It looks to me like a young Ferocactus latispinus. Lets see what the folks from the desert southwest make of it :)

Jadegarden, that is a beautiful plant. And amazing that you grew it from seed! I'm always impressed by people who can do that. I've tried a few times, and failed miserably with each effort.

What kind of light is your fero getting? The reason I ask is that it looks like a fero that I have at home (can't remember the name of it, but can check on it when I get back home). But the only difference is that mine has redder spines - but I wonder if that might only be because of light.

Anyway, I'll check the name of my fero when when I get back home, and if it's similar, post a pic to compare.

Shelly

Hi again - I just remembered the name of the fero I was thinking of: it's ferocactus emoryi (sp?).

Does that help?

S.

It looks like a small version of a big barrel cactus that I have in my front yard here in Arizona. Around here, I think that they bloom in May (but don't quote me on that).

I am not good in IDing Feros. But certainly your well grown seedling is not a F. latispinus.

Jordi

I agree, Jordi - I think that the latispinus spines are significantly thicker than the ones on jadegarden's fero.

Here's a shot of my F. emoryi (I'm REALLY sorry about the size - I can't for the life of me figure out how to make this thing smaller. This is the first time I haven't been able to reduce the size of a photo. If anyone has any tips, I am all ears):
{{gwi:461965}}

And here's a link for google image of a latispinus for comparison. They're pretty similar:

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:461953}}

Thanks all.

I will go ahead and label it ferocactus emoryi and hopefully it will reveal whether it is a particular subspecie as it grows.

Shelly - it is outside in the sun- I think it gets full sun for about 6-7 hours because it's on the western side of the house. I'm about to move it out so it is exposed all day.

I have other smaller ones in which the centre spine is not flattened and the plant colour richer. Those are on their way out into the sun also.

The pic looks small enough to me, tho a little foggy(low in contrast)

Hi jadegarden-

That's a nice little fero! Ferocacti are my favorites. Yours is definitely not F. emoryi. The central spines on F. emoryi are not as strongly hooked, and usually have a bluish epidermis. It's not F. latispinus either. The central spines on F. latispinus are very wide, reddish, and also not as strongly hooked; F. latispinus also lacks the bristly radial spines your plant has. I believe your plant is Ferocactus wislizenii, very common in southern Arizona.

Regards,

cd

So off I went searching for Ferocactus wislizenii - found some photos of young plants. Could be right - the spines do look alike. The others don't seem to have those radial spines.

How old/large do these have to be before they flower? This baby is just over 6" across.

I believe F. wislizenii needs to be at least a foot in diameter before you'll see any flowers. Yours looks just like one of my plants.

cd

Feros all look so similar when young. If this was a mixed packet of seed, then it is unlikely that all you other "Feros" are the same, (although I raised a packet of Mixed Cacuts Seed from Parks and all come up to be Echinocereus rubrispinus). This one looks like F. wislizenii, Although you can tell the difference in my many Ferocactus. When it finally gets old/large enough to bloom then the identity will be complete. It is definitely not F. latispinus, they are much flatter and the spines usually stay flat against the body of the plant. May I ask where (company) you got the seed?
Dan Rhoads
Lincoln, NE USDA 5

These were either Ferry Morse or Yates seeds - I wasn't paying too much attention at that time when I just started experimenting with growing cacti from seed. I bought the pack and decided to try my luck.

The others I have are mostly from Ferry Morse seeds (not the same packet as this one)

Hi guys!

I love Feros, and this plant is definetly not F.latispinus or emoryi. I agree with the guys who say it's Ferocactus wislizeni (and not wislizenii). And yes, F. wislizeni has almost hair-like thin radial spines, but the central spines cover them enough. It has 1 long central spine what often curved and hooked. On my plant the central spines more reddish or pinkish, but it is variable.

Robi

I agree that it is not emoryi or latispinus, both of which can be distinguished as juvenile plants since they are so distinctive.
I don't fully agree with cactus dude regarding emoryi not being so hooked. Take a look at the pic of my emoryi. The central is strongly hooked but not as wide as latispinus. I think there is lots of variation of spination of Feros depending on your seed and growing conditions.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:461955}}

Steve, That's what some of my other ones look like! Should I ID them as emoryi?

The one I posted is the largest and the only one with a somewhat flattened central spine. I thought that the flattening might happen with age.

I just got a latispinus.
{{gwi:461966}}
I tried growing latispinus from seed with no success (not even germination).

I'm nursing some gracilis coloratus babies now - they're just under 1/2 inch diameter.
{{gwi:461967}}

Emoryi seedlings do not develop ribs until they are several years old and are quite distinctive because of this, in my experience. Post pics of the ones you think are F. emoryi for confirmation. Try more seeds of latispinus, it may just have been the batch you had. I have had little problems growing most Feros from seed except for macrodiscus - only two germinated but both survived. My large macrodiscus flowered for the first time this year but no seeds eventuated.
The emoryi has still not flowered. It must be about 15-20 years old now and the size of a basketball. All of my other Feros of about this size have flowered repeatedly...

It is almost identical to my Ferocactus wislizeni.
I got this from Astro, He raise it from seed and it is 5 or 6 years old
I stay with F. wislizeni
{{gwi:461968}}
Alfonso

The photo isn't very clear but it's all I have on my machine now. I didn't grow the one on the right, but the other two in the photo are nearly three years old (in 6" and 5" pots).

{{gwi:461969}}

Difficult to say from the photos. My emoryi seedlings have far fewer areoles at that size. I am not convinced any of the three are emoryi.

These photos might be a little better, but this is one year earlier than the last photo - maybe not same plants but same batch - sowed around Feb 2003. This was at just under two years old (4" pots).

{{gwi:461962}} {{gwi:461971}}

I will take some good shots next week of all these plants.

They are not emoryri but I can't ID them any further from the pics.