Variations on a theme of lasiacantha

A little late this year, but better late than never...
First off, Mammillaria lasiacantha ssp. lasiacantha



Then, Mammillaria lasiacantha SB500



And Mammillaria lasiacantha ssp. hyalina, or Mammillaria wohlschlageri if you prefer



And finally, Mammillaria lasiacantha 'denudata'



At least that's what the labels say!! I do know the SB500 is right, as I grew this from seed myself. The wohschlageri is from Uhlig, the SB414 from Bob Clayton, and the denudata is 20 years long in my collection, blooming every year, but not getting any bigger - all are in 7 cm pots.

Very nice display Chris, All the names seems to be correct, only about your 20 year old denudata I have some doubts. For sure it's a lasiacantha form, but mine looks somewhat different with shorter spines. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture. I took it this evening. Maby I'll post another one tomorrow.

That wouldn't surprise me, Hugo, as there is a lot of confusion over the years as to what is and what is not lasiacantha. An old book I have suggests that lasicantha is the name for the forms that have plumose spines, and denudata meaning naked, for those forms that don't have plumose spines. But then there were so many intermediate forms found, some with only a small degree of featheriness, and so the two were merged by Hunt I think, but Reppenhagen and Luthy seem to agree.
So the nurseryman who grew this - no longer in business - might have followed the old books, and certainly the spines arewhat I would call a bit shaggy (untidy) but not feathery.