Contest 41: Discussion and related photos

[CoronaCactus]

Please discuss and post any related photos for Contest 41: Clusters/Clumps/Mounds here. Thanks.

[Ralf]

Seen in a German cacti nursery.

Mammillaria plumosa


Frailea pygmaea

[Harriet]

The M plumosa looks like big heads of cauliflower!

[peterb]

wow, those are very impressive mounds indeed! I had a devil of a time choosing a photo for this one. It turns out I photograph a lot of clumping plants!

here were some photos other than what I posted:

Sometimes clusters don't look like much, but this Mammillaria brandegeei from near San Ignacio, BCS, is amazing and probably very old indeed:


Huge E. coccineus near Yarnell AZ:

Old clump of E. coccineus near Sonoita AZ:

Cochemiea setispina near San Borja, BCN:

Cochemiea maritima near Santa Rosalillita, BCN, flowering despite drought around Christmas day:

Echinocereus engelmannii in the Sawtooth Mountains:


A close up of the xeranthemoides form from Navajo Bridge:

An intermediate form, probably of polycephalus/xeranthemoides from Meadview AZ:


Escobaria leei, from seed sown in 1998:


peterb

[daiv]

Super photos in the contest so far and these "alternates" are not at all bad either. Almost need a second contest for these. Only, I don't think I could endure having to choose just ONE any more than I have to for the first contest!

[jeffrey6115]

My alternates

[CactusJordi]

here is some more 'rubbish' other than what I posted in the contest.

Sclerocactus polyancistrus west of Victorville, CA:

Echinocactus xeranthemoides west of Marble Canyon, AZ:

Coloradoa mesae verdae north of Shiprock:

Mammillaria hernandezii:
One of my 2 sources of Jasminocereus thouarsii crests:


Jordi

[king_hedes]

so many nice clumping cactus

[Ralf]

Wow, really great alternatives.
Jordi, the M. hernandezii look like grafted. Is it so? It's a splendid specimen!

[Shmuel]

Totally awesome pics!!! And I am very glad to see a lot of people submitting whom I have not seen before - and very nice stuff too! I don't think I have anything near these in quality and amazingness of the plants, but I'll try to rustle up something just to be a part of this.

Shmuel

[Tony]

Great stuff so far!
I Like clumpers too, heres a few of my favorites.
My G. brushii
M. elongata

Eriosyce senilis

Austrocylindropuntia verschaffeltii on the show table.

Escobaria minima

Gymnocalycium horstii

Echinocereus cinerascens

Parodia magnifica

Echinopsis

Mammillaria decipiens

Turbinicarpus gielsdorfianus

And a poly from lucern... love to see these.

One of the cool F. cylindoceaus clumps from Palm springs

O. basilaris from joshua tree.

[bruno]

Wow, all nice pics and great plants, here are my alternate clumps

Echinocatus horizonthalonius



Mammillaria marittima, about 20 years old from seed




Mammillaria thornberi and M. pottsii both 15en yrs old from seed






Tephrocactus fischeri (I guess)



ciao

[Shmuel]

Amazing photos.

Tony, is your E engelmannii photo from the Teddy Bear Cholla garden in Joshua Tree? Very fascinating how different it is than the E engelmannii that Peter shows above from Sawtooth Mountains. Is that Sawtooth Mountains near Anza Borrego Calif or in Arizona? (I can't imagine it is the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. Wonderful how Google makes one an instant expert! ) I realize Peter's photo is backlit, but the spines and relative thickness etc make it look very distinct from the others.

I never would have seen these together if not for this contest - really really great, Darryl. Thanks so much for upgrading these to a regular event!

Shmuel

[peterb]

The Sawtooths in Arizona, the little extension of the Ironwood National Monument just south of Casa Grande. Echinocereus engelmannii is astonishingly variable, it's true. This has led to the creation of many names for regional variants. I thought the form I photographed might actually be Echinocereus nicholii, but I don't think it is. I think it's just a golden engelmannii.

peterb

[angelo]

the group of engelmannii and coccinesu is amazing !!