Tephrocactus ID

[Aloenut]

Hi All,

I have this plant labeled as Tephrocactus geometricus. Is this the genuine one? Or is it Tephro alexandri?

Thanks
Aloenut

[Roy]

I think it's geometricus

[Roy]

I must admit on some stalls at the ELK it seemed to be label the small Opuntias anyway you like! :-))

[Phil_SK]

Looks right to me too. Bear in mind that NCL reduces T. geometricus to a synonym of T. alexanderi.

[Roy]

......and what a range of plants we have called T. alexandrii to start with :-)))

[Roy]

That should have been alexanderi, too much Stella Blonde at the supermarket------- now I wonder where I have just picked that nasty habit up from ! :-)))))

[Guillermo]

hello guys

just a short note.

It should be called T. alexanderii. Yes it is true that at hight altitudes, one can find similar specimens without spination, and those were called T. geometicus. It is however difficult to draw a line on when to call one name or the other, therefore justifying the merging of the two names.

Cheers,

Guillermo

I just posted a "typical" T geometricus .

[Aloenut]

Hi,

Guilermo, thanks for posting the photo of the Tephro. In the UK cacti and succulents often look very different from the plants in habitat.

Aloenut

[Roy]

Just a point of view. As you say plants do change with altitude and many plants grade from one to another however I would have thought that if a plant was removed from it's natural habitat and continued to grow as it did in habitat, and that growth was obviously different from the "type" then that would have been good enough reason to give it a different name. Are names not given to enable us to distinguish one plant from another? As to the "correct" name that changes like the wind.