Melocatus ID

[Salazar]

I got this plant a week ago, it's about 3 inches in diameter and around 2.5 inches tall, could you help identify it?
Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks.

Screenshot_2017-02-22-22-46-29-1.png (438.09 KiB) Viewed 1604 times

Screenshot_2017-02-22-22-49-04-1.png (384.93 KiB) Viewed 1604 times

[vlani]

Young Melocactus

[Salazar]

Yes, it's a young melocatus.

[Salazar]

What species though?

[esp_imaging]

M. matanzanus may be a good guess - it's probably the most cultivated, as it flowers when small, and looks more-or-less like this. Some other species look quite similar.
An expert at Melo seedling identification may wander along and offer a different opinion..

[7george]

I am not an expert but M. matanzanus are mostly 8-ribbed. This can be Melocactus bahiensis, M. violaceus or something else. Young plants are quite similar.

[esp_imaging]

According to http://www.llifle.com, M. matanzanus has:

"Ribs: 8-9 (rarely up to 13) acute."

If it is M. matanzanus, it should be close to flowering size.

[Salazar]

Thanks for the suggestions, unfortunately just yesterday I took this plant out of its pot because it was shrivelling and what found out that the center of the plant has completely rotted, almost to the top.

I do appreciate the help though.