It looks a little like a Mammillaria, but yet different. What do you think it is? Really beautiful.
Dan Rhoads
Lincoln, NE USDA 5

It could be Mammillaria herrerae
Alfonso

Oooh, my turn, my turn! Could it be hernandezii?
Amy

I'm going to have to side with Alfonso. It looks alot like a M. herrerae. What a beauty. M. herrerae has been on my list for at least a hundred years now. Where did you find that?

Dawn

My guess is that it is one of the following:
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Or even this one!
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Jordi

I'm leaning more towards Amy's suggestion, spine count is about right for hernandezii, sanchez-mejoradae has more elongated areoles, but I don't have either of these... they're just so much ink on my wishlist.

CP

I don't think it's herrerae, they look more like little golf balls.

{{gwi:492888}}

Amy

Could it be solisioides? Come on S&B, the suspense is killing me!
Amy

Its confession time :) I brought this little thing home under the impression that it was Turbinicarpus valdezianus. That's not a name I would have guessed myself (no good at identifying turbs) but I can't find a label so I don't know why that name came into my head.

{{gwi:492891}}

I repotted it, cleaned off most of the scale, looked closely, and decided it looked like a Mammillaria. And here I am, still confused!

I don't think it is M. herrerae, not enough spines. I'd love it to be M. sanchez-mejoradae, but again not enough spines. It has around 23 radials, so that seems more like M. hernandezii. Except that the spines are interlacing, which isn't normal for M. hernandezii. It may not be in great shape under there and has shrunk a bit. Does M. hernandezii have a taproot nearly as thick as the head?

That's a good question, and one I can't answer. I don't own one, but now that I've looked it up I'd like to!

Yours does appear to be in somewhat rough shape and it looks a bit thirsty. I'm sure it will look much better after being taken care of by you though.

Amy

Here is a link that might be useful: Mammillaria hernandezii on Mammillarias.net

Forgot to add...here's a photo of my T. valdezianus v. albiflorus. That's a one inch pot it was in when I first got it. It's now sharing a pot with its cousin T. pseudopectinatis and not-its-cousin, Mammillaria herrerae. I hope to get flowers from all three this spring. If I'm very lucky, they'll all flower together!
Amy

T. valdezianus v. albiflorus

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T. pseudopectinatis

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Amy

Amy,

Your 2nd one is also a T. valdezianus. Those two will flower earlier in the year (Jan-March) than M. herrerae (early summer).

Jordi

To end the guessing here are two pictures which i think are good proof that our Ohio Amy was right in the first place.

There is a thing in the underground part of a Mammillaria hernandezii one cannot easily deny to have the shape of a thick taproot:{{gwi:492875}}Â Â

The spine number is Ok also and they can be interlacing on dormant plants:{{gwi:492877}}Â Â

Jordi

Thanks everyone. I'll soon have it plumped up like a holiday turkey! I'll just have to keep my eyes open for those other desirable miniatures ...

Be sure to post pics when you've got it in top form, it's a real cutie. I really like the minis. They go all out when they flower.

Thanks for your opinion, Jordi. I ordered the first Turbi from Miles, the second from another source, so it could be that it was mislabeled. Flowers will tell me for sure!

Oh, and I was so hoping that all 3 would bloom together, but alas, tis not to be! Then again, I never really know when they will bloom in my northern climate. The shorter growing season we have seems to throw some of them off schedule.

I'll post flower pictures when they all bloom. Maybe I got lucky and the 2nd is the pink flowering valdezianus!

Amy