Another new one

[LazyD]

Any ideas on what this cactus is called?







I was hoping it is a Mammillaria longimamma but I am not quite sure as it does not have a large tap root and the "bumps" do not seem long enough - any ideas??

[fanaticactus]

As for me, not quite yet as it is still very young. If I had to make a bet, I might say a Ferocactus sp. It looks nice & healthy tho!

[LazyD]

Oh another little "fact" about the unknown cactus - its spines are brittle and break very easily.

[vlani]

Echinocactus grusonii

[Pilif]

E. Grusonii was my first thought as well

[iann]

Ferocactus.

[cactusjd]

for me its grusonii. if its ferocactus glaucescens its colors should be bluish green, and spines never give white shade. this is my opinion, which may be wrong

[cooky173]

The body shape reminds me of Ferocactus, and looks very different to my E Grusonii seedlings.

It doesn't seem to have nectaries, so it might not be a Fero.

Give it another 6 months and that should help.

[iann]

Are we all looking at the same photos? This is nothing like an E grusonii seedling. They don't look like this at any stage.

E. grusonii develops ribs much later, and it has a lot more than this. If you link up the tubercles on little seedlings you'll still end up with a rib count of a dozen or more, double that on older plants. E. grusonii has flattened and transversely ribbed spines, but not hooked spines. Some Ferocactus have flattened and ribbed spines but they are hooked. The ones with straight spines mostly have smoother and rounder spines and I'd say this is one of those. The areoles on Ferocactus are white and tomentose, usually contrasting with the dark bases of the spines. E. grusonii has woollier areoles the same colour as the spines. E. grusonii has clear pale yellow, occasionally white, spines that maintain their even colour with age, and more of them than the pictured plant.

This is the closest I can come to the pictured plant, and it is quite different. Spines are white, otherwise it is a standard E. grusonii. No ribs yet, but enough areoles for around a dozen ribs.


Here is an areole on a mature E. grusonii. Coloured wool matching the spines. The spines are arranged over the whole areoles with no obvious centrals and radials, although the inner spines are longer and more flattened. The apex of mature plants have a lot of loose wool.

[Peterthecactusguy]

Hmm, interesting discussion. I haven't seen a small E. grusonii up close before, I have a middle aged plant, it's not huge yet but it's not really a seedling either.

The areoles and spines are wrong for E. grusonii in Lazy D's picture. And like Ian said, its a fero.

It gets confusing tho and I understand the confusion.

[LazyD]

Gosh...it really sucks buying young un-named cacti getting them identified is not an easy task.

Just the thought of having to wait until the plant flowers to find out exactly what it is, is frustrating

I buy these "seedlings" fairly cheap - about $7 which converts to about US$3.50 but I am going to have to wait YEARS before they actually flower!!

[cactinWI]

I think it might be Ferocactus emoryi.

[iann]

You can get very nice named plants for that price, if only you were able to import them. You could try Mesa Garden. Best for seed really, but they do sell small plants and can supply CITES and phytosanitary permits. You'd need to buy a lot to make it worth the cost though.

[LazyD]

Thanks Ian, I have been toying with the idea of buying some mature cacti but I am not sure about the shipping costs and then ultimately how much I am gonna have to pay to clear them when or if they actually reach here.

I am going to buy some seeds though and see how that goes first.

My birthday is coming up soon so I am waiting to see if the bf has been paying attention to my hints If not I am going to start ordering like crazy!