Various Mammillarias

All coming into flower at the moment

Very nice - duwei and karwinskiana, but what's the middle one, with hooked spines and dark pink flowers could it be zeilmanniana or something else?

Hi Chris
It's M.crinita

Glad you like them
Cheers
Anthony 1(Anthony Morris)

Is it? M. crinita shouldn't have pink flowers though. Sorry to be the nearer of uncertain news, but according to the NCL, M. crinite, and associated species now lumped in, have "dirty white" which I take to mean off-white to cream. My guess is that a) its what was called M. variabilis, which Hunt did include in M. crinita, but now he says M. fittkaui; or b) a light spined M. zeilmanniana; or c) a hybrid. But I can't tell you which, maybe others can.

But nice flowers! I always think that the creamy crinite forms are a bit dull, and this colour livens the hooked spined plants up nicely.

Hi Chris
The label definitely names it as M.crinita.
Having bought it at the RHS Tatton show three years ago from the Southfields stand naturally assumed they knew what they were talking about and didn't bother to check my NCL It's interesting to see what John Pilbeam has to say in his commentary on the species
Cheers for now

Anthony 1

It interesting to see that Southfields describe it on their website as "variable flower colours (plant selected randomly)". I wonder what their source of seed is?

It is true that M. crinita now includes a lot of species that were once separate, and one of these was M. variabilis, which has pink flowers like your plant, and which now, 20 years after John wrote his book, has been separated out from M. crinita and put by Hunt in the NCL into M. fittkaui.

I just wish that these botanist experts justified their conclusions, as for we amateurs to hear the pronouncements, especially when they change the status quo, can be quite mystifying.

Interesting point but have held the view for some time that DNA is one way to solve the problem.
Awaiting developments

Cheers for now
Anthony 1

If only a good and comprehensive DNA study of Mammillaria and associated genera (Coryphantha, Escobaria, Neolloydia....) could be done. I suspect we could be waiting a good while, as its the largest genus by far, and it is quite well known that Mammillaria is polyphenetic, and untangling it and creating the right groupings will be a nightmare.