Sticking purely to Cactaceae, are we agreed that the Saguaro holds the record for longevity?

I've got a Navajoa fickiesenii that hasn't moved for 2yrs, it'll give them darn cowboy cacti a run for their dollars.

Thanks Bill and 'Aloenut', you've put my conscience at ease. I'll lop off the spikes. I did toy with the idea as the first time I saw the flowers I was less than impressed. It's just that sometimes I feel uncomfortable doing certain things to plants that purely benefit our enjoyment.

Lots of very interesting replies to that, thanks. Melocactus being probably the most obvious due to losing capacity to produce new 'green growth', and perhaps among most fascinating. A facile question to round off this topic... When everyone stops groaning, what's the oldest species or plant found i...

Great markings, reminds me of Euphorbia obesa a little bit.
I've had a williamsii for 15yrs aprx and it has remained solitary. It was 1/2" in diameter when I bought, now it's roughly 5". Will it ever tiller??

Hi Dave, this is a case of fasciation. It occurs most noticeably on dandylions where it appears that 3, 4 or 5 flowers have fused together into one wide bloom. Quite rare. I've not seen a case of fasciation on a 'normal' cactus however which makes it a very rare/unusual phenomenon. Nice perfume too?

Picking up on a recent thread regarding a 25yr old Gymnocalycium that 'turned up its toes', it set me thinking. How many folks on here have grown a plant from seed through to death by old age. You have to rule out species that tiller obviously, so solitary, smallish species. Also, to my mind it prof...

Nobody has come back to my 'fascinating' question regarding fasciation. Are monstrose flowers simply a product of the mode of growth or are they fasciated?

I have a smallish clump of H. truncata (5")which flowered last year with one spike and now has three for this year. My question is; the spikes take an absolute age to grow. I recall last year a spike first appeared around July and it didn't actually mature and flower until around December! I wa...

Interesting indeed! Are these monstrose as per the growth of the plant or is it regularly occurring fasciation. You could argue that whatever causes the irregular cell growth from the apical meristem also contributes to the fasciated flowers. Is there a difference?
Discuss.

Hi, it could be F. horridus? Nice specimen. It'll be fine down to freezing if you dry it right out and keep it dry and away from drafts/damp air.
Stevo