Cactus ID: 7 years seed grown

[Driller64]

Hi, I need help IDing this group of seedlings I grew from seed about 7 years ago I think. The seed was sold to me as Uebelmannia pectinifera, but as you can tell this is not the case. Pictured is one of the seedlings (click links):

https://imgur.com/EDa03PK

https://imgur.com/VQFwx9D

https://imgur.com/qPzOlHN

[anttisepp]

They lied, you've got much better! It's Eriocactus magnificus!

[Tom in Tucson]

They lied, you've got much better! It's Eriocactus magnificus!

ID looks right. Now I would contact the seed vendor and negotiate a suitable settlement to equalize the transaction. I would emphasize the ID given here.

[DaveW]

E. magnificus must be much rarer in Finland then since Uebelmannia's are far less common in the UK and fetch far higher prices. E. magnificus when first imported to Britain, being propagated in sunnier countries, used to have a beautiful bluish waxy epidermis, but that does not develop much in our sunless climate and most pictures you see on the internet now are just green bodied.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxserp=0

Its hard to be certain from the pictures but the plant may be Eriocactus (Notocactus, Parodia) claviceps. The name means "club shaped" since in age as it becomes columnar it usually grows wider at the top than the base. However individual plants vary. A related plant is E. warasii.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view ... ajaxserp=0

https://www.gardensonline.com.au/Garden ... _4616.aspx

[Nino_G]

Cactus is obviously not grown in the best of conditions, and that can greatly influence the overall appearance. I agree with everyone above that it is Parodia, but if it is magnifica, claviceps, or something else I can't tell.

[DaveW]

These are my plants. All plants vary but my E. warasii and E. claviceps tend to produce offsets high up the stem, even near apical even though the growing point is still growing and not damaged. I have only noticed this high offset production in some of the Eriocactus? Also it is normal for E. warasii, E. claviceps and E. leninghausii to angle their growing point towards the light even though the stem grows straight up, though I have not noticed that occurring in E. magnificus?

Front left two E. magnificus

Old E. warasii back right

Parodia bottom right

E. claviceps middle right,

E. leninghausii back right

Eriocactus.jpg (169.33 KiB) Viewed 12704 times

[loyall]

DaveW, I think you meant to say Old E. warasii back left. You posted this same photo on a warasii ID for me a couple of years ago. This is a great Notocactus comparative photo.

[DaveW]

Never did know my left from my right! Really a case I need new glasses. Thanks for correcting.

Also shows offsetting can be variable. The front E. magnificus is offsetting around the base like mad, whereas not one offset yet on the slightly larger plant behind it. I have also seem many E. warasii's without any offsets therefore mine is not necessarily typical.

You may find this habitat site useful as it has many pictures that enlarge if you click on them. If you scroll down there are click on links to many other Prodia's on the right (yes right this time!). As you can see most of the Eriocactus are cliff dwellers growing on sloping rock where other vegetation cannot crowd them out.

http://www.cactusinhabitat.org/index.php?p=specie&id=92

http://www.cactusinhabitat.org/index.php?p=specie&id=93

http://www.cactusinhabitat.org/index.php?p=specie&id=93

http://www.cactusinhabitat.org/index.ph ... cie&id=150

[nachtkrabb]

Hello Dave,
that is a real good picture you added here, & a good description. I learned a lot from it. Besides those are wonderful plants!
Where do you keep them with all that bubble foil around, is this a kind of "provisorium glass house"?
Thank you,
Nachtkrabb

[DaveW]

Hi nachtkrabb in the UK we tend to insulate our greenhouses with bubblewrap in winter to save heating costs, though I also do running a cold greenhouse too. The problem is if left up all year with standard bubblewrap it only lasts a season of so before it disintegrates due to Ultra Violet light (UV) in sunlight. I used UV stabilised bubble wrap this time which was more expensive as it was too laborious to take it down in summer. However that only lasted about 8 years before it became brittle and disintegrated.

Years ago before bubblewrap, we just used to use ordinary polythene sheet, but of course the entrapped air bubbles in bubblewrap provide greater insulation without affecting light transmission too much.

Most greenhouses in the UK are now non-rot aluminium, therefore special fixings/spacers that fit into the groove on the underside of the glazing bars are available from Garden Centres or EBAY for fixing insulation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNnI5H_35Qw

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... &_osacat=0

Of course with wooden greenhouses you only need drawing pins/thumb tacks to pin it to the bars. A lot of trouble though taking it down each year if you have a large greenhouse, therefore it tends to get left up until it starts to disintegrate.

In future it may be less trouble to just cut it into staging widths and just cover the plants with it in cold weather rather than line the whole greenhouse again. I do use a layer of newspapers over the plants in my cold greenhouse in cold weather in winter.

There are several types of bubblewrap providing greater or lesser insulation. The basic form is one smooth sheet of polythene with bubbles sticking out one side. The next form is bubbles trapped between two smooth sheets of polythene and with both versions they are available with small or large bubbles. Not all will probably be available in your area though. Mine in the picture was the large bubbles in between two smooth polytene sheets and was UV stabilised.

[nachtkrabb]

Thanks, Dave.