CactiGuide.com

Is it possible to ID Fouquieria without having to wait for them to flower?

I have a mix of F. columnaris, F. diguetii, and F. macdougalii that I have been neglecting ever since I dropped their tray shortly after they germinated. Would really like to be able to figure out which plants are which species without having to wait until they are big and happy enough to flower.

The photo below is almost certainly not enough for IDs and is just to give some sense of what I am working with.

Assuming the 3 species were originally identified correctly, it should be fairly simple to tag them. Idria columnaris has distinctly thinner branches with a whiter color than all other members of the Fouquieriaceae.

The main difference between the last 2 is that F. diguetii usually has more grayish green leaves than F. macdougalii.

BTW, your plants look very healthy.

The seeds were from Mesa Garden (when it was run by Steven Brack) so I think there is a pretty decent chance of them being what they were labeled as.

I will have to look more closely at them and see if I can make any decisions about separating them based off the color of the stems and leaves. Sounds like I might still have to wait for them to pop out some flowers to be sure.

While they look healthy they should be much larger for 9 year old plants! These had their first repotting in that 9 years a early this year and have started to make up for the lost time. Thanks for the suggestions on how to separate them.