Along the road to Mesa de Leon I was hoping to find Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus elephantidens for which I had coordinates from both Trevor Wray and Paul Klaassen. With a bit of luck they should be in flower too. I was not disappointed! I found 8 flowering plants on a few square metres, all looking at...

Our destination was the small community of La Trinidad 9 miles NW of Xilitla at an altitude of about 1900m, which can only be reached by 4-wheel drive. Here I stayed in a very rustic cabin without electricity, and I could see my breath in bed in the morning! _DSC1198_lzn.jpg After a hearty breakfast...

Another stop a couple of miles further north yielded at least two different species of Coryphantha, Echinocereus pentalophus, a fine Mammillaria parkinsonii, some good-sized Echinocactus platyacanthus and numerous Christmas cholla (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis) which became quite attached to me… _DSC0...

My next stop was the small town of Bernal, an hour east of Queretaro. Its major tourist attraction is the Pen~a de Bernal, the world’s 10th largest monolith. _DSC0585_lzn.jpg Just a few miles out of Bernal I got the first views of hillsides full of cacti (and succulents): _DSC0617_lzn.jpg _DSC0625_l...

An invitation to a scientific meeting in Santiago de Queretaro gave me the perfect opportunity to combine business and pleasure. Having flown in to Mexico City airport I spent a few hours in the city centre, visiting the Zocalo (central square) and the presidential palace, both of which have somethi...

Fantastic show! Shame it's a bit far from Cardiff...

You're right Ralph, I've changed that now :smile: I was very lucky indeed because I got an invitation to talk at a conference in Santiago de Queretaro, and I added 8 days of holiday, driving round Queretaro and Hidalgo states. I'll give a talk to the branch next year, you'll have to come down! It wa...

Thanks Martin! I was wondering about that, but other young plants of this species seemed to have more prominent and more curved spines, and are less ribbed. But there were certainly enough 'grown-ups' around!

Martin wrote:A young echinocactus ingens ?

M

I saw this cactus growing on a cliff just a few miles north of the town of Metztitlan in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo. Any suggestions what it might be?

I returned from a 12-day trip to central Mexico a couple of weeks ago and had a great experience. In fact, Trev and I saw one or two places within a day of each other. I stayed in Queretaro and Hidalgo, two states not mentioned in the FO travel advice, and stuck to main roads. Most places I stayed w...