have a few (Cereus Peruvianus Monstrose Minor, Mammilaria Elongate Cristata, Euphorbia Lactea Cristata,...) and am just curious.
I read earlier a comparison being made with animals (a three headed cat, a five legged dog, ...). The comparison does produce a shock effect, but is it an accurate one?

They do appear in habitat.

[7george]

Do monstrose and cristate cacti not appear in the wild? In cultivation, what causes these physiological variations? If a cactus grows slower because of it or produces fewer flowers, is it then considered an unhappy cactus? I have a few (Cereus Peruvianus Monstrose Minor, Mammilaria Elongate Cristata, Euphorbia Lactea Cristata,...) and am just curious.
I read earlier a comparison being made with animals (a three headed cat, a five legged dog, ...). The comparison does produce a shock effect, but is it an accurate one?

They do appear in habitat.

I've seen several cristates too.

[ohugal]

I'm briefly reading up on the topic as we speak and came across the following:
https://mycotopia.net/topic/62972-what- ... te-growth/

The main cause appears to be some type of shock (disease, pest, frost, etc...) which causes a disturbance in the cell division. The normal single growth tip changes into a line. I wonder how it is intentionally done in cultivation?

[DaveW]

Can it be intentionally done in cultivation or was it just coincidence it happened when somebody did something, therefore not regularly reproduceable? To claim that action caused it it would have to be repeatable to be other than a coincidence. Possibly using chemicals particularly slightly radioactive ones may do so but who would want to handle those?

I would guess almost all monstrosities have just happened randomly in cultivation and then simply propagated by grafting or rooting down parts? Or even originally obtained from the wild and similarly propagated?

[One Windowsill]

Here is a paper on monsters and how to produce them. The main causes appear to be stress/damage, genetic or growth-regulating chemicals:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... d_in_vitro

[Hanazono]

Cristate cacti appear with following two cases in my place.

1. Grafting
A normal seedling is grafted but it turns to a cristate form later. It will be happen quite offten.

2. Hybridization
Hybrid seedlings show a cristate form rarely.

[Mrs.Green]

Cristate cacti appear with following two cases in my place.

1. Grafting
A normal seedling is grafted but it turns to a cristate form later. It will be happen quite offten.

2. Hybridization
Hybrid seedlings show a cristate form rarely.

Good morning Hanazono Interesting and I may have to change may wiew on the cristate cacti.. I liked the Astrophytum myriostigma cv khoyo, it have the same ‘made of plastilina’ look as the Totem pole cactus. The hint of red on the plant is a nice contrast to the light green colour. Is this form very rare? ( the mentioned Astrophytum)