A. thionanthum and its relatives have dark-haired, hairy buds and in the early stages look very similar to most Echinopsis, Lobivia etc. buds. A spiniflorum and its relatives (klimpelianum, peitscherianum, violaceum, if you think they're separate species) are the ones that have buds like those in th...

The plants we've been calling Trichocereus all these years probably include three groups of plants that are fairly closely related but not each other's nearest and dearest. One group consists of fairly thin-stemmed plants that grow upright to several metres, often not very spiny, and with quite a lo...

Yes, I would agree, from what can be seen so far.

The second has a look of Echinopsis mamillosa, in particular the v. kermesina, which, in my experience has longer, thinner spines (and amazing purple-red flowers)

A few Lobivia seem to do this, certainly L. pentlandii does. I took this photo of a pair of seedlings a few weeks ago, in which the right-hand plant's anthers have no pollen in them. And here are a few clearer pics of single flowers with no pollen.

Pale spines with dark bases makes me think it might be M. ritteri.

Hello, When you first join, there isn't much to tell you so a period of 'quiet' is perfectly normal. You should receive a welcome pack through the post first. I'd expect it to come within a couple of weeks to a UK member, obviously longer for overseas members. The June edition of CactusWorld should ...

Fairly confident that it's Echinopsis haematantha.

Yes, this is quite a distinctive plant and difficult to mix up with something else. You usually see it treated as a form of Echinopsis backebergii ssp wrightiana/Lobivia wrightiana, though it has shorter, curlier spines and a larger, darker flower that the 'standard' form of wrightiana.

To appreciate just how variable some Lobivia are (and hertrichiana is one of the worst) it's worth looking at this photo in one of Walter Rausch's books of plants collected from just one location. https://www.cactuspro.com/lecture/Rausch-Walter/Lobivia-85/page-68.en.html or as pdfs at https://cactus...

Agreed, hertrichiana.

It's fabrisii - yes, a Rebutia rather than an Aylostera. I have the red-flowered form, which has started flowering today.

Yes, I think you're looking at the dried up remains of the anthers. Did your plant produce a fruit like those shown here: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=15786.0 which remained attached to the plant for several months after the flower had faded?

Yes, mine usually, though not always, sets fruit and they are pink. I haven't cut one open for a few years but from memory I'd say they contain 15-20 seeds (they're fairly large seeds for a cactus). Germination is usually quite good. Such a shame that it's so easy to propagate from cuttings anyway!

There's a second database, Chris Ludwig's, that has some different data and, more usefully, some different functionality: http://cludwigfr.dyndns.org/liste.asp?FNnum=17