Help needed with this mammillaria

Please have a look to this photo´s, is this a Mam. Bombycina, Perezdelrosae ssp andersoniana or something else ???
It has no hooked central spine.
I obtained this plant in a nursery last week, the owner could not give a name, he had it from a collector who stopped.
I had to repot it due the bad condition of the roots, I will keep it dry till the next season and hope the roots will recover.







Frederik

It looks like it has straight spines, which might suggest perezdelarosae ssp. andersoniana, but also it looks quite a large plant, and usually that ssp is quite a msall plant compared to bombycina and the typical perezdelarosae.

It will be easier to identify when it flowers, but I am thinking that it might actually be Mammillaria haageana ssp. schmollii rather than one of the bomycina / perezdelaroase complex.

A close-up of the spines might make identification a bit easier.

I tend to agree with Chris that it is Mammillaria haageana ssp. schmollii, i have the Mammillaria book by John pilbeam and the photo in the book is very much the same as your plant only a little happier

Hi Chris and Arthur,

A try to make a close-up of the spines.
I have also the book of John Pilbeam but the spines are more black.
If it flowers, if it ever hapens it must recover, perhaps it will become more clear.





Frederik

Hi Frederick,

Even more convinced that it is M. haageana ssp. schmollii. The spine colour varies from light brown to dark brown, which is just natural variation.

I agree with Chris and Arthur that it is a form of M. haageana, it certainly has nothing to do with perezdelarosae or bombycina.

Wolter ten Hoeve.

Maybe M. haageana ssp conspicua?

M. haageana is one of those species which shows a large amount of variation, especially in spine numbers and colour. As a result, many names have been given, conspicua is one. Almost all of the different forms are single headed, apart from v. schmollii, which was created to include only the offsetting form.

Some botanists now suggest that there should be no varieties or subspecies, but that M. haageana is simply one very variable species.

I have seen this plant at a number of locations in Puebla, and agree that it is very variable. There were plants with one, or two or four central spines, sometimes white tipped with brown, sometimes all dark brown, sometimes smooth and shiny, sometimes rougher and matt. The only true offsetting form I have seen, was near Zalotitlan Salinas, where there were plants with dark spines and those with paler spines.

I probably would maintain the name for the offsetting form, as it is limited, I believe, to a specific area, and does not mix with the other forms.