Re: Old members
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 2:03 pm
Agreed that is how we all start. Most beginners in the past eventually joined cactus clubs and could show the so called resident "expert" the actual plant. Whilst many things are recognisable from a good picture online, it is often hard to identify some plants from a picture rather than "in the flesh" so to speak, since there is often no sense of scale. When we get a plant we cannot always identify it right away, therefore we rely on placing it in a group. First which genus it is likely to be, then the group within the genus we think it is, and next down to species level. When identifying our own more difficult plants we often do not solely rely on looks, but look up botanical descriptions and try and match it with those. Unless they are very familiar plants (and thankfully those beginners get hold of usually are) snap judgements to the plants identity can often be wrong.
Another problem is beginners usually have small plants, or even think a so called "expert" can identify very young seedlings not long after germination. Many plants don't really show their adult characteristics until say five years old or more and some not even then. Plus we all do not grow the same range of genera. I do not grow many Cerei so usually leave their identification to others at a young stage. Again to definitely identify a plant it may need to have a flower on it, which smaller plants often do not. Also a photo may not really show all the flowers characteristics one can see when physically handling it. In fact in descriptions a botanical drawing can often illustrate the diagnostic features better than a photograph.
In the UK we are well catered with cactus branches where you can actually take a plant in to be identified if near one. That is much more reliable than identification from pictures:-
http://society.bcss.org.uk/index.php/branches.html
The American Society has similar local affiliated clubs:
http://cssainc.org/affiliates.html
There are lists on Cactus Mall too:-
http://www.cactus-mall.com/clubs.html
If you do have one within reach they will usually help beginners and are often a better source of plants than you get from the supermarket. Particularly if you want plants that flower rather than Cerei seedlings sold for the casual cactus trade which may need to be 5ft high at least to flower. I joined my cactus society in 1961 and have never regretted it. By the way if you think this is a really specialised forum, you want to see some of those devoted just to specific genera!
Another problem is beginners usually have small plants, or even think a so called "expert" can identify very young seedlings not long after germination. Many plants don't really show their adult characteristics until say five years old or more and some not even then. Plus we all do not grow the same range of genera. I do not grow many Cerei so usually leave their identification to others at a young stage. Again to definitely identify a plant it may need to have a flower on it, which smaller plants often do not. Also a photo may not really show all the flowers characteristics one can see when physically handling it. In fact in descriptions a botanical drawing can often illustrate the diagnostic features better than a photograph.
In the UK we are well catered with cactus branches where you can actually take a plant in to be identified if near one. That is much more reliable than identification from pictures:-
http://society.bcss.org.uk/index.php/branches.html
The American Society has similar local affiliated clubs:
http://cssainc.org/affiliates.html
There are lists on Cactus Mall too:-
http://www.cactus-mall.com/clubs.html
If you do have one within reach they will usually help beginners and are often a better source of plants than you get from the supermarket. Particularly if you want plants that flower rather than Cerei seedlings sold for the casual cactus trade which may need to be 5ft high at least to flower. I joined my cactus society in 1961 and have never regretted it. By the way if you think this is a really specialised forum, you want to see some of those devoted just to specific genera!