Mammillaria napina

[rongs]

This plant has come to me as Mammillaria napina but is it?
I've read a description which says it's tricky and it has a long tap root but this plant has no tap root
Can anyone confirm what it is?

[iann]

Its only a baby and looks like it has been grown in quite low light, but still it doesn't look like M napina.

[Diane]

I agree with iann - the spines of M. napina are quite stiff and slightly recurved, and not as white as those shown in your photo, more straw coloured. No idea on what it could be though.

[iann]

Might be a M. spinosissima seedling.

[rongs]

Thanks for your comments
The lack of a tap root and your description Diane make me think it's not Mammillaria napina
I've potted it up and I'll see how it develops
If it flowers I might have a better idea what it actually is

[Cidermanrolls]

Looks very much like the plants advertised on eBay recently as Mam napina. From memory a seller in Wales. I almost wrote to the seller suggesting he checked his identification but stopped short thinking it could be that the plants have been force grown and are currently very non-characteristic. Wasn't there a first picture that looked very much like what one eBay seller advertises as Mam zeilmanniana?
There are several rogue identifications on eBay and it really is 'buyer beware'.

[MikeT]

Wasn't there a first picture that looked very much like what one eBay seller advertises as Mam zeilmanniana?

This does look rather like zeilmanniana, but that should have some hooked centrals apparent by this size, and there don't seem to be any.

[rongs]

Yes the plant was advertised on Ebay and there was a picture of Mammillaria napina in full flower and it came in a pot
I had looked up the description and growing conditions and decided to give it a go
It was potted in a peat compost so I decided to tip it out and repot in a better draining compost because of the reputation of the plant and the tap root which is of course non-existent
It's not zeilmanniana which is more rounded and there are no hooked spines so I will wait and see how it develops
As you say "let the buyer beware" but there are some very reliable cacti growers selling on Ebay of course

[ChrisR]

.......there are some very reliable cacti growers selling on Ebay of course

Not this one it seems. I'd send it back for a refund.

[ChrisR]

I did an Ebay search.....there was a photo of M.zeilmanniana in flower being sold as M.napina and the plants illustrated are the same as rongs.

I informed the seller he is selling M.zeilmanniana and not M.napina......he replied;

Hello,
You are absolutely right, there was a mistake in the listing. Thank you very much, I did not see it until now when I checked the listing, it had an old description from another plant.

Kind regards

But no name or signature so I don't know who it is. He's now corrected it but it's still £8 for a pretty poor offering.