Caught this in flower today:



Astrophytum Myriostigma cv Hakuun

Cool,
now good luck trying to pollinate it.

(disclaimer: in case you didn't know they are usually considered to be sterile, though i have seen pictures of them set seed/pollinate others in exceptional cases). they are usually propagated vegetatively in Asia via grafting offsets, usually onto hylo. then exported to countries like this where they are distributed to private growers whom try to pollinate it with their other astros and whom subsequently get frustrated as to why their plant is apparently sterile

Last year this one set seed. Problem is I had no luck germinating them

This one does not seem to produce offsets. I've got one other, which is smaller, and it constantly produces many many offsets....it is yet to flower. Maybe this is the issue.

They probably are fertile, just not very. you don't see hakuun seed for sale, or seedling hakuuns on their own roots either. they are always grafted onto hylo, and rarely in a degrafted state.

Hellonasty wrote:

Last year this one set seed. Problem is I had no luck germinating them This one does not seem to produce offsets. I've got one other, which is smaller, and it constantly produces many many offsets....it is yet to flower. Maybe this is the issue.

LOL.. mine has also never produced an offset, identical to yours but with 2 extra dropped ribs. Possibly there are different clones available. how this bigger one is actually propagated i have no idea.
info/debate re: hakuun:
http://www.thegardenforums.org/viewtopic.php?t=17515&highlight=hakuun
a dude there claims to have grown them from seed. Cactus Art also propagated it via this route. the 'cloudy sky' pattern is also supposed to be viral.
and ^interestingly its apparently possible to create a hakuun by grafting a normal myriostigma onto Opuntia ficus-indica (yes, more likely the flecking is enhanced by the effect of the stock but more investigation needed IMO).

you can also get asterias hakuun:
http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/ASTROPHYTUM/Astrophytum_asterias/Astrophytum_asterias_hakuun/Astrophytum_asterias_hakuun.htm
^ looks like a lame attempt at a super kabuto IMO

myrio hakuun used to be common as but i haven't seen one for sale in a while, possibly no one is importing them locally alongside the variegated gymno mihanovichiis commonly imported by the thousand commercially.
i was surprised when i saw a small hakuun sell for over $30 on ebay, i got mine for $7, 5 times the size and with 7 ribs, so therefore i estimate that going by those prices mine and yours are worth in excess of $100 each

Lewis,

I have read both them links before I'm an addict

Regarding the availability. I totally agree with you. Imported plants in Australia are a thing of the past, the price of importation has sky rocketed and is no longer feasable. You will find rare cultivars will become even less common in the coming years and will be worth a pretty penny.


Just for arguments/your estimate on cost sake mine is over 12cm diameter....pretty big.

yep. hold on to your hakuuns people, and yes resist the temptation to sell them on eBay
they will become rare, and seeing as this cultivar cannot reliably to produced via seed then i9t perhpas presents a dilema. you could of course regraft offsets an propagate it that way, unless in the unfortunate instance you have a specimen like mine and HN's pictured above that refuses to cooperate.

the last ones i saw for sale (just normal grafted ones.. obviously on hylo) were $30 ea, which can probably be seen as proof of their increasing scarcity. unless large shipments of them are imported in the next few years (which as HN says is becoming increasingly difficult and unlikely) then perhaps in 5+ years time $30 for a hakuun would be an absolute steal. harsh reality then you could sell your retained specimen on ebay and retire.

Nice HN, myne is budding up aswell
Like your's and Lewis's, myne is the same, grafted on Hylo and yet to produce an offset. Maybe if you damaged the growth point on the plant, it would send out offsets in which you can graft?
Ill let you's do it though

Did the top form roots, WT??

Umm what the??...

that offsets-forming on the central tissue thing is quite common with astrophytums. Lots of scions there WT

hello! we see now this post!
About hakuun, some people give this name to the plant on the picture or the one we posted in the other topic.
Our plant flowered very much this summer and we tried to pollinate with myrio koh-yo and myrio classic at different times. The fruits formed but no seeds in, they were empty. So we left it flowering without pollination the other times.
Other people call hakuun also the green form of myrio only with some white spot, we do not know if hakuun is the correct name for this cv but it seems this second type plant is fertile.

the top bit rotted - I left it damp and it was gone in a couple of days!.
this little plant has produced a number of little pups (this is the thridt 'batch' ) I have been playing with them for various grafting experiments.

hi to everybody,
akuun are one of my favorite plants, in this moment i have 3 different clone of this cultivar and every 3 have a different way of thinking about reproduction
the first one

the bigger one are a clone similar to your and are female sterile so never produce seeds! but it produce pollen and the pollen are viable!
the second



a quadricostatum form are perfect fertile(there you can see a fruit !
the third

are an ex graft now on its own roots and overy flower it sets a little fruit with some seeds, i can see nothing about ofspring from this plats because at now i dont have sseds the resulting seeds!
but about asterias akuun i can assure you that come from cina in a big import of asterias that ere all ex ylocereus graft (i had see it wen it have no roots and some of my asterias come from the same source)
about viral origin of akuun traits..... i can't se nothing but is possible, like all the ipotesis!