Perfect!! Great plant. My compliments. greetz Hablu

I can see why it is call a grizzly bear. Nice plant you have there CPC.

Dawn

Your plant is special in many ways to me.

I think Opuntias as a group are generally under-appreciated by many US hobbyists. When I lived in a much more hospitable location I was constantly searching for cacti that would be cold/wet tolerant in my unprotected outside beds. This was a candidate. My clone was marginal and after a few years it disappeared. To my eye those long spines are wonderful. That's a good clone. Do you have collection location data for the seed? In my association with other eastern US collectors I knew few who grew Opuntias, and fewer still who grew them from seed. I'm guessing that it has not yet flowered. When it does, what color do you anticipate the flower to be? Is the plant destined to be planted in the ground or live in a pot? I've no real handle on the climate of Tazmania.

Al

very cool!
You'll be glad those spines are soft when you come to repot!

I really like that cactus.. Thanks for sharing that one CPC! :-) I must try to find one of those..
Bill in SC

Thanks folks, Bill it's a plant worthy of a place in any collection! This one has brownish spines whereas erinacea var erinacea has white spines and is quite spectacular too.
Al, the seed came from england, from Brian and Edgar Lamb's collection, it was a gift from Brian, I got it with a shipment of othere seeds from him. There were only a couple of seeds and this is the only one that germinated. It sat in a pot as a small seedling for many years and showed very little sign of growth, but I persevered with it... I'm glad I did. I keep it growing in a pot in the glasshouse. It has never flowered, but when it does I expect the flower to be yellow.
The climate here is temperate, Summers are ideal, warm and dry. Early winter often has nice clear days but frosty nights and mornings that drop to -1 or -2 celsius, (to -6C where we lived before), mid to late winter we get maost of our rainfall so the combination of cold and wet spells disaster for many plants in the garden, (though I'm surprised as to what will actually survive.... Lots of good drainage is the key).
Many plants, (particularly Opuntia) a generally hard to almost impossible to obtain now, due to quarantine restrictions here in Tas.

Cheers, CP

pole cat ,don't let that bear loose it might eat your tas devil

LOL, no worries James, I'll keep it chained, ...our Devils have enough trouble at the moment, without me adding to it!

CP...

Are there actually still Devils there? Have you ever seen one? I think I saw a picture of one once, and it looked like a dog with lots of MEAN, sharp teeth. Sorry, everyone...off topic, I know, but curiosity is one of my vices...

Kate

Kate, you're probably thinking of the Tasmanian tiger, which was the size of a large dog. They're considered to be extinct, though there have been some reported "sightings" which are unproven. Check out the link below it will give you some info, and a short Quicktime movie of the last Tas Tiger known to be in existence.
The tasmanian devil (not quite as depicted in the looney-tunes cartoons) is much smaller, has a ferocious bite and even more ferocious growl. It's bite can crunch through bone with ease.
I reality the Devil is quite a cute, shy little critter and is usually active only at night. Devils are currently under threat from a cancerous disease that manifests itself as a facial tumour,resulting in death of the animal. In an attempt to save the animal from extinction, a healthy disease free population is in the process of being established offshore on an isolated island, as there is no known cure or cause for the disease as yet.
Check out this link by cutting & pasting into your browser, It'll tell you a bit about the Devil and will also play a short movie for you...
http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wildlife/mammals/devil.html

Cheers, CP

Here is a link that might be useful: Tas tiger

They are a shy little fellow but when confronted can be a dangerous opponent. I seen a episode on Animal plant about these Devils and they are nothing to be reckon with. They remind me of a miniture black bear--so cute :)

Dawn

So true Dawn, I've also seen them tamed and they're almost like affectionate puppy dogs.

CP

The devil is CUTE! ...and you're right, it is the tiger I remember seeing a picture of. It's too bad they don't have any conclusive proof of their existence. Seems like such a shame for man to have extincted something native ONLY to your little tiny corner of the world! Thanks for all the info, CP. I checked out all the other wildlife on the Tasmanian Parks site, too!

Kate

Tame? People can have these as pets?. Do you have to have a permit to own one. Do they live longer in captivity? Sorry for all the questions, just curious.

Dawn

Dawn, The authorities would not allow pepole to have them as pets, a special permit would be needed for their captivity at a wildlife park or similar.
I have seen them at a local wildlife park where they had been reared, and were quite tame.
The people who operate the park kept them in a large enclosue and would bring them out to show visitors/tourists. Some people also are licensed to care for orphaned animals, and it's not unusual to care for an orphaned Devil baby.

Cheers. CP.

Do some fall clean up and came across an old Opuntia erinacea v. ursina. I've had this at least 15yrs, got it a botanical garden sale I believe.

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