Black spined "cereus" ID

[zed240]

I got this as a "cereus" from a CSSSA show about 18 months ago. I quizzed the grower on what it was but he didn't know. He just said the plant had been in his garden for a long time and he took cuts from it and sold them at the shows. He couldn't give me any more info than that.

I never repotted it so it hasn't really grown at all so far.

I'd love to know what it is or at least get more of an idea if people can help.

Cheers!

[zelly]

give that baby a serious dose of ferts & see if you can coax out some new spines.....would love to know if they too are black when first emerging...beautiful plant btw

[shortly]

Looks a LOT like a plant i have seem labeled as Cereus forbesii

[zed240]

give that baby a serious dose of ferts & see if you can coax out some new spines.....would love to know if they too are black when first emerging...beautiful plant btw

I repotted it an hour or so ago into a slightly larger pot with a little richer mix too. It was in a very sandy mix so I think with a bit of water and light ferting it'll start to grow soon. It has a good strong root system.

I'll keep you posted!

[EDIT] I seem to remember that the one set of new spines I think I saw grow when I first got it had a red tinge to them. But like I said, I'll update with pics once it starts to grow. It's been nice and warm here lately so should see some growth soon.

Edited September 14, 2014 by zed240

[Evil Genius]

To me, It looks a lot like a malnourished Stetsonia coryne! Give itsome nutrients and it will look awesome. Stetsonias have black spines that turn gray and red new spine growth!

Edited September 14, 2014 by Evil Genius

[Nailthesnail]

agree with Evil Genius

[Optimystic]

I agree with that possibility (stetsonia) as well, the ribs seem too rounded at the tips to be most forms of cereus imo... but also alot of plants can be shaped differently a bit in their younger years...

I have a few plants I thought were really cool with black spines and a couple of them pach's which 2 seasons to start growing... the new spines emerged as regular pach like brown/yellow spines .. i remember alot of ppl saying in the id threads that they were perhaps oxidized... time will tell ...the other black spined plant (peruvianus) came from the same seller so I figure it had something to do with the conditions in that state/location... that plant above looks like its been in some intense sun... if it is in fact stetsonia it should be easier to tell pretty soon after they've grown an inch or so in prime conditions.. one thing i'll mention is that the aereoles seem a little differently shaped than a stetsonia when tend to be oval or shield shaped

Edited September 14, 2014 by Spine Collector

[zelly]

It looks a lot like a malnourished Stetsonia coryne! Give itsome nutrients and it will look awesome. Stetsonias have black spines that turn gray and red new spine growth!

i totally disagree with EG and others thinking its a stetsonia coryne and offer up this pic of one for comparison purposes

The plant really really looks like Cereus unknownus.

[zed240]

I must admit I didn't think it was a stetsonia from the images of those I have seen. I don't own a stetsonia to physically compare it to. It does however look quite different to Zelly's image. This definitely had red spines on fresh growth too, not yellow like that one. I'll look through my phone and see if I have an old image of it somewhere....

When I google search for "Cereus forbesii" like Shortly suggested there are certainly some that appear to be very similar to this one.

And this plant has been getting quite a bit of sun, from about 9am until 5pm it's in full sin at the moment. Since I've repotted it yesterday I've moved it to a slightly more shaded spot where it will be shaded from about 2pm. I'll move it back to more sun in a week or 2 and I'll update with new tip growth when that happens also.

[Dreamwalker.]

actually a Mexican guy has been sending me pics of his stenocerus collection. They are un-named, but 1 looks almost identical. Not much help I know...everyone else may well be correct.

Edited September 21, 2014 by Dreamwalker.

[zed240]

It's started to push out new growth. It's getting real fluffy on top and you can see 2 of the red spines starting to show right in the middle. I'll update with more pics in a few weeks.

[zed240]

It's starting to crank out the red spines now. So anyone getting more sure as to what he might be?

[Evil Genius]

No stetsonia. Stenocereus. Too early to tell which One but it reminds me of griseus.

[Berengar]

Do Cereus species form hybrids with each other? This seem to me like it's showing characteristics of several species, maybe C. aethiops and C. forbesii.

[Dreamwalker.]

Cereus species form hybrids easily.

But My vote is still Stenocereus sp.

Edited October 28, 2014 by Dreamwalker.

[Evil Genius]

If you hear hooves, think Horse not Zebra.

[Berengar]

But what if it has stripes as well?

Those wolly areoles and black long spines are not exactly common in Stenocereus, aand it being labeled as 'Cereus' would point to it being a possible hybrid within the genus.

All I'm saying, it definitely doesn't look like either Stetsonia or the more common Stenocereus species to me.

[zed240]

Thank you all for your input.

Purely based on googling for pictures and looking at websites it seems to me that Cereus forbesii appears to be the closest match but not perfect. So I'm still not sure either.

Once I have a decent amount of new growth later in the season I'll update again.

[Dreamwalker.]

Stenocereus thurberi

cactuspro.com

[zed240]

Stenocereus thurberi

cactuspro.com

I just don't see the similarities between that one and mine at all....

I can see some similarities with griseus, but also some differences. griseus is available at some of our hardware stores, I have used them as a graft stock too.

[edit] - it's pushed out a decent amount of new growth in a pretty short amount of time now too. Might update later tonight with a new pic for shits and giggles.+

[edit #2] - pics

Edited November 8, 2014 by zed240

[mutant]

cereus sp... I tend to dislike them cause I have gotten nasty cases of black rot on them

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

lol aye my stetsonias spines go white a lot earlier down the flank of the cactus than that

I was wondering if it was one of them copiapoea things

~(I'm yet to learn them but see a fair few when shopping)

and oh yeah, my young thubby , a little bit stubby (wont be long before it doesn't get tubby)

seems a lot shinier on the skin for me to sway that way

Edited November 22, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[hostilis]

That's definitely not a copiapoa. Unless there are some columnar ones I'm not aware about. My best guess would be some kind of cereus.

Edited November 19, 2014 by hostilis

[Dreamwalker.]

having just done an image search for polaskia chichipe

kakteen-sukkulente.jimdo.com

...the small immature form also looks like yours... (but then so did Stenocereus thurberi)

Edited November 19, 2014 by Dreamwalker.

[☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ]

That's definitely not a copiapoa. Unless there are some columnar ones I'm not aware about. My best guess would be some kind of cereus.

thanks hostilis , I'm sure I'll get round to copiapoa one day

seems like a nice sized genus to learn actually...

but um yeah , I cant wait to know what this cactus is

what about Pilosocereus arrabidae? or did someone already say that one?

(goes to check)

Edited November 19, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ

[zed240]

couple more pics...