Cactus ID Welcomed

Hello All,

I have recently fell in love with the world of cactus! I was given a few as gifts then started buying more and more just because I liked the look of them.

Now that I am getting a collection going I would dearly love to identify the first few I was given as a gift so I can buy more specimens within those genuses.

Any help you can give me in identifying one or all of the below pictures would be greatly appreciated.

Like I said I am very new to this wonderful hobby so I apologise in advance for any incorrect terms I may use.

Cactus #1
The below photos are of the same cactus. One shows the flower it produces and the other is the cactus itself. It has not produced offsets. I have had it for over a year, as is the case with all the below cactus.


Cactus #2
I do not have a photo of the flower this cactus produces, however from memory it is a light lilac/white flower of similar size and shape to the above cactus but has no hair on the flower bud. It produces offsets at the base of the plant.


Cactus #3
This cactus has never produced a flower nor any offsets. I just love the spines on it though!


Cactus #4
This cactus also has not produced any offsets or flowers.


Cactus #5
This cactus has not produced any flowers or offsets but does get pink fruit from time to time (You can see one in the picture if you look close)

Hi Huggie and welcome to ACF, I will attempt to give some ID's but am not 100% on all o them and I can only offer genus an not species on some. Also welcome to this wonderfully addictive hobby/lifestyle known as cactophilia.

#1 Looks alot like a Melocactus sp. though and no too familiar with this genus as a whole. My next guess would be Parodia sp. Hopefully someone will have a better idea on that one.

#2 To me looks like Gymnocalycium horstii, I may have the species wrong but I suspect not.

#3 Is a Mammilaria sp. there are many species in this genera and I myself have only just started collecting them, it looks very nice though.

#4 Is Parodia magnifica.

#5 Looks to me like another Mammilaria sp., again, not sure what species.

And I would like to add, nice Astrophytum asterias specimens, you have, these are amongst my favourite cacti.

Nice work trig... I think I had #2, #3 and #5 but I missed on #1 and #4.

I am shocking at identifying... I still have so many unidentified cacti!

Anyways, nice plants.

Thank you both very much for your help.

At least now I will have a starting point to research them a bit further. I did try to research them a while back and that is when I realised just how many cactus varieties their are, and thus begun my love afair

Astrophytum asterias are also my favourite Trigonus, they are just so different. If you know of; or have any for sale please let me know.I am also looking for an Astrophytum Capricorne.

I was lucky enough to come across mine on Ebay of all places; not a great variety of cactus at our nurseries up here I'm afraid.

Anyway thanks again for your assistance

Only place I have seen and bought A. asterias is on ebay, in the next few year I will have alot of them for sale, but they are very small at the moment. I also have a few A. capricorne. Saw one on ebay recently, I suspect it was from the same seller that you got your A. asterias. Apart from that I don't see them very often, will let you know if I see any though.

There is only one cactus genera I like more than Astrophytum and that is Ariocarpus, of which I have quite a few. I have more Astros though as they are easier to get and a little bit cheaper too, also I think Astros a slightly easier to grow, they are still very unforgiving if overwatered. This applies to many cacti though, especially the Mexican cacti, my favourite group of cacti.


If you like Astros, you should keep your eyes out for things like Turbinicarpus & Pelechyphora and other unusual Mexican cacti, they are hard to find and a little difficult to grow, like the others, but it is well worth the effort of finding when you do.

If you don't mind, I'll challenge a couple of those IDs. I don't want to seem a prick, however I'm 99% certain on these IDs.

#1 looks to me most like Parodia ottonis. It's not a Melocactus, as the flower of these is very distinctive and usually relatively small. Also, melos of flowering size usually have a cephalium. The P. ottonis that I have is very similar to your specimen and the flower is nigh-identical.

#2 is another Parodia, this time it's P. werneri. This plant used to be known as Notocactus uebelmannianus, and most typically has a purple bloom with a yellow throat. However, it's pretty variable in my experience, as I have seen white and yellow forms as well.

Otherwise, I concur with your other IDs, however I must confess a degree of ignorance when it comes to the mamms... I'm not too great at IDing this genus just yet.

As stated I am not too familiar with melos, if you read my post correctly you would also see that Parodia was my second guess, but to me the second looks more like a Gymno than a Parodia. I know the species you refer to quite well.

Having a look at some pics of Gymnocalycium horstii, it does look pretty different to the one in the pic, I still disagree that it is Notocactus uebelmannianus. The spines look all wrong and the aereoles don't look fuzzy enough.

By the way, I don't think you're a prick and i'm not pissed at you, I think a bit of ID arguing is a good thing.

Hey what's the synonym for Parodia ottonis? Can't find it on the good ID site.

Notocactus ottonis is the syn. I believe. Looks pretty different to me, the flower looks right though . Though had a look through one of my cacti books and #2 does closely resembles Notocactus uebelmannianus fma. flaviflorus. All I can say is I am more confused now than I was 20 minutes ago. Wish I hadn't taken on the ID now.

Yep, N. ottonis is one of the synonyms for P. ottonis. With the amalgamation of Parodia, Notocactus and Eriocactus, it all gets rather confusing.

I believe fma. flaviflorus is supposed to be yellow, not white, however with all the varation that you can get with this particular species nothing would surprise me. Either way, it's one of my favourite species. Such a great looking plant, and even I can get it to bloom quite happily.

And as to your confusion... from my experience, that's normal. No two texts seem to agree on nomenclature, there's umpteen variations dependent on climate... it, like, does my head in, man.

Yeah,
I would agree with most of what Trig said.
Only exception is that #2 while it is a Gymnocalycium, I don't think it is a horstii. I have one, and it has only 5 ribs.

Quote :

Only exception is that #2 while it is a Gymnocalycium, I don't thinink it is a horstii. I have one, and it has only 5 ribs.

Are you really sure it's a Gymno? I'd bet good money on it being a Parodia.

Hi Lachy,
hard to say - it could be Parodia too.

Here I was thinking that a cactus was a cactus and it would be easy to tell what kind they are, how nieve of me

You have all given me a great starting point and I have been looking at pictures non stop ever since.

Can you mix a Gymnocalycium with a Parodia? The reason I ask is because #2's flower (from memory) does not have hair/spines on its bud, and from what I have read this would make it a Gymnocalycim. However the picture I found that most resembles my cactus is Parodia Linkii "buenekeri"

And would #1 be a Parodia Werdermanniana? That is the closest photo I could find to it.

Still would love to know what #3 is as I LOVE it so much and would like to know how to get more. It has never flowered and never had any pups so I am beginning to wonder how they "Make babies" so to speak

How old or big do the Parodia magnifica's need to be to flower or send out pups? It is about 8-9cms wide at the moment and it has not done either.

Once again thanks for all your help