Northants News: Volume 12 no1

Contents Volume 12.1

Spring 2001

Editorial and more.......	Trevor Wray
Mammillaria Miscellany	Trev and Barry
Newer Mammillarias	Ian Priestley
Mammillarias for Beginners	Trevor Wray
Mammillarias - More information
Cochemiea halei	Ian Priestley
Endpiece

Editorial

Well here is 2001, the real millennium or so they say.... This issue of Northant’s News is dedicated to Mammillarias, or what one of my sons called Camelhairiers when I was training him. I like that! Ian, (the Ed’s favourite feature writer), has been persuaded to give us a bit on the newer species and even the Ed has chipped in a bit. Having let Ian off an episode of his ramblings, I felt I should write an anthology - so read on, (or click here if you really want to read about Camel Mammillarias).

It was 50 years ago today, Sargent Pepper..........

Selling some spare NCSS journals recently, I made the fatal mistake of opening volume 6 and reading the 50 year old articles. A few hours of fascinating study lasted to the early hours then this article was born.

So what were cactophiles up to in 1951? Vera Higgins was President. John Hampshire was the new Chairman. There were articles by Schwantes, Byles, Roan, Buxbaum, Buining, John Donald, Baynes, Cardenas and Northants founder member Ron Ginns. A young Gordon Rowley contributed an article on the succulents in the Bates collection. Many of the authors would be considered heavyweight but most of the articles are very readable and relevant even now. There were a few salvos fired in the controversy over Curt Backeberg's new (and some said, invalid) genera so I skipped those.

In the adverts Borg's 'Cacti' was available in a new edition for £2.10 and Nel's 'Lithops' for £5.50. Back issues of Vol 1 issue 1 were still available for 25p. Seedling mesembs were 5p. Ernest Hepworth was already selling plants from Streatham, London. I was later to buy plants from him in the 70s after he moved to the Isle of Wight.

The Seed Distribution had 18 species at 2p each, 17 were cacti and the other a bromeliad. Curious about this I found the list for 1950 which was also mostly cacti. Viewed from 2000 there was little exciting and nothing I would order even at tuppence. (Oh well, perhaps the Dyckia.) Still it was a start.

This copy of the journal still had its newsletters and we learned that 400 books had been borrowed from the library in the first six months of 1951. Member 3500 was recruited, by coincidence it was Dr. Willy Cullmann founder member of the I.O.S. (Though you will probably be more familiar with him as senior author of 'The Encyclopaedia of Cacti', a favourite book which is in the branch library.) Then we read -' Northants* (Northants - that's us!) utilised an exhibit at Kettering Horticultural Show to advertise the inaugural meeting of this, the newest branch on September 7th. Interest was so aroused that about 30 people attended the meeting. There it was, our first mention in the journal. So the branch is fifty years old this year, but of course you knew that!

Well that is a brief insight into the National Society in 1951 when it was a young, dynamic organisation trying fresh things, actively recruiting members and opening new branches.

* New members will perhaps not know that the BCSS was preceded by the NCSS - at least in the Northants area. The N is for National. In 1951 our Branch was called the Northamptonshire Branch because Kettering hadn't been invented then and Milton Keynes was a cowpat near Bletchley, (or Blithely as my spellchecker would have it.)

Ex Show Sec Robbed!

I was assisting at the judging at a village flower and craft show, the way one does, and as I pondered the finer points of handwriting I heard the plant judge claiming that a Peperomia was not a succulent. I took a surreptitious look and it looked like a succulent (or at least semi-succulent) to me. Anyway, of the four exhibits in a class for cacti or other succulents it was always going to be fourth. The other exhibits were an epiphyllum hybrid named 'Queen of the Night', but probably not, an immaculate small Melocactus with cephalium and a perfect Lophophora of very considerable age. The judge awarded first to the Epiphyllum, second to the Melocactus and third to our ex show sec's Lophophora, undoubtedly the best plant in that class. Also possibly the show, but then I'm biased! In a general flower show no one was offended and I am sure the judge was mostly right but you can see why our cactus shows are judged by B.C.S.S. qualified judges.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

In the Autumn 2000 edition I asked for information about this unusual cactus and Gianni Mereu kindly emailed that this plant is Astrophytum myriostigma quadricostatum nudum "Ditched" which the Japanese call "Yamakawa". (I can see why!) Gianni is a reader of our internet edition and grows many choice plants in Sardinia though he complains of winter rain and temperatures near freezing. Well Gianni, here at Northants it touches -10°C most winters and rains in the summer too! Hopefully that’s outside our greenhouses. However they do say it is milder down south in Milton Keynes.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

I met fellow member Jeff outside an electrical retailers in Riverside the other day. He had just moved and was purchasing a new microwave. The old one was functional but didn’t fit the new kitchen and was going to be dumped. Surely he should fit it in the greenhouse to sterilise topsoil (Heat to 82°C, spread out to cool and use a few weeks later - details in the Journal of the Scottish Rock Garden Society June 1990 or see the Ed.) No Jeff uses ready mix - Never mind.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Talking of composts, I have many replies from the compost and book survey, thank you. I am collating the information for the newsletter though several responses were practically articles by themselves. The Charlie Dimmock question did provoke some answers which are unsuitable for our younger readers and I have passed your names to Auntie G. In the meantime please read two Bradleyas.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

I have prepared an index to the first 10 volumes of Northants News. This is primarily so the Ed knows who owes an article but you are welcome to a copy.

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

At the February meeting someone thought a Copiapoa was allowed in the Neoporteria side-table class. Whisper the next bit.........Even show secs can make mistakes!

Trev (trevorwray@aol.com)

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Now to those Mammillarias........

Newer Mammillarias

Ian Priestley

Firstly, a cautionary word, I strongly advocate only buying Mammillarias that you really want to grow. Collecting names in this genus is a tricky and expensive business, depending on whether or not you want to collect a range of varietal types. For instance M. magnimamma has many close relatives, at least according to Reppenhagen’s view of this genus, (a splitter) and most can grow quickly to fill 8-10 inch pans and beyond. Also many species, as the Editor describes elsewhere, are relatively easy and if you want a representative collection, then you will probably need one or more very substantial greenhouses!

But enough! Let’s talk about some of these newer discoveries, which include M. luethyi, M. giselae, M. sanchez-mejoradae, M. marcosii, M. amajacensis and M. tepexicensis, many of which became known via the efforts of the late Charlie Glass during the building of the Succulent and botanical collection/Garden at Cante, Mexico. Sadly with his demise, this effort appears to be stagnating, but many of the new plant discoveries cultivated there have since travelled into Europe, via illegal channels. I am not entering into the ethics of this issue, but will adopt the practical view that as the plants are available then their merits can be publicised.

The curious (and unique?) spines of Mammillaria luethyi. The editor ran out of batteries for his electron scanning microscope and redrew this one from Pilbeam’s book. There are around 80 such parasol spines on each areole. M. luethyi

To take perhaps the most startling plant first, I can say with certainty that this plant will become extremely popular when more widely available, it is an absolute gem! I have a grafted plant which has a purple colour body and contrasting white radial spines – a bit like an umbrella. A very distinctive miniature, mine is about 1.5 cm diameter. The flowers are much larger and according to Pilbeam stunning, at around 3 cm across and length, purple with a white throat and yellow stigma; I can best liken it to a smaller, neater version of M. theresae.

So when can you get one? The good news is that it is being propagated in the UK now, so I guess that it will be generally available this Spring or Summer, at a reasonable cost.

M. giselae

Nice, but not too nice? A cross between M. schiedeana (Gold moss) and M. dumetorum, I think this is probably one for the connoisseur only! It seems to have prodigious offsetting capabilities, the grafted plant illustrated is a bit “pumped up” but even my plant on its own roots and living in a 2 inch pot has eight heads. No real cultivation difficulties, but sadly nothing much to really commend it either.

M. sanchez-mejoradae

A small, white-spined beauty; it comes from the same stable as M. herrerae and M. humboldtii. Flowers are not overly spectacular, but with that family pedigree, definitely a “must have” for the collector. I presume it will be slow on its own roots. There are at least six clones in circulation, which supports Pilbeam’s comment that more than one population may be found and it could be quite variable.

Certainly some of my plants are neater spined than the others and flower colours can vary between white and pink. The plant shown is grafted, but I think it will not be too difficult to grow on its own roots, given top shelf treatment and a bit of limestone in the compost.

M. marcosii

I have two small plants, one brown, the second being yellow spined, which are only just beginning to demonstrate the beauty of their spination. There was a beautiful 6-7 inch multi-headed clump, with chocolate brown spines, for sale at the National Show. I declined to buy it at first, her indoors was muttering about space! It was naturally long gone when I returned!

It is certainly very distinctive as a larger plant, and I’m told easy to grow. I expect it will be very popular once it begins to appear on the show bench.

M. tezontle

Again mine is a grafted plant, although it does not appear to have any particular difficulties in cultivation. I have included it here, more as a curiosity item as it may sadly now be extinct in the wild. Pilbeam says that it may be referable to the much better known M. crinita, perhaps as a miniature form, although the discoverers are insistent that it should stand as a good species, being found only on two bits of lava flow (called Tezontle) north of San Luis Potosi in Mexico.

Well, that ends my little survey of newer Mammillarias, a genus that continues to fascinate me. There may well be more to come as I'm told that there is at least one more new, unnamed species circulating in Eastern Europe, which may by now also be in cultivation in the UK. Watch this space!

Ian

Mammillarias for Beginners

Trevor Wray

Well having read of the newer Mammillarias, some of which are like the older ones and some of which are startling new introductions, what would I recommend a beginner to grow now from this giant genus?

Despite the rumour that I have more books on Mammillarias than plants (in fact I now have two dozen plants and only a mere six books), I have in my time grown lots. Those that I have not killed or thrown away should be worth any beginner's attention and also for the discerning collectors who don't want the full set of 200 or so.

A beginner's plant which will have long term prospects in a collection must be easy, distinctive and attractive and in the genus Mammillaria may I suggest there are not too many of these. (Yes, Ian, easy, distinctive and attractive - 70% of Mammillarias are easy, but only 30% distinctive, though it depends on who you believe. That leaves 10% which are attractive)

My first recommendation is Mammillaria hahniana. You should choose a seedling with fine, long white spines and later the plant will produce several complete circles of contrasting purple flowers every year followed by red fruits. In age it will cluster, as a washing up bowl plant it should challenge those bombycinas. Good value indeed. M. bombycina itself is pretty good though beware; if your interest is on the show table, your plant will have to be vast - we are talking two feet plus at National level. Clones to choose have small heads and black central spines. Jim Lewis has one I admire. M. perezdelarosae is closely related though most plants are solitary, if you can get your hands on a clone which offsets freely please get me a bit.

Mammillaria microhelia is an attractive plant which has dropped out of favour. I had a large one which seemed resistant to everything but suddenly died. I considered it worth while enough to replace it with a cheep seedling. In my early days there were two species; microhelia with yellow flowers and microheliopsis with pink, I have to say that the attraction of this species lies with the contrasting spines and clustering habit. A washing up bowl-full in twenty years will be an excellent plant.

Mammillaria baumii is a bit different in having yellow flowers. It will cluster into huge clumps eventually but the attraction for me lies in the scent: as soon as my plant comes into flower the greenhouses become irresistible. The discerning might choose the form with small heads but the flowers are just as large. I can pluck the dead leaves off Lithops for ever to the scent of baumii.

Mammillaria carmenae has beautiful spines. I remember when it was new to cultivation and the show sec produced a small cluster for the show bench; 'Grafted!' proclaimed the wise men but we soon realised that it does cluster with age. Normally it has yellow flowers but I have also a purple flowered form. Ian tells me the original has been hybridised to further increase the variation.

Fringing now on those that are not very, very easily grown we have two I recommend: Mammillaria dehertiana var. dodsonii and M. saboeae The type variety of M. dehertiana is not an easy plant so we are lucky that us non-specialists can grow the var. dodsonii which soon clusters and looks more attractive. With its white spines and red flowers it is an impressive plant even when small and when six inches across it will be making its mark on the show bench. M. saboae is available in three varieties and beginners should stick with the clustering varieties saboae and haudeana. The variety goldii stays solitary for a long time and is a bit (perhaps that should be a lot!) more difficult. The recommended varieties soon cluster and produce large magenta flowers. You can split the clumps to produce backups and sales plants.

All the above plants are tolerant of a temperature of -5°C though perhaps +5°C might make them even more easy to grow. So there's a few to go on with while we are waiting for Mammillaria luethyi seedlings for 50p. Who knows, when I next write this article it might be on my list of easy mamms for beginners!

Mammillarias- More information

There are several places to search for more information on Mammillarias

The books with an asterisk are in the branch library.

The Mammillaria Handbook (Craig 1945) First book on the genus to research the bibliography and sort things out. A lot is based on habitat studies. Supposed to be indispensable to the Mamm enthusiast and perhaps true for those participating in the names games. I’ve just remembered I have a spare reprint for sale. An excellent book.

*Mammillaria - A Collector’s Guide (Pilbeam 1981) Still useful and a prelude to the next (more expensive) book. All John’s books are very readable.

*Mammillaria (Pilbeam 1999) A comprehensive and well illustrated book which should be on every Mammillaria growers book shelf.

Die Gattung Mammillaria (Reppenhagen 1991/92) This two volume monograph has pictures of loads more species (the author is a splitter). The German is easily understood with a dictionary and even the computer can be trained to make some sense.

Both *The Encyclopaedia of Cacti (Cullmann) and *The Illustrated Dictionary of Cacti have illustrations of many species (and other genera) Many of the plants in the latter have given habitat origins.

The Internet. Search engines will produce a huge number of ‘hits’ for Mammillaria for you to trawl through. (Altavista gave 1,720!) Adding the species will produce hits and pictures of most - Mammillaria luethyi for example, produced seven references and two pictures. On the way I saw a great many beautiful Mammillarias and wished I could read Czech!

The Mammillaria Society This produces a very readable journal four times a year and a seedlist. There is an advert in every BCSS journal or see the internet page.

So that’s the end of our little Mammillaria revue and time for something different......................What’s that? Oh!

Cochemiea halei

Ian Priestley

This species has become increasingly popular in recent years, as seedling material has become more widely available, although I would still give it a “scarce in cultivation” rating.

It has been known in cultivation for over a century, having been described, as a Mammillaria, in 1899, by Brandegee. (Perhaps I should have written this article, last year, on its 100^th birthday?). It then became a Cochemiea due to its peculiar tubular flowers etc, but subsequently has been reconciled back into Mammillaria, as a sub genus.

It is found in Baja California, and the type species, which has only straight spines, comes from the offshore Isla de Magdalena. However David Hunt notes that there is also a mainland form with some hooked spines, but I have never actually seen a plant with anything other than straight centrals, which while it is still small, can make it look akin to a spiny yellow spined Echinocereus.

Despite it being described so long ago, it was still virtually unknown in cultivation until Alfred Lau’s explorations in Baja in the 1960s, when as Lau 040, imported material first became available in the UK.

I have one old plant obtained many years ago, which I purchased from a British nurseryman, I couldn’t believe my luck at the time! It is still possibly the one single plant that I could never part with, so perhaps it is also my favourite as well? The label indicates that it was collected by Charles Glass and John Beck, (Beck and Glass 3730) on 23^rd July 1968. Not a bad pedigree? I would also guess conservatively that it is probably at least 50 years old. The photo shows the top of this old plant in early October 2000, and it was still flowering, one month later

This year, two subsidiary heads also flowered for the first time, so probably the plant needs considerable maturity and/or very bright conditions to achieve this, a view that is supported by John Pilbeam.

I am aware of two other clumps, in the UK, Stuart Riley from Eastbourne has one, which is the clump shown in the photograph (left) and I saw another owned by Pat Mills of Spalding branch. This if I recollect correctly, was exhibited as an entry in the National Show in 1996.

I also have several smaller, seedling plants in 3½" pots which all grow steadily but as yet show no evidence of clumping or flowering.

So whether you call it Cochemiea or Mammillaria this is a species which will give pleasure for a long time.

Ian

*****************

Endpiece

Good News from the Priestleys: Elanor Marie Priestley arrived on the scene on 4th February and weighed in at 9lbs 3 ozs. A very reasonable size for an offset - so I am told. Congratulations from the branch and we are pleased you have taken positive steps to increase the membership. Perhaps now Julie will have time to produce those articles for the newsletter? The Ed now has a reminisce about son Philip who saw his first Branch Show aged five days and was pronounced best exhibit by the wise women. But were those Mammillarias even better? Errr..........

LINKS

Northampton and Milton Keynes Branch of the B.C.S.S.

Back issues of Northant's News Volume 11.4

Back issues of Northant's News Volume 11.3

Back issues of Northant's News Volume 11.2

Back issues of Northant's News - The Archives

Editorial Well here is 2001, the real millennium or so they say.... This issue of Northant’s News is dedicated to Mammillarias, or what one of my sons called Camelhairiers when I was training him. I like that! Ian, (the Ed’s favourite feature writer), has been persuaded to give us a bit on the newer species and even the Ed has chipped in a bit. Having let Ian off an episode of his ramblings, I felt I should write an anthology - so read on, (or click here if you really want to read about Camel Mammillarias). It was 50 years ago today, Sargent Pepper.......... Selling some spare NCSS journals recently, I made the fatal mistake of opening volume 6 and reading the 50 year old articles. A few hours of fascinating study lasted to the early hours then this article was born. So what were cactophiles up to in 1951? Vera Higgins was President. John Hampshire was the new Chairman. There were articles by Schwantes, Byles, Roan, Buxbaum, Buining, John Donald, Baynes, Cardenas and Northants founder member Ron Ginns. A young Gordon Rowley contributed an article on the succulents in the Bates collection. Many of the authors would be considered heavyweight but most of the articles are very readable and relevant even now. There were a few salvos fired in the controversy over Curt Backeberg's new (and some said, invalid) genera so I skipped those. In the adverts Borg's 'Cacti' was available in a new edition for £2.10 and Nel's 'Lithops' for £5.50. Back issues of Vol 1 issue 1 were still available for 25p. Seedling mesembs were 5p. Ernest Hepworth was already selling plants from Streatham, London. I was later to buy plants from him in the 70s after he moved to the Isle of Wight. The Seed Distribution had 18 species at 2p each, 17 were cacti and the other a bromeliad. Curious about this I found the list for 1950 which was also mostly cacti. Viewed from 2000 there was little exciting and nothing I would order even at tuppence. (Oh well, perhaps the Dyckia.) Still it was a start. This copy of the journal still had its newsletters and we learned that 400 books had been borrowed from the library in the first six months of 1951. Member 3500 was recruited, by coincidence it was Dr. Willy Cullmann founder member of the I.O.S. (Though you will probably be more familiar with him as senior author of 'The Encyclopaedia of Cacti', a favourite book which is in the branch library.) Then we read -' Northants* (Northants - that's us!) utilised an exhibit at Kettering Horticultural Show to advertise the inaugural meeting of this, the newest branch on September 7th. Interest was so aroused that about 30 people attended the meeting. There it was, our first mention in the journal. So the branch is fifty years old this year, but of course you knew that! Well that is a brief insight into the National Society in 1951 when it was a young, dynamic organisation trying fresh things, actively recruiting members and opening new branches. * New members will perhaps not know that the BCSS was preceded by the NCSS - at least in the Northants area. The N is for National. In 1951 our Branch was called the Northamptonshire Branch because Kettering hadn't been invented then and Milton Keynes was a cowpat near Bletchley, (or Blithely as my spellchecker would have it.) Ex Show Sec Robbed! I was assisting at the judging at a village flower and craft show, the way one does, and as I pondered the finer points of handwriting I heard the plant judge claiming that a Peperomia was not a succulent. I took a surreptitious look and it looked like a succulent (or at least semi-succulent) to me. Anyway, of the four exhibits in a class for cacti or other succulents it was always going to be fourth. The other exhibits were an epiphyllum hybrid named 'Queen of the Night', but probably not, an immaculate small Melocactus with cephalium and a perfect Lophophora of very considerable age. The judge awarded first to the Epiphyllum, second to the Melocactus and third to our ex show sec's Lophophora, undoubtedly the best plant in that class. Also possibly the show, but then I'm biased! In a general flower show no one was offended and I am sure the judge was mostly right but you can see why our cactus shows are judged by B.C.S.S. qualified judges. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
	In the Autumn 2000 edition I asked for information about this unusual cactus and Gianni Mereu kindly emailed that this plant is Astrophytum myriostigma quadricostatum nudum "Ditched" which the Japanese call "Yamakawa". (I can see why!) Gianni is a reader of our internet edition and grows many choice plants in Sardinia though he complains of winter rain and temperatures near freezing. Well Gianni, here at Northants it touches -10°C most winters and rains in the summer too! Hopefully that’s outside our greenhouses. However they do say it is milder down south in Milton Keynes.
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I met fellow member Jeff outside an electrical retailers in Riverside the other day. He had just moved and was purchasing a new microwave. The old one was functional but didn’t fit the new kitchen and was going to be dumped. Surely he should fit it in the greenhouse to sterilise topsoil (Heat to 82°C, spread out to cool and use a few weeks later - details in the Journal of the Scottish Rock Garden Society June 1990 or see the Ed.) No Jeff uses ready mix - Never mind. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Talking of composts, I have many replies from the compost and book survey, thank you. I am collating the information for the newsletter though several responses were practically articles by themselves. The Charlie Dimmock question did provoke some answers which are unsuitable for our younger readers and I have passed your names to Auntie G. In the meantime please read two Bradleyas. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 I have prepared an index to the first 10 volumes of Northants News. This is primarily so the Ed knows who owes an article but you are welcome to a copy. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 At the February meeting someone thought a Copiapoa was allowed in the Neoporteria side-table class. Whisper the next bit.........Even show secs can make mistakes! Trev (trevorwray@aol.com) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 *Now to those Mammillarias........*

Newer Mammillarias Ian Priestley
Firstly, a cautionary word, I strongly advocate only buying Mammillarias that you really want to grow. Collecting names in this genus is a tricky and expensive business, depending on whether or not you want to collect a range of varietal types. For instance M. magnimamma has many close relatives, at least according to Reppenhagen’s view of this genus, (a splitter) and most can grow quickly to fill 8-10 inch pans and beyond. Also many species, as the Editor describes elsewhere, are relatively easy and if you want a representative collection, then you will probably need one or more very substantial greenhouses! But enough! Let’s talk about some of these newer discoveries, which include M. luethyi, M. giselae, M. sanchez-mejoradae, M. marcosii, M. amajacensis and M. tepexicensis, many of which became known via the efforts of the late Charlie Glass during the building of the Succulent and botanical collection/Garden at Cante, Mexico. Sadly with his demise, this effort appears to be stagnating, but many of the new plant discoveries cultivated there have since travelled into Europe, via illegal channels. I am not entering into the ethics of this issue, but will adopt the practical view that as the plants are available then their merits can be publicised.
The curious (and unique?) spines of Mammillaria luethyi. The editor ran out of batteries for his electron scanning microscope and redrew this one from Pilbeam’s book. There are around 80 such parasol spines on each areole.		M. luethyi
To take perhaps the most startling plant first, I can say with certainty that this plant will become extremely popular when more widely available, it is an absolute gem! I have a grafted plant which has a purple colour body and contrasting white radial spines – a bit like an umbrella. A very distinctive miniature, mine is about 1.5 cm diameter. The flowers are much larger and according to Pilbeam stunning, at around 3 cm across and length, purple with a white throat and yellow stigma; I can best liken it to a smaller, neater version of M. theresae. So when can you get one? The good news is that it is being propagated in the UK now, so I guess that it will be generally available this Spring or Summer, at a reasonable cost.
M. giselae
Nice, but not too nice? A cross between M. schiedeana (Gold moss) and M. dumetorum, I think this is probably one for the connoisseur only! It seems to have prodigious offsetting capabilities, the grafted plant illustrated is a bit “pumped up” but even my plant on its own roots and living in a 2 inch pot has eight heads. No real cultivation difficulties, but sadly nothing much to really commend it either.
M. sanchez-mejoradae A small, white-spined beauty; it comes from the same stable as M. herrerae and M. humboldtii. Flowers are not overly spectacular, but with that family pedigree, definitely a “must have” for the collector. I presume it will be slow on its own roots. There are at least six clones in circulation, which supports Pilbeam’s comment that more than one population may be found and it could be quite variable. Certainly some of my plants are neater spined than the others and flower colours can vary between white and pink. The plant shown is grafted, but I think it will not be too difficult to grow on its own roots, given top shelf treatment and a bit of limestone in the compost.


M. marcosii I have two small plants, one brown, the second being yellow spined, which are only just beginning to demonstrate the beauty of their spination. There was a beautiful 6-7 inch multi-headed clump, with chocolate brown spines, for sale at the National Show. I declined to buy it at first, her indoors was muttering about space! It was naturally long gone when I returned! It is certainly very distinctive as a larger plant, and I’m told easy to grow. I expect it will be very popular once it begins to appear on the show bench.
M. tezontle Again mine is a grafted plant, although it does not appear to have any particular difficulties in cultivation. I have included it here, more as a curiosity item as it may sadly now be extinct in the wild. Pilbeam says that it may be referable to the much better known M. crinita, perhaps as a miniature form, although the discoverers are insistent that it should stand as a good species, being found only on two bits of lava flow (called Tezontle) north of San Luis Potosi in Mexico. Well, that ends my little survey of newer Mammillarias, a genus that continues to fascinate me. There may well be more to come as I'm told that there is at least one more new, unnamed species circulating in Eastern Europe, which may by now also be in cultivation in the UK. Watch this space! Ian

Mammillarias for Beginners Trevor Wray Well having read of the newer Mammillarias, some of which are like the older ones and some of which are startling new introductions, what would I recommend a beginner to grow now from this giant genus? Despite the rumour that I have more books on Mammillarias than plants (in fact I now have two dozen plants and only a mere six books), I have in my time grown lots. Those that I have not killed or thrown away should be worth any beginner's attention and also for the discerning collectors who don't want the full set of 200 or so. A beginner's plant which will have long term prospects in a collection must be easy, distinctive and attractive and in the genus Mammillaria may I suggest there are not too many of these. (Yes, Ian, easy, distinctive and attractive - 70% of Mammillarias are easy, but only 30% distinctive, though it depends on who you believe. That leaves 10% which are attractive)
My first recommendation is Mammillaria hahniana. You should choose a seedling with fine, long white spines and later the plant will produce several complete circles of contrasting purple flowers every year followed by red fruits. In age it will cluster, as a washing up bowl plant it should challenge those bombycinas. Good value indeed. M. bombycina itself is pretty good though beware; if your interest is on the show table, your plant will have to be vast - we are talking two feet plus at National level. Clones to choose have small heads and black central spines. Jim Lewis has one I admire. M. perezdelarosae is closely related though most plants are solitary, if you can get your hands on a clone which offsets freely please get me a bit.

Mammillaria microhelia is an attractive plant which has dropped out of favour. I had a large one which seemed resistant to everything but suddenly died. I considered it worth while enough to replace it with a cheep seedling. In my early days there were two species; microhelia with yellow flowers and microheliopsis with pink, I have to say that the attraction of this species lies with the contrasting spines and clustering habit. A washing up bowl-full in twenty years will be an excellent plant. Mammillaria baumii is a bit different in having yellow flowers. It will cluster into huge clumps eventually but the attraction for me lies in the scent: as soon as my plant comes into flower the greenhouses become irresistible. The discerning might choose the form with small heads but the flowers are just as large. I can pluck the dead leaves off Lithops for ever to the scent of baumii.
Mammillaria carmenae has beautiful spines. I remember when it was new to cultivation and the show sec produced a small cluster for the show bench; 'Grafted!' proclaimed the wise men but we soon realised that it does cluster with age. Normally it has yellow flowers but I have also a purple flowered form. Ian tells me the original has been hybridised to further increase the variation.
Fringing now on those that are not very, very easily grown we have two I recommend: Mammillaria dehertiana var. dodsonii and M. saboeae The type variety of M. dehertiana is not an easy plant so we are lucky that us non-specialists can grow the var. dodsonii which soon clusters and looks more attractive. With its white spines and red flowers it is an impressive plant even when small and when six inches across it will be making its mark on the show bench. M. saboae is available in three varieties and beginners should stick with the clustering varieties saboae and haudeana. The variety goldii stays solitary for a long time and is a bit (perhaps that should be a lot!) more difficult. The recommended varieties soon cluster and produce large magenta flowers. You can split the clumps to produce backups and sales plants. All the above plants are tolerant of a temperature of -5°C though perhaps +5°C might make them even more easy to grow. So there's a few to go on with while we are waiting for Mammillaria luethyi seedlings for 50p. Who knows, when I next write this article it might be on my list of easy mamms for beginners! Mammillarias- More information There are several places to search for more information on Mammillarias The books with an asterisk are in the branch library. The Mammillaria Handbook (Craig 1945) First book on the genus to research the bibliography and sort things out. A lot is based on habitat studies. Supposed to be indispensable to the Mamm enthusiast and perhaps true for those participating in the names games. I’ve just remembered I have a spare reprint for sale. An excellent book. Mammillaria - A Collector’s Guide (Pilbeam 1981) Still useful and a prelude to the next (more expensive) book. All John’s books are very readable. Mammillaria (Pilbeam 1999) A comprehensive and well illustrated book which should be on every Mammillaria growers book shelf. Die Gattung Mammillaria (Reppenhagen 1991/92) This two volume monograph has pictures of loads more species (the author is a splitter). The German is easily understood with a dictionary and even the computer can be trained to make some sense. Both The Encyclopaedia of Cacti (Cullmann) and The Illustrated Dictionary of Cacti have illustrations of many species (and other genera) Many of the plants in the latter have given habitat origins. The Internet. Search engines will produce a huge number of ‘hits’ for Mammillaria for you to trawl through. (Altavista gave 1,720!) Adding the species will produce hits and pictures of most - Mammillaria luethyi for example, produced seven references and two pictures. On the way I saw a great many beautiful Mammillarias and wished I could read Czech! The Mammillaria Society This produces a very readable journal four times a year and a seedlist. There is an advert in every BCSS journal or see the internet page. So that’s the end of our little Mammillaria revue and time for something different......................What’s that? Oh!
Cochemiea halei Ian Priestley This species has become increasingly popular in recent years, as seedling material has become more widely available, although I would still give it a “scarce in cultivation” rating. It has been known in cultivation for over a century, having been described, as a Mammillaria, in 1899, by Brandegee. (Perhaps I should have written this article, last year, on its 100^th birthday?). It then became a Cochemiea due to its peculiar tubular flowers etc, but subsequently has been reconciled back into Mammillaria, as a sub genus.
It is found in Baja California, and the type species, which has only straight spines, comes from the offshore Isla de Magdalena. However David Hunt notes that there is also a mainland form with some hooked spines, but I have never actually seen a plant with anything other than straight centrals, which while it is still small, can make it look akin to a spiny yellow spined Echinocereus. Despite it being described so long ago, it was still virtually unknown in cultivation until Alfred Lau’s explorations in Baja in the 1960s, when as Lau 040, imported material first became available in the UK. I have one old plant obtained many years ago, which I purchased from a British nurseryman, I couldn’t believe my luck at the time! It is still possibly the one single plant that I could never part with, so perhaps it is also my favourite as well? The label indicates that it was collected by Charles Glass and John Beck, (Beck and Glass 3730) on 23^rd July 1968. Not a bad pedigree? I would also guess conservatively that it is probably at least 50 years old. The photo shows the top of this old plant in early October 2000, and it was still flowering, one month later This year, two subsidiary heads also flowered for the first time, so probably the plant needs considerable maturity and/or very bright conditions to achieve this, a view that is supported by John Pilbeam. I am aware of two other clumps, in the UK, Stuart Riley from Eastbourne has one, which is the clump shown in the photograph (left) and I saw another owned by Pat Mills of Spalding branch. This if I recollect correctly, was exhibited as an entry in the National Show in 1996. I also have several smaller, seedling plants in 3½" pots which all grow steadily but as yet show no evidence of clumping or flowering. So whether you call it Cochemiea or Mammillaria this is a species which will give pleasure for a long time. Ian