I guess its my lucky day. i went to Collectors Corner today and found this Mammillaria spinosissima cv 'Pico', it is starting to crest:


It was alongside some normal ones, good for $11. In a 4in pot. Interestingly it doesn't have any flower buds on the crested section. It should develop into a nice cristate specimen in a few years.
and they have many of these but this is an exceptional example of Mammillaria microhelia fma. cristata; a perfect line crest:

nice one, i should have had a better look yesterday

You can't complain, look at that great Copiapoa

Mammilicious!!!

Nice ones Lewis just hoping my little grafted mamm pushes out some crested pups one day as the parent is crested.

Didn't CC have a Mammillaria microhelia fma. cristata on ebay recently. Missed what it went for.

nice plants lewis

I love that place!

Thanks all

parrotsheaven wrote:

Didn't CC have a Mammillaria microhelia fma. cristata on ebay recently. Missed what it went for.

i saw it but didn't watch it and see what it went for. no doubt more than the $12 i paid for this one.

so how commomn is it for a normal cacti to start cesting from its main growing shoot? I got a Crested Cylyndropuntia (sp?) off trigonus i think it was a while back which just looks like a normal plant that has started to form a crest on the main growing shoot. Its actually got 3 flower buds on it which is cool

It is uncommon. Cresting is a random mutation, caused by the meristem (growth point) continuously dividing rather than growing in a more normal single point. There is actually nothing you can do to prevent or encourage a plant from starting to crest, it is a natural phenomenon. Cristate forms are often rare and highly sort-after by collectors. Others (eg. Mammillaria elongata) are produced commercially by the thousands.

Often the occasional crested freak specimen that is encountered for sale or randomly appears in a collection is welcomed by the collector because it is rarer and more unusual than the original and worth more.

Awsome Lewis! Your Pico is much larger than myne, and yours is cresting, no fair! I had myne 1st Hahaha.

Now the perfect crest there is awsome! Really gotta get there sometime.

That first Mamm is sexy. They are some nice plants you have Lewis.
I love it when you can see a crest first start to develope. Wishfull thinking can sometimes leed to disapointment though.

Here is a good example... I can only hope.



Sorry to divirt attention Lewis...

Very unusual specimen you got there Kanje, almost looks like it is spiralling or something, somewhat like this:
http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/CEREUS/Cereus_forbesii/Cereus_forbesii_spiralis/Cereus_forbesii_v_spiraliforme.htm

Lewis what is the train system like to get to CC from city.