Spineless cactus

[ohugal]

I'm getting some succulents from the local botanical garden, a lot of them are in bad shape because the lack of care. I found the following the creature (see pictures below). It's roots are practically gone, so it's going to take a long time to reestablish. It seems it didn't have a tuberous root, but rather fine roots. I checked the usual channels for an id, but so far no luck. Thanks!

IMG_1179 kopie.jpg (74.44 KiB) Viewed 582 times

IMG_1180 kopie.jpg (64 KiB) Viewed 582 times

[Download]

A very old Gymnocalycium, such as something like G pseudoragonesei or G stellatum.

If a taproot is missing, my money would be on it having rotted off.

[MrXeric]

Looks like an old Matucana madisoniorum. They seem to grow columnar with age in cultivation (though I don't have first-hand experience with this since mine refuses to grow...)

[BryanT]

It's an very old Matucana madisoniorum, the spineless form. That's about the maximum size.
Very thin fibrous root. It might lost some root during winter when it's dry.

[DaveW]

Agree with Xeric and Bryan. Not too sure though Matucana madisoniorum has a specific spineless form since most initially have spines in new areoles. However it is a plant that as it grows does shed some if not most of its old spines, which is unusual for most cacti but normal in its case, often just leaving odd spines here and there.

Here's an old one of mine I obtained from a friend who died, therefore I cannot claim credit for most of the growth. Think it is a bit taller than yours and may originally have been obtained in the pre CITES days when a lot of these sort of plants were being imported by nurserymen in the 1960's to the UK from people like Knize and Warras in habitat? Old plants cork at the base anyway and given better cultivation with you I am sure it will grow out to make a nice plant in a few years.

M.-madisoniorum.jpg (60.03 KiB) Viewed 552 times

See:-

http://llifle.com/Encyclopedia/CACTI/Fa ... disoniorum

[ohugal]

Thanks for the feedback. I will research it’s cultivation to make sure it is well taken care off. I now have a lot more control over the growing parameters. It will take time to reestablish. I now put it in an entirely mineral mix. Is the rootsystem rather superficial with a healthy specimen or will it eventually need a deep pot?