columnar cacti ID

[dinosaur_hunter]

I added this cacti to my outdoor garden where they recieve unadulterated full sun all day . They were purchased from HyVee (grocery store chain) for $4 a piece. I'm pretty sure the second is a San Pedro Backebereg, but no idea on the first one.

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[Ace]

1. Pilosocereus azurescens

2. Myrtillocactus geometrizans

Nice cacti and a warm welcome!

Edited August 13, 2008 by Ace

[watertrade]

1. Pilosocereus azurescens

2. Myrtillocactus geometrizans

Nice cacti and a warm welcome!

I'm not so sure about that second one Ace - It doesn't have the right spines for a M geometrizans as far as I can tell... I could be wrong !

[ballzac]

I'm not so sure about that second one Ace - It doesn't have the right spines for a M geometrizans as far as I can tell... <___base_url___>/uploads/emoticons/default_smile.png I could be wrong !

I've often seen this ID'd as M. geometrizans, and I've wondered what the go is. Because mine has much longer, darker, and thicker spines. I don't know if it's a different variety, or just a different stage of development or something.

[Ace]

I can assure you both - I had one like that (unfortunately died in the frost a year or two back - something for others to note). The spines are always very small while young but they tend to get really long central spines as the plant gets older. I'll have a search for some pics to convince you

Edit - just hit google image search for heaps of photos. The second pic (of the OP's) is identical to those sold by many peyote traders for grafting stocks labelled as Myrt geo's.

Edited August 14, 2008 by Ace

[watertrade]

ok, you might have won this time Ace...

[dinosaur_hunter]

Thanks alot for the IDs, though I'm a bit dissapointed about the Myrtillocactus... perhaps I'll play around with grafting

[Ace]

-though I'm a bit dissapointed about the Myrtillocactus...

Dont be disappointed They are a gorgeous species, especially with age. While they aren't active (AFAIK), they are still a great addition to any collection (and I think most of us on the forum had one when first getting started in the cacti-game - myself included!). They are quite regularly used in grafting (something that would suit these little'uns, should you find a worthy scion), however I'd be inclined to plant them in a decent sized pot (or in the ground if you have space - and dont suffer from frosts). Let em grow into decent specimens and make ya proud to be their new carer

[mutant]

Yeah, Myrtillocactus are no disappointment, beautiful blue cacti... I bought all the small ones I could get off the local nursery - they're cheap, practical [sparse spining but then again, little and short spines per areole] and are said to be great to graft on. Only negative I read is they don't like too low temperatures something applicable for both plain plants or plants used as graft stock...