BCSS - Forum

My plant is 25 year old today. lol, but It does not look it's age. Cheers. Please click for correct orientation

Nice plant Eric. Mine are not as old, large and woolly as yours. L fricii has a much redder flower than L. williamsii, which is a paler pink.

Left to right L. williamsii, L. fricii and L. diffusa.
http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... ora_fricii

Nice looking plants Dave, I will have to re name my birthday boy/girl as it has white flowers like your diffusa. Lol must have been wrongly named all these years poor thing. Cheers

Not sure I'd swap labels just yet?


http://www.magicactus.com/l_d_fri_albiflora.html


http://www.magicactus.com/description.html

Yes there is some variation in flower colour within the same species, even body colour. L. diffusa often has a sickly yellowish green body colour, but also blue bodied forms appear to exist if you scroll down this link.

http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACT ... ra_diffusa

I sometimes wonder if Lophophora's are being named as a particular species in cultivation on flower colour alone and as Ragamala points out you can often have white flowers in the other species. Perhaps it would take a DNA sample to decide really which species they are?

So is my L. williamsii correctly named please? Despite not being injured, it has gone very multi-headed, and is now over 30 years old. Grows an additional head every year now.

I am a little surprised, Dave, to see Hunt etc maintaining three separate species here. I wonder whether they would be lumped were it not for those whose interest is, shall we say, on its therapeutic potential.

Am I right in thinking fricii has also been regarded as a variety of williamsii as well as diffusa?

I haven't the energy to chase where it has been validated under either diffusa or williamsii, or to see if the "albiflora" is validly described. I must admit they all seem pretty much of a muchness to me, apart from distinction between "brush" and "balder" forms, if you know what I mean, and variation in flower colour. It is maybe one rare occasion where I would support lumping. But then I'm no expert.

There are very distinct differences in alkaloid contents between the different species. Only williamsii is usable for hallucinogenic effects through mescaline, with the other species having much lower contents. Distribution ranges are very restricted for all the species except williamsii. L. diffusa and alberto-vojtechii are quite easily separated from williamsii based on size, flowers, body shape and range. L. alberto-vojtechii also has larger seeds than the usual williamsii (as does koehresii).

L. fricii and koehresii are more difficult to separate from williamsii in terms of morphology, though I believe koehresii differs mainly in growing larger than williamsii and being slightly greener (at least in cultivation). L. fricii commonly has darker flowers than williamsii, and in my experience a slightly greyer and almost softer looking epidermis. There is an almost white flowered form of fricii, though I don't think there are any other morphological differences.

In cultivation it can be very difficult to separate some of the species since they will all tend to grow bigger, greener and with more wool than in habitat.

MikeDom wrote:So is my L. williamsii correctly named please? Despite not being injured, it has gone very multi-headed, and is now over 30 years old. Grows an additional head every year now.

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Yes, L.williamsii.

Beautiful plant Eric, well done for growing it soo well.