Is this Mammillaria polythene ?

I always thought that this is m.polythene however is it ?

Andreas

It is possible that it is the form called nudum.

Its interesting though, that from what I can see, it flowers sometimes from different places on the plant. I think that I can see some old flowers that appear to have flowered from about halfway between areole and where the axil should be at the bottom of the tubercle, but it might be me mistaking where the areole is because of the wool.

As this form is a monstrose form of the species anyway, I wouldn't be surprised that it has some other peculiarities!

Yes it looks lke variety nudum. What is the difference between polythele and polythele nudum ?

Andreas

Take a look at Maurillio's Gallery and at the various photos of M. polythele shown here - M. polythele

The difference is that M. polythele has proper spines and a properly developed structure.