I currently use:
http://desert-tropicals.com/
and
http://www.mammillarias.net/
a lot in trying to work out the proper names for cacti that I have. I was just wondering if there are any other good ones that might help with this?
I bought a cacti today that is labelled "Mammillaria elegans, syn. albilinata, fauxiana". I can find a reference to Mamm. albilinata var fauxiana, and can find a reference to Mamm. fauxiana. I can't find a reference to Mamm. elegans being a syn for these and can't find a ref as to which one is right. I can find that Mamm. fauxiana is in the supertextae section (ref http://www.mammillarias.net/dave.php), which could make it Mamm. supertexta (which as far as I can tell is the current correct name and Mamm. elegans is a syn for it)... but it doesn't look like the supertexta photographs on Desert Tropicals.
I can find another website that pictures the same one I bought as Mamm. fauxiana. (see http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1423145211026175062GUkRjJ).
This ref, on Desert Tropicals, has a photo of it under albilinata, bottom right photo: http://desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Cactaceae/Mammillaria_albilanata.html
Any clues???

Man, I just wrote an essay explaining all the name changes with references to various revisions and the dumb forum software ate it when I tried to post it! FFS !

M. elegans is actually Mammillaria haageana now....

Oh and Mammillarias.net is okay but the other two aren't much chop...

Okay calmed down a little now....

Too cut a long story short - there is no proper name, it's really just whatever name is in vogue at the time...


Briiton and Rose "The Cactaceae"1937 lists it as Neomammillaria elegans

Borgs "Cacti" 1939 lists M. elegans

Haage in "Cacti and Succulents" 1963 lists M. elegans

Pilbeam in 1981 lists it as M. elegans, but mentions it being transferred by Hunt to M. haageana

Pilbeam again in 1999 now lists it just as Mammillaria haageana

Anderson "The Cactus Family" 2001 lists it as either M. haageana or M. geminispina

Hunt etc "The New Cactus Lexicon" 2006 lists it as Mammillaria haageana

So the current proper name is most likely Mammillaria haageana. But if like me you learnt most of your names 20 or so years ago and still call a Notocactus a Notocactus and not a Parodia, you'll probably still recognise it as Mammillaria elegans anyway !


I can't find a connection to fauxiana or albilinata in any of my references....

Hope it helps !

Thanks Nav... 21 years to be exact feeling old now that the big 40 is rolling around at the end of the year... time for a midlife crisis me thinks .

Took some shots of the spination tonight... looking at haageana on mam.net it looks most like this one: http://www.mammillarias.net/gallery/H/0571_57a

Is there and online key to Mamms anywhere?

I think there is a link in the cacti mall for the mamm society.

I have plants named haageana and elegans fauxiana cant remember if they looked different or not but ill take some pics to see its dark and cold here now so will have to wait till tomorrow night.

This is a scan of the label.

I have a couple plants with that label plants come from bigw $3 each and some others grown from seed.

It is a Collectors Corner label.

Bigw around the corner from me always have collectors corner cacti @ $3 each pretty good buy i think cheaper than bunnings i just cant help myself sometimes so i always buy a few.

Just goes to show you how bad labeling can be...even when printed professionally !

Mammillaria fUauxiana is an old synonym of Mammillaria albilanata but neither is a synonym of M. elegans which is now M. haageana. Mammillaria albilanata is still a recognised species by Hunt, Anderson and Pilbeam in its own right. They do however come from the same area so perhaps this has led to some confusion..

Don't know about an online key to Mamms, but Pilbeams 1999 Mammillaria book is probably the most comprehensive reference.

There's a Mamms only forum here that night be of interest Mamm Forum

They're some more nice photo's too, TasV

It was a comfort buy yesterday... I had to go into hospital for some scans and was feeling pretty miserable... so I stepped out between scans and bought two cacti... cheered me up a lot all is good now too... even happier Scans came back clear... horrible thing it was too... wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy *shudders*

Good to hear the scans were ok. Cacti always cheer me up unless i get a nasty prick or i lose one to rot.