Friday, May 10, 2013

Three Unidentified Cactus Blooms

I seem to be kind of on a roll this week as far as posting every day -- which hasn't happened since December -- so let's see if I can't make it seven for seven just to prove that it's still possible.

All of these pictures are from the ex-job, over the last three or four months. Anybody who can identify one of the three plants here with any degree of confidence should let me know in the comments.



This one's obviously a Mammillaria of some kind. (Right?)



8 comments:

Alex said...

Though do not have a clue about the identity of these three beautiful cactus plants but I am mesmerized by the beautiful flowers blooming in them.

Flowering cactus are a rarity, seldom I come across such cactus plants, which are so beautiful and riot of colors.

CelticRose said...

Yes, the 3rd one is a Mamm. of some sort. Beyond that, I'm stumped.

davef said...

The red cactus looks like Lobivia hertrichiana.
The pink flower is possibly Escobaria (the flower is awfully big for a Mammillaria)
The yellow cactus looks like one of the many yellow species of Notocactus. (or Parodia).


Loona said...

The second one (not only the flower, but also the overall characteristics of the cactus) looks like the cactus that is blooming in my window at the moment. Sadly I have no clue about the ID, the plant used to be my mother's (and I don't even have memories of when and where it came from, let alone a tag :/ ), and came to live with me after she passed away. Mine is a Mammillaria for sure, as the flowers come in circles, but I have no clue regarding species. I tried to look it up, first in a book I have, but the variety Mammillarias come in is so vast, and there were like 10 possible candidates just among those ones I found in the book, so in the end I simply gave up :/
This means I'd also be pretty happy if someone knew the ID :) Regarding the cactus Mr. S has taken a picture of, I don't think the flower is too big for a Mammillaria. The thing that makes me wonder however is that I don't seem to notice any further buds, and Mammillarias don't usually produce single flowers. Mine has 7 buds/flowers on both the bigger separate "bodies", and even if the plant is quite old it's the very first time I see it bloom, so I assume the number of flowers shouldn't be much less for other plants' first time either. But I'm no cactus expert sadly, so this is just speculation :)

Anonymous said...

Is Mammillaria preferred over Escobaria? There is a small native cactus that grows here. It is almost certainly the one commonly known as New Mexico spinystar. A net search indicates it Escobaria vivipara var. neo-Mexicana. It resembles the 2nd photo closely both in structure and in the bloom as shown. There are a lot that look similar, so I think it would be nearly impossible to i.d. from a photo.

Texas Anon

Unknown said...

These are as sharp as barbed wire...but they look very nice & attractive.

Fredrik said...

I can only guess, but i think 2 is mamm rohdanta and 3 might be some form of astrotyphum asteria of some variation?

Atleast it reminds of my mamm, and those dots and the form of it seems pretty caracteristic for astrotyphums.

Sorry for bad spelling, english is like my 3rd language:)

Unknown said...

Plant number one is Gymnocalycium baldianum, no ifs doubts or buts possible. See http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/95034/ and http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Gymnocalycium&species=baldianum

The second plant is a bit more problematic, as it could be either Escobaria or Mammillaria. I can however, tell you how to tell them apart. In Mammillaria, the flowers come from BETWEEN the tubercles, arising in the previous seasons growth. In Escobaria the flowers are attached at the same place as the spines, on the top of the tubercles. They also appear in the current seasons growth so they are closer to the top of the stem. From what I can see in the photo, I'm slightly more inclined to think that your plant is a Mammillaria, possibly Mammillaria tetrancistra. I can't say for definite that this is the case because I don't KNOW all the Mammillarias by sight. Anyway here are photos on M. tetracistra to compare: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/99647/ and http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Mammillaria&species=tetrancistra

The third plant is a Parodia, (formerly Notocactus)The stem form suggests P. crassigibba (N. crassigibbus) as the most likely species. see: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/95806/ and http://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Parodia&species=crassigibba

Ciao.