Mexico trip November 2007 travelogue

[Chris43]

YOu're right, Marlon, those Mamms are never nejapensis. I still suggest M. carnea.
Coryphantha calipensis is a subsp. of pallida, and it would be interesting to know exactly where it was photographed, as calipensis is very limited in distribution.

[Paul in Essex]

Thanks again, all.

Vic, no not Wim but a friend of his called Bertus who is, himself, a veteran of a few Mexico field trips.

I would say your plant in the picture is kerchovei, rather than ghiesbreghtii. Both are to be found in Oaxaca/Puebla area but my understanding is that ghiesbreghtii has shorter, wider, thinner leaves and can be more easily mistaken for horrida than kerchovei. But with these marginatae.... ?!

Chris - those different cacti were all at the site of the Agave macroacantha within a few paces. One of the most diverse ranges of cacti I have seen in one place anywhere in Mexico - a few km north of a place called San Jose Tilapa, itself a few km north of Teotitlan on Hwy 135, the bit between Tehuacan and Teotitlan. I just looked it up on Google Earth and it is 18.11 degrees north, 97.09 degrees west, +/-, very close to the Puebla/Oaxaca border.

[Vic]

Thanks Paul!

[Maria J]

Wow, stunning scenery & superb plants in a great travelogue!! Thanks Paul! (I can't quite get over the stupendous size of the Xanthosoma sp!!!)

[Chris43]

Hi Paul,
Thanks for the location data. I know that road, having travbelled it all the way down from Tehuacan to Oaxaca. Your location isn't too far from Calipan, so the pallida form could be ssp. calipensis. Mammillaria carnea is quite widespread in that area, but not nejapensis, which comes from much further south in Oaxaca.