M. insularis

Are these in flower at the moment?
The first is quite a typical form, but is the second plant as pale flowered as that, or is it the light in the photo? I've not seen such a pale flower, if it is so.

Chris, the second one is actually white flowering M. insularis. This flower's colour was a real surprise for me. I took this photo about a month ago.

Very nice, Lesnek. You must look after that plant, and try to set seed from it alone...

This white flowering Mammillaria insularis has three fruit with some seeds.

hunt placed m.boolii, m.insularis and m.schumannii in a group together and luthy
placed in a separate series, but neither has suggested their amalgamation.
this is my mammillaria insularis.
it was hived off into a separate genus at one time (bartschella) for its unique habit of dehiscing the fruit by a circumscissile opening, i.e. around the fruit, rather than the more common basal opening, or no opening at all.

flowers in august

now i need a big help from all mammillaria's friends of this forum.
the next three of a mammillaria schumannii, in my collection, with white flowers.
is there connection between m.insularis/m.schumanni and their white flowers?

everywhere i find flowers pink for all bartschella......

It would be interesting to know if white flowered forms of these species exist in the wild?

It is not uncommon for flowers on different plants of the same species to vary a bit. Look at M. blossfeldiana, for example. The amount of pink stripe varies as does the size of the flower.

I can well imagine that, from time to time, genetic variation creates a white flowered form, but it doesn't last in nature because the pollinators of the species are "tuned" in for pink flowers.

I've seen white flowered forms of several Mammillarias, including senilis, duoformis (Tenango del Valle), glassii, lauii......

After all, where did the first white rose come from? Just a genetic freak, saved by the nurserymen and propagated...

wolternhoeve and your next trip in mexico, will help us to know if white flowered forms of bartschella exists in the wild.

are there other white flowered bartschella in your collections?

I have no white flowered plants of th schumanni / boolii / insularis form. I think it is just a "sport", which means a random genetic variation.

Maurillo, that is a very nice white-flowering schumannii! If my next trip would be to Italy, then I would visit the location of that schumannii and pick the fruits

Sorry, but my next trip will not be to Baja California where schumannii grows. Even if you would visit the plants in habitat, you still have to be there at the right moment to see the plants in flower. White-flowered forms of normally red-flowering plants are very rare in nature, so you just have to be very, very lucky to encounter such a white-flowering plant. As an example, there is a white-flowering M. theresae, but as far as I know, all the white-flowering theresaes in Europe are all from the same clone.

Now look what Reppenhagen says about M. schumannii: Blüten karmin bis fast weiss! Flowers carmine to almost white. Apparently, it is not at all uncommon for M. schumannii to have whitish flowers. But yours is the first one I have ever seen.
In the field list of Reppenhagen it is said of M. schumannii Repp 723k (from Buena Vista, BC): Viele Farbvarianten in Dornen und Blüten. Many colour variaties in spines and flowers.

Wolter.

hi wolt... if you will be in italy my home in the country where my the greenhouse is located is for you all time that you want.
is a big house and there are six bedrooms.
the invitation is also for tam, chris and all friends that help me in this forum and in my work of knowledge about mammillarias.
(my english is terrible)
i'm waiting for other bartschella withe flowered.
ciao a tutti e grazie.