What am I? (ID required)

Hey people. I recently inherited this spikey-mama. I can't say no to a homeless cactus. She's been neglected for a while now, will need re-potting, but looks healthy nonetheless.

Does anyone know what it is?

Gymnocalycium. multiflorum (monvillei)?
nice old specimen.

NOID is it a mamm?

Its definitely a Gymno - but I don't know what it is.

am pretty sure thats a Gymnocalycium monvillei as i said above, you may find it under its old name of G. multiflorum though. Nice specimen, looks pretty old.

Woo woo! Thanks for the ID people.

Is it a rotten up at the biottom or am I missing something?

Yeh, i was thinking it was rotting aswell, but i dont know

Eek. I'll have a closer look.

The moss growing in the pot disturbed me at first, but I've hardly been home to have a look at the thing since I got it. It's hard to see past the spines too...

It was in a self-watering pot too

Poke the black area with your finger or something else lightly, if its saquishy and soft, it has rot.

its hard for me to tell from where im sitting whether or not it is rotten.
First impressions tell me its just the old spines, which will naturally darken with age on old specimens.
It probably has been overwatered, resulting in the growth of moss, but gymnocalyciums in general are more tolerant of moisture than most.
go through the procedure Michael said, and if it isn not rotten but the soil is saturated it would be a wise move to repot it into a better draining mix and pot for safety.

Nope, not rotting. That area is just brown with age. It was firm throughout to a touch with a pencil.

yep, thats what i thought. its a nice healthy plant,just old. a repotting into a more favourable mix and better draining pot wouldn't hurt though.

wish i could find a big G.monvillei down here. tis a beauty.

Here she is in flower.

Beautiful, just beautiful. I've got a few buds on mine, but yours is pretty special I have to say.

That's some fairly aggressive spination happening there... Is this plant being grown under particularly bright light or in full sun?

that confirms my id
i echo Lachy.. beautiful, just beautiful.
can't you tell.. that gymno is just asking for more friends from her genus

Lewis is right, Gymnocalycium monvillei is what it is alright.



I've seen it for sale down here tagged as Gymno. multiflexosum, a name I do not think is valid.

CP

Quote :

I've seen it for sale down here tagged as Gymno. multiflexosum, a name I do not think is valid.

Ahh yes, that rings bells. Tell me, why do you reckon so many plants are sold under names that are completely invalid, if not just made up on the spot?

Lachy wrote:

Quote :

I've seen it for sale down here tagged as Gymno. multiflexosum, a name I do not think is valid.

Ahh yes, that rings bells. Tell me, why do you reckon so many plants are sold under names that are completely invalid, if not just made up on the spot?

lol. i too have seen it labelled as G.multiflexosum before. this is not valid, never existed and possibly was actually made up on the spot. its also seen labelled as and still referred to as G.multiflorum, which was valid and is now a synonym of G.monvillei.

Damn, I wish the flowers on mine would open up like those pics you posted CactusPoleCat. They are gorgeous. My flowers never seemed to get quite that "open" though. Maybe they did it when I wasn't looking.

I've got a smaller G. monvillei in bud but seems to be taking longer to bust open. Hopefully she'll go before the last flowers on the plant in this thread and I can get some fruit.

Lachy: I've only had her for around 2 months and don't know her prior growing conditions. All I was told about her last home was that her last year was spent in gross neglect She now enjoys full sun for most of the afternoon.

Awsome Squil! Looks like your doing it right, getting it to bud up like that