Toumeya papyracantha..

..aka Sclerocactus papyracanthus and Pediocactus papyracanthus, in flower...

(images are clickables).
enjoy.

Wow... that is an interesting little plant. Those spines are extremely cool.

Lachy wrote:

Wow... that is an interesting little plant. Those spines are extremely cool.

yep. the best description of the plant i've heard is a Turbinicarpus x Tephrocactus articulatus v. papyracanthus. the spines are soft and paper-like (hence the species epithet).
actually it is related to Turbinicarpus, the flowers are quite similar and many turbs used to be in the genus Toumeya.

This plant looks very familiar.

May I ask where you got this one from, did you do the graft your self?

KanJe: i grafted this one myself. it's on an echinopsis eyresii hybrid stock, grafted in November.
i have grafted 7, which are re-grafts of an original one i got last year from CSSA which you may well have seen. i will continue to re-graft them.

here is a double graft on a myrtillocactus stock:

(click to enlarge)
they go crazy on grafts!

Oh, Ok. I just wasn't sure if I had seen these somewhere being sold around.

That last pic is a really awesome plant by the way Lewis.

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That last pic is a really awesome plant by the way Lewis.

i intend to graft more toumeya scions onto the stock when it branches and ultimately make a 'tree'/multi-graft.
T.papyracantha probably the rarest plant in my collection so yeah i guess its kinda special.

i've been trying to root a degrafted cutting for months now with still no sign of roots, even used rooting hormone. (i was successful in rooting an offset once before, alas it's condition gradually deteriorated and i had to resort to re-grafting to resurrect it).
Self-rooted cultivation (in the context of 'out of it's natural range') is regarded as a challenge, with reports ranging from very difficult to almost impossible. In reality it needs very cold winter temperatures (meaning like -10C to -20C or below) which you simply can't achieve in Aus. Growers in some parts of Europe can grow them well on own roots, and of course those in the US where it occurs naturally.
as a compromise next season i plan to graft one to a small hardy slower stock which i can conceal like an Echinocereus sp. so i get a more natural-looking scion.
see:
Toumeya papyracantha info

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but this plant intrigues me and I wanted to add my 2 cents worth...

[quote="lewis"]

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Self-rooted cultivation (in the context of 'out of it's natural range') is regarded as a challenge, with reports ranging from very difficult to almost impossible. In reality it needs very cold winter temperatures (meaning like -10C to -20C or below) which you simply can't achieve in Aus. Growers in some parts of Europe can grow them well on own roots, and of course those in the US where it occurs naturally.

Yes, this is "apparently" a tough plant to grow on it's own roots, but don't believe everything you hear or read and don't let it deter you from having a go with these little gems. It can be done. I've got a small number of young plants that I've raised from seed on their own roots. They're now 2.5 years old and they seem to happily co-exist in the greenhouse which is heated during winter to a minimum of 8C. No special treatment other than being absolutely dry in winter..
Getting them to germinate and through the first few months is whole different ballgame though....