Your second cactus resembles Parodia(Notocactus) mammulosa.

The third blossom opens April 17.

Here is a photo from today March 21,2024 of my possibly unhealthy P. ottonis. To me, the three flower buds and the two pups suggest the plant is healthier than some have thought.

Thank you Nino and Steve. I appreciate your helpful input.

Steve Johnson said, "I should also mention that premature corking can be reversed when desert cacti go from soil-heavy mixes to mixes with better drainage and aeration of the roots plus regular feeding with fertilizers that are suitable for cacti. I know because I've seen this in my own cacti g...

So Tom, do I correctly understand you to say that corking like this is typical of Parodia (Notocactus) ottonis?

This P ottonis is 9cm in diameter and has blossomed for me for three years. I notice that the corking seems to be slowly progressing. Is this an indication that it is unhealthy? It also produced several small buds last fall. Soil is wet because I watered it yesterday.

MikeInOz wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 12:46 am Seems to fall comfortably within haageana
https://mammillaria.forumotion.net/t115 ... a-haageana

Thanks MikeInOz. The photos from your haageana forum link seem persuasive.

That opinion has been the subject of debate for decades. Some people claim that the light yellow flowered types are a result of hybridization with a closely related species such as Mammillaria elongata , while others claim that like M. giselae , both colors are not worthy of varietal recognition. So...

Tom in Tucson wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 9:33 pm Nice pic it's most likely a https://cactiguide.com/cactus/?genus=Ma ... microhelia

What I inferred from the CactiGuide description of M. microhelia is that the variant microheliopsis has pink-striped blossoms like mine.

Thank you Tom in Tucson. I am not going to waste a name tag. So after linking me to to the Giromagic description of M. perbella you say you agree with anttisepp that it is M. haageana perhaps elegans. I would hope to see some blossoms this spring. That may help.

loyall, I have seen specimens for sale under the name Mammillaria pseudoperbella (synonym for M. perbella ) that looked exactly like your plant. So, I agree with your initial guess. Thank you Nino_G for that feedback. So perhaps I was correct. I'll just wait to see how it develops and blossoms.

Also check against the description of Mammillaria huitzilopochtli v. niduliformis. https://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Family/Cactaceae/15538/Mammillaria_huitzilopochtli_var._niduliformis Thank you DaveW. That is also a good candidate. M. huitzilopochtli var. niduliformis seem a little less t...

Thanks anttisepp. That is helpful. Mine does look like some photos online of M. haageana elegans. Some photos of elegans show two brown centrals, one downward pointing and one upward pointing. Do you make anything of the fact that mine only has single upward centrals?

Here is a small Mammillaria species that I picked up at Home Depot today. After searching CactiGuide, Llifle, and other places my best guess is that it may be some variety of Mammillaria perbella. The characteristics that I notice are: globose stem, depressed apex, no wool, approx 20 small white rad...