eBay ID/Species confirmation?

[IanW]

I've been browsing eBay looking for plants I'd like, and although I've come across many I'd love to buy I really need to get all my existing ones out to the greenhouse and figure out how much space I actually have before going and buying more so I need to resist for the time being!

However, whilst trawling through I found a couple of anomalies from a seller I've seen mentioned here a couple of times and I'm wondering if I'm mistaken or if the seller has wrongly identified his sales. So I have a couple of queries to see whether it's my understanding or his misrepresentation that's at fault here!

First up is this one, it's listed as opuntia Brasiliensis, but looks more like another Opuntia I have which almost certainly isn't Brasiliensis:

O. Brasiliensis?

I think the one I have was id'd previously as Opuntia Monacantha, and looks almost identical to the type shown on this eBay auction whilst my O. Brasiliensis cuttings look very different.

The second query is this:

Pachycereus Pringlei

It mentions "Carnegia" and "Saguaro" but is it not simply Pachycereus Pringlei? Of course they look very similar, but I'd be suprised for that price if it was a Saguaro at that size!

Either way the Pachycereus looks a lovely plant and was I not resisting purchase of more cacti I'd be very tempted to add it to my collection!

Of course it's nothing new if something is misrepresented on eBay but if not, then I guess I have more to learn than I think about two of my more favourite cacti

[Phil_SK]

I'd agree with you on both counts.

For correctly identified plants you stand a much better chance if you use a proper nursery than ebay.
And as for Pachycereus not being saguaro you need to realise that sellers include words in the title that they think people might search for. Type in "Ariocarpus" and you'll find loads of plants of which 99% are not because there's a seller in Spain who includes the word with every plant.

EDIT: There may be other nurseries stocking these, but a quick search shows that Ian Robinson is selling Opuntia brasiliensis and Carnegiea. His plants are often small but that's why they're priced so competitively. The Opuntia would grow very quickly too.

[IanW]

I've got a few brasiliensis cuttings rooted and growing and one seedling popped up and died, however another has now popped and well, hopefully wont die I've got a couple of young Saguaro too, however I'm mostly after larger plants at the moment (well, I am when temptation beats my attempts to resist ), which is why I've been checking eBay as you seem to get the odd decent size specimens there.

Out of interest, what are the tell tale differences between Pachycereus Pringlei and a carnegia Gigantea? Is there an easy way to tell whether you're getting one and not the other? I noticed Cactus-Plaza.com are selling fairly large Saguaro but they're a little expensive! Not sure how they grow them in bulk either as it must take a good decade or more to get them that size no?