Is this a mammillaria/

[Juliette]

I presume by where the flowers appear that this is a mammillaria but have had no joy trying to find it in any of my books to know which one. Can any one help please?

Thanks
Juliette
[attachment 1952 whoami2.JPG]

[Chris43]

It looks like a rather shrunken, dark spined version of Mammillaria microhelia to me, Juliette.

Check it against this photo - http://www.mammillarias.net/gallery/vie ... s_030504_1

I think you'll see the similarity. This site is a good one fo Mamms, lots of photos, and not just of the most common form.

[Julie]

What lovely spines! Three black ones in every white daisy.

So, it needs some water? My small mamm has really shrunk, it's only an inch high and I can't resist giving it a tiny amount of water.

On the Deserts documentary with David Attenborough which was posted here a month or so ago, there was a time-lapse sequence of barrel cacti before and after the rain, I was amazed just how much they expand and contract.

[iann]

I was hoping someone else might have commented on this. It does look like M. microhelia but the spines appear almost black in the photo. M. microhelia is variable but I have never seen it with spines that dark.

It may be a little thirsty, but not badly parched. I can't see the skin, but the areoles don't look to be bunched up as they would on a very shrunken plant.

We do pamper our plants, don't we Julie. I give out advice all the time to let plants stay dry over winter even when they are quite wrinkled, but I have been known to stray a little too close with the watering can when nobody is looking! I blame it on those winter growing succulents that force me to get the water out

[anders]

iann Wrote:
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> M. microhelia is variable but I have never seen it
> with spines that dark.

Mine has dark spines too (not completely black, just very dark red). Are there any Mammillaria species that can be confused with M. microhelia? I thought it was quite distinctive (but I don't know much about Mammillaria).
[attachment 1957 Mammillaria_microhelia_060318.jpg]

[Maria J]

Mine has quite dark spines too but with pink flowers!
[attachment 1961 Mamm_microheliasm.JPG]

[Chris43]

M. microhelia is a species that has been given a number of names over the years. I think that the pink flowered variant was at one time called microheliopsis, a variant called droegeana has darker spines I think also.
Just put it down to natural variability - look for example at M. elongata and the multitude of spine colours that this has. I don't think there has been much "fresh" habitat seed circulating of this species in recent years, apart from Michel Lacoste's ML285, so what we have is probably only a few clones, amongst which specific cultivars have been propagated more than others.

[Maria J]

Yes I have 3 very different looking M. elongatas!

[Juliette]

Thank you for everyones assistance. I will get the plant labelled up this week & put it with all the other Mamms. I'm sure I have another M. microhelia but with spines no where near as dark. Hence, it didn't occur to me what this plant was. I can't remember what colour flowers the dark spined one has. Hopefully I will be reminded in a couple of months time when it flowers again.

Juliette