Mammillaria columbiana ssp. yucatanensis in Chiapas

I don't know how many members use Facebook, but there are some great cactus groups there, of which one is "Cactus de Mexico" and another is "Mammillarias. - Groupo en Mundo".

One recent photo that was added, I think to one of these, which I saved is an amazing shot of the Mammillarias growing all along the trunk of a palm tree. I understand it was taken near Ocozocuautla in Chiapas. Interesting no?

Incredibile....

Ich habe das Bild in Facebook gesehen.

Wie meinst du, Interesting no?

OH, das sind Mammillaria.

Wonder who sowed the original seed ? Birds or ants ? Finding cacti growing in trees is not a new phenomenon however. I understand that plant collectors find the odd one now and again.

Yes, it isn't unknown for terrestrial plants finding a home on branches. I have been lucky enough to see both M. wildii and M. flavicentra on branches of trees, but never in such profusion as this photo shows.
I don't know what the seed dispersal vector is of many Mamms, it doesn't seem to figure in the literature much. I did a quick Google on this for Chiapas, but not Mamms, and found that as well as the ones you have listed, opossums and bats appear to be involved with some plant species!

Hi Chris,
Fruit bat does seem the more likely. M.columbiana's fruit is big enough to make a tasty meal and I should image a palm would have fruit to bring the bat there in the first place.

Good morning Chris,
many thanks for this interesting photo! I myself am not on Facebook.
I've seen Mammillaria on trees, but nothing like this.
Maybe there was at first only a plant. She has formed seeds that have fallen down on the trunk. And later also sprouted.
Wonder where the roots go? Where the nutrients come from?
Fascinating!

Best regards

K.W.

This is what can happen when a palm seed germinates within a clump of mammillarias....  

Wolter ten Hoeve.

Oh, so they are not yucatanensis, but palmensis, now I see the logic!!