Is this expected?

[ColinTheCactus]

Hi all.

Colin , my cactus, is flowering like crazy.
It's late September in the UK and Colin has already produced 4 flowers earlier in the year.
Now there are loads coming.

All I have done is repot him with a mixture of soil and cactus soil.

He has 3 pups as well.

Please can you tell me if this is normal behaviour?

[loyall]

Colin appears to be a Parodia magnifica, alias Notocactus magnificus. I would guess that you have provided very suitable growing conditions late in the growing season, and Colin likes them.

[MikeInOz]

A very nice plant. Cacti often respond like this to a repotting which gives the roots a free run and access to nutrients which were possibly depleted in the old pot and/or the mix had become alkaline.

[nachtkrabb]

Yep, after being hungry for too long they sometimes "explode", see it here also, especially in my "big pots for cacti"-experiment. Cool!
Say "hi!" to Colin, good fun to you. Would you post some pictures when the show is on?
N.

[greenknight]

Colin is a happy cactus in his new pot. Multiple flushes of bloom per season aren't unusual for his species,

[DaveW]

Yes my Eriocactus section of Notocactus or Parodia are still flowering in Nottingham UK. Our winters now seem to be getting a few weeks later starting here due to gl0bal warming.

[Tom in Tucson]

Your cactus appears to be Notocactus schumannianus

The Eriocactus section of this genus typically has 2 periods when they often produce up to 30 blooms simultaneously: Late Spring, and late Summer/early Fall. Blooms are produced in lesser numbers through most of the year.

[nachtkrabb]

Notocactus schumannianus (Nicolai) A.Berger
First published in Kakteen: 210 (1929)
This name is a synonym of Parodia schumanniana
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn: ... s:170709-2

Parodia schumanniana (Nicolai) F.H.Brandt
First published in Kakteen Orchid. Rundschau 7: 62 (1982)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) to Argentina (Misiones). It is a succulent subshrub and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn: ... s:911039-1

Hello Tom, I don't want to schoolmarm, I was just curious as all the Notocacti I know of have somehow transmogrified into Parodias. Taxonomists....
But what I especially wanted to see were a couple of pictures. Your sure? I admit according to the photo, I would have gone with loyall & thought Colin to be a Parodia magnifica.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn: ... s:911036-1

But as the Eriocactus section still holds in genus Parodia ( Taxonomists!), I am happy to hear there are those two flowering times. One of my P.warasiis (also Eriocactus section) has started a bud without any changes in potting or environment. Now I know: 2nd chance of the year, great.

But isn't it funny: My neighbour, Sandra, and me both have a P.magnifica each. Hers produces buds this year & flowers them next year. Mine flowers its buds in the year when the bud was grown. Cacti!
Nachtkrabb

[Tom in Tucson]

Notocactus schumannianus (Nicolai) A.Berger
First published in Kakteen: 210 (1929)
This name is a synonym of Parodia schumanniana
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn: ... s:170709-2

Parodia schumanniana (Nicolai) F.H.Brandt
First published in Kakteen Orchid. Rundschau 7: 62 (1982)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) to Argentina (Misiones). It is a succulent subshrub and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn: ... s:911039-1

Hello Tom, I don't want to schoolmarm, I was just curious as all the Notocacti I know of have somehow transmogrified into Parodias. Taxonomists....
But what I especially wanted to see were a couple of pictures. Your sure? I admit according to the photo, I would have gone with loyall & thought Colin to be a Parodia magnifica.
https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn: ... s:911036-1

But as the Eriocactus section still holds in genus Parodia ( Taxonomists!), I am happy to hear there are those two flowering times. One of my P.warasiis (also Eriocactus section) has started a bud without any changes in potting or environment. Now I know: 2nd chance of the year, great.

But isn't it funny: My neighbour, Sandra, and me both have a P.magnifica each. Hers produces buds this year & flowers them next year. Mine flowers its buds in the year when the bud was grown. Cacti!
Nachtkrabb

Your points are well made. Here are my thoughts:

The image is too small to make any accurate ID possible. From what little I could see, (the density of the spines, and the stem color) would typically exclude Notocactus magnificus, which most experts agree is no more than a form (or variety) of Notocactus warasii. Volker Schädlich (a Gymnocalycium expert, but also with other SA cacti) agrees that these should not be included in Parodia.

[greenknight]

This is the second thread about this cactus, check out the first one: viewtopic.php?p=402072#p402072

[nachtkrabb]

Interesting, Greenknight. Yes. I forgot. There we have better images.

The image is too small to make any accurate ID possible. From what little I could see, (the density of the spines, and the stem color) would typically exclude Notocactus magnificus, which most experts agree is no more than a form (or variety) of Notocactus warasii. Volker Schädlich (a Gymnocalycium expert, but also with other SA cacti) agrees that these should not be included in Parodia.

About magnificus/a or warasii: I have both, the P.magnifica I either got with a name or it was named here in the forum. My two Warasiis I got from Harry (Harmen) who was here for ...quite... some years but somehow left. Times are changing.
To focus: I couldn't resist to put two&two together and get some group pictures of one Warasii & the Magnifica -- well, I refer to them as Parodias.
And lo & behold: I can very much accept that people clump them together in one species. For me the main difference is their behaviour.
The Magnifica likes more warmth and a bit more sun, although still half shadow. It spends its summers on the real hot Southern balcony in the shadow of the balcony grille which really is a close mashed grille. The Warasiis prefer the cooler Western balcony & hide below the long fronds of the Cycas.
But if you would take "personal variety" into account, I could't say which one is which. Maybe the Magnifica's colour is more dull.

So I made a couple of family photos to compare.
N.
.

Parodia warasii -- very similar to Colin...?

IMG_2498_ergebnis.jpg (90.05 KiB) Viewed 9245 times

Parodia magnifica

IMG_2499_ergebnis.jpg (112.03 KiB) Viewed 9245 times

family reunion (ignore the pink dots, they are from something different)

IMG_2500_ergebnis.jpg (118.76 KiB) Viewed 9245 times

[nachtkrabb]

Your points are well made. Here are my thoughts:

The image is too small to make any accurate ID possible. From what little I could see, (the density of the spines, and the stem color) would typically exclude Notocactus magnificus, which most experts agree is no more than a form (or variety) of Notocactus warasii. Volker Schädlich (a Gymnocalycium expert, but also with other SA cacti) agrees that these should not be included in Parodia.

You know, Tom, I am no expert at all. So I make it easy for myself & stick with what the folks at Kew Gardens say.
Sometimes I am happy with changes, sometimes not -- I don't care that much about names & labels. Healthy happy plants are more in my line of business.
Have a good time,
Nachtkrabb

[DaveW]

One obvious difference between N. warasii and N. magnificus is that N. magnificus has a more bluish less shiny epidermis and N. warasii a dark green shiny one, as can be seen in your pictures above. When first introduced N. magnificus plants had a really blue epidermis but that got lost in our sunless climate.

As to submerging Notocactus in Parodia, it depends on how much of a "Lumper" you are and what purpose classification is for, if either for scientific purposes or to distinguishing species in habitat or your collection? It is always easier to search small genera or sections of a genus for related species than large undifferentiated genus when trying to name plants.

John Donald used to say to me Parodia's were higher altitude Notocactus, but of course if combined then Parodia is the oldest name therefore takes priority. Classification, unlike nomenclature, is not mandatory. You can use whatever classification you wish if it has been validly published, or even part of one and part of another if desired.

Kew tends to follow the David Hunt classification since he worked for them and professions tend to stick together. However DNA Sequencing has proved some of his "Lumping" wrong, particularly with his Rebutia section. Hunt's morphological classification originally arose from trying to construct a simple classification for clueless Customs Officials to decide CITES issues instead of being a purely scientific one. Generally anything that looks remotely similar is lumped together, plus larger genera were easier to prohibit than having to individually distinguishing between many smaller ones! The average cactus collector has more knowledge of identifying the plants than our Border Controls since most officials are nor botanists or plant enthusiasts.

[greenknight]

One obvious difference between N. warasii and N. magnificus is that N. magnificus has a more bluish less shiny epidermis and N. warasii a dark green shiny one, as can be seen in your pictures above.

The original post seeking to ID Colin included a picture from when he was acquired, looked quite blue then.

[nachtkrabb]

(...) Hunt's morphological classification originally arose from trying to construct a simple classification for clueless Customs Officials to decide CITES issues instead of being a purely scientific one. Generally anything that looks remotely similar is lumped together, plus larger genera were easier to prohibit than having to individually distinguishing between many smaller ones! (...)

Hallo Dave, this is interesting information indeed. So here the Holy Burocracy sneaks into our nice classification system & wreaks havok.
...oh gosh...
N.