Contest 43: Related Photos and Discussion

[CoronaCactus]

Please discuss and post all related photos to Contest 43: Opuntiads here. Thanks.

[peterb]

Oh man! This is going to be an amazing contest, or should be. I look forward to the Opuntiad madness.

I was fooling around with some of those ursina pics and got this close crop of the pollen grains on the stigmas:



cool.

anyway, really look forward to the photos for this one.

peterb

[Andy_CT]

My head is spinning already

I'm going to wait as long as possible on my entry as things are ramping up outside right now.

[daiv]

I expect a lot of close up flower shots and so wanted to try and present something different with my entry. If I was to post a flower one, I think this O. macrorhiza pic is my favorite. Took this in the greenhouse last year:

[daiv]

@Mildbill - That Opuntia pyramid is a riot! Did you make that? If only the Egyptian pharaohs could have covered their pyramids in Opuntia, the contents would probably not have been looted!

[MildBill]

No Daiv, I didn't make it. Just happened to be passing thru Val Verde a couple of years ago and saw it. A local lady told me that it was some kind of project by the Chamber of Commerce or something.

[LuvDemCacti]

Daiv,
That is one awesome flower!

[Ralf]

This is the whole plant of my close up shot for the contest. Cylindropuntia imbricata
I've never seen one before with blossoms.


The plant is hidden under a tree in its shade. But there was many buds on it.


Near this place we've found many Echinocereus rigidissimus hidden in dry grass and there was my avatar pic taken.

[hob]

i only have about 5 and they never flower so i went for a close-up

[daiv]

Great pictures thus far. Ranger Dan - yours is Opuntia microdasys. I think I've seen it as var. aurea, but that is not a valid name. The one you have is a common cultivar that is partly monstrous.

[peterb]

Bruno, I think your flowering picture is Opuntia azurea (aka Opuntia macrocentra, perhaps macrocentra 'minor'). O santa-rita has a pure paler yellow flower.

In general I wish I understood Opuntia gosseliniana, chlorotica, santa-rita and violacea better. It seems like there's quite a lot of confusion around these forms. (and the confusion does bleed over into the macrocentra/azurea complex of plants as well).

peterb

[bruno]

Thank you Peter, I' ve got this plant from a reliable source as santa-rita, and noticed over time that the flower was more like macrocentra. I also had a look at several books but couldn' t sort this out. Whatever the name it is a wonderful and rewarding plant, thriving in the open year around here in Rome. It is however much similar to that posted by John C. The flower looking the same, some of the pads with long banded spines which are wanting in others...

Ciao

[Peterthecactusguy]

Well I have about a billion pictures that I could have posted in this. I went a different route and put the C. fulgida in the rain as my entry.

I have a few more that I will post in here as my 2nd choices.

this is a nice clump of PP at the local post office here in Black Canyon City. I drive past that darn near every day!

here is another from the same rainy day that I liked a lot! I almost put this one instead, but I decided on the other (maybe stupidly LoL)

this is one that I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to post or not. It's a spider eating a fly on a C. fulgida mammillata var cristate. (it's the mother plant of my cutting!)

And finally the last one I was considering!
the bugs inside the flower helping to pollinate this O. phaeancantha are interesting!

Good Luck Everyone!
There are some nice pictures in there already!

[CactusJordi]

There are so many gorgeous flowers that I couldn't decide which one to post. Here is a small selection of flowers of various Opuntioideae
Cumulopuntia mandragora:

Opuntia quimilo:

Miquelopuntia miquelii:

Pterocactus australis:

Puna clavarioides:

Micropuntia pygmaea:

Austrocylindropuntia pachypus:

[hob]

great images

don't forget to enter one of them Jordi