Help with an I.D please

[TALNOA]

Hi,
I need help identifying the cactus
Thanks

[Kamos]

Austrocylindropuntia subulata.

[Aiko]

Another forum member only asking for identification requests and not contributing or trying to contribute to the forum. I even get the feeling it is the same member on different accounts, judging by how the questions are being expressed (not the least by not being a question at all) if I compare this kind of behaviour of other forum members only here to put others to work to do indentification chores for them.

Nice of you to help out, Kamos, but it is probably better not to feed this kind of behaviour that only tries to take advantage of good willing forum members.

Fun fact next to me wining, the next identification request in this part of the forum will be number 10,000.

[MagiCarpus]

Hi Aiko, I understand your frustration and I agree with your sentiment, but don’t waste your energy on this. You actually expressed your frustration in this exact user’s post back in March yet it was ignored and he simply keeps on spamming ID requests. People are thick skinned in the cyberspace and it’s unlikely you can change his behaviour just by writing down your thought.
Intrinsically there is nothing wrong with ID requests, many beginners rely on helps of experts to get them on track within the hobby.
If you knew the ID requested, throw in your quick reply and move on, and likewise if you didn’t.

[DaveW]

Times change Aiko. In the past the first thing beginners did was buy a basic book on the subject, now few bother to read books and therefore look for everything on the web. I guess those of us who had to use our own efforts to obtain identifications are now getting old and are a minority from a different generation to those who want instant answers from modern technology? I guess it is the same as older drivers able to use maps to find their way whilst youngsters rely on SatNav's?

However it is often "hard to tell the wheat from the chaff" since the web is not edited like authoritative books on the subject, therefore there are a lot of misnamed plants if you "Google" for identities. You do at least learn the main genera or groups within Succulents from a basic book and that can then help in Web searches for plants identity.

We all were novices once, in my case help on identifications came from joining my local cactus club and seeing the various plants in shows. I suppose Forums have now replaced these for many, particularly where clubs or Societies are not very active. However it is often easier for us geriatrics to identify plants "in the flesh" so to speak, than from pictures posted on the internet.