Sp. nova Alfred Lau?

Hi,
Got this one from Woody Minnich, labelled sp. nova Alfred Lau. If Woody said more about it, I don't recall.
Is it still sp nova, what else could it be? Looks similar to a sphacelata I have tho that has no wool, and hasn't flowered.



Thanks, Mike

It looks similar to sphacelata with a paler flower colour. Do you know from which regio or town in Mexico Lau found this? Maby aff. sphacelata.

Actually know nothing about it. I had thought Woody only had some cuttings, but then found this picture of the mama plant. You may notice that it has a much more redish tint than my pup does now.



Actually another cutting, not mine, had 2 darker brown csp and about 14 rsp - hard to believe it is the same plant as mine, but I am pretty sure it is.



These two pics were taken in Sept 06 at Woody's, a much hotter climate, and greenhouse. The pic with the flower in the first post is from yesterday.

Hi Mike,
Are you sure they are the same plant? The cutting from the "mama" plant has, as far as I can count, about 21 white radials and 2 red brown centrals, a bit more than 14 I think.
Your plant has about 14 radials, 2 centrals, all white apart from a brown tip to the centrals, but also much woollier areoles. It has some similarotoes to sphacelata, though I am by no means sure that it is. The flower colour is too light, as sphacelata is quite a deep red, tending to almost purple in ssp. viperina.
The mother plant and the cutting, to my eye, look like a member of the Polyacanthae group, perhaps xaltianguensis in its straight spined form, or another of the nunezii group.
I'd like to see the flower on your plant from the side to check on sphacelata, as in most cases the base of the flower is quite green, and it extends a good way before the petals flare out. Well, a good way for a small flower, I don't mean like a Cleistocactus! Sorry not to be more definitive.

Hi Chris,
Well, I can't say for sure. Lots of cuttings, pics of plants, etc over a few days, all of plants I had no familiarity with. These pics all show up in the sp nova Lau file, but could be an error. So now one mystery becomes 2 or 3.
Here is another pic of it, along with a sphacelata cutting. The flower is not sphacelata for sure, not close to the one in Pilbeam.

Hi,
I spoke with Woody Minnich re these plants. As to the brown spined one, he was not sure, but thought it was xaltianguensis.
As to the other, he didn't know, but didn't think sphacelata. He said it was from Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains above Mazatlan.

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the information.