Walery Kalishev

Photo 1.

First of all, this plant (Photo 1) has no species name. But if you think this is a photo collate you are mistaken. This plant has appeared as little ugly seedling among other seedlings of Mammillaria candida in 1995. Under this name the unsightly grafting spent half a year in the far corner of my collection without any special attention. It looked like a usual monstrose. By the end of the summer it suddenly produced a yellow shoot but nevertheless was neglected. A lot of cacti in our collections turn red or yellow during summer time but come back to normal colour in autumn.

So the autumn was there but the shoot did not turned back to green, moreover, two other yellow "fluffs" appeared. That was the time of recognition and glory! And the number of yellow shoots was growing.

Currently this beautiful yellow-green cactus is the single monstrose plant of this type not only in Russia, but as far as I know, in ......(the world, the Europe, the CIS)......as well.

Photo 4.

But the miracles of Mammillaria candida have not finished: that was just a start! Grafts were travelling from one collection to another. It is interesting that grafts taken from the green part of the plant produced only green plants without any yellow (Photo 2), and grafts from the yellow part produced only yellow plants (Photo 3).

But that is not the end of the story. In the course of the careful examination of grafts, the owner discovered one with a thickening. It was grafted and produced absolutely beautiful monstrose-cristate yellow form (Photo 4). I had a lucky chance as well. One green graft started turning cristate and yellow (Photo 5). Another surprise was normal but yellow-spotted form (Photo 6).

Photo 5.

Photo 6.

That particular cactus caused doubts about the validity of its name. It was too different from Mammillaria candida and much more similar to Lobivia. Is that true?

Photo 8.

At Photo 7 you can see the green part of the plant. I ask everybody to try to define it. I can also add that I have got another cactus: two-headed and pure green with more thick spines.

There are many legends about caprices and whims of the beauties. It seems my stranger is one of them. I thought I have got a cristate but it turned without any visible reason into a monstrose (Photo 8).

The only thing to do now is to wait. To wait for new shoots. To wait for flowers which will help to clarify the name of the species. Do you think this is unlikely to happen? Oh, now. I believe in miracle and I dream about pure green and pure yellow cristates and especially about one more green and yellow "mother-plant" of monstrose (Photo 1).