Unknown cactus

[Bjarne]

Is there anyone who can identify this cactus? Photo taken in Sajama National Park, Bolivia (4200 m above sea level).

[Hans J]

Hi Bjarne ,

thats big balls of a Tephrocactus ( I dont know which group ) and which species this is .....this is a very difficould group of cacti in nomenclatur

Greetings
Hans

[angie]

Hi Bjarne
Sorry cant identify the cactus for you, but just had to say wow to your amazing picture. I love cactus plants but that landscape behind the cactus was just amazing  . Thanks for sharing.
Angie

[Ragged Robin]

Hi Bjarne,

A fantastic photo, as Angie says, giving an incredible impression of the landscape where the cactus is growing....do you have any more super shots like these?

[Paul T]

That scenery shot is amazing.  That lone Cactus in that setting  is breathtaking.  The sort of shot I would love a much larger version of that was suitable for a screensaver.  Very, very nice!!

[iann]

I think this is one of the Cumulopuntia boliviana clan.  Lots of names, only a handful of species.  Perhaps C. pentlandii?  The habitat plants at 4,000m are amazing, but cultivated ones tend to be a bit scraggy.

[mark smyth]

I agree with everyone and Paul. 1028 wide will do nicely 

[cohan]

clearly an opuntioid as hans and iann said, i wouldnt know more specifically..
you may already know this site?
http://www.opuntiadelsur.de/

you know, iann, i'm thinking it might be worth it for me to try to grow some of these nearly outdoors here--maybe my extreme climate would keep them in character--of course protected from my deep freezes, but i'm thinking of cool summer nights etc....

[iann]

You can certainly grow them outdoors in summer and they will appreciate that more than being in a greenhouse.  They'll grow more slowly of course but at least you will get a more compact spiny clump instead of a sprawling mess.  The hairy Andean Opuntias look much better grown cool and slow and with as much light as you can give them.

All this group are easily cold hardy in England provided they are dry.  Again they are better outside than in a greenhouse because they are allergic to cold damp still air.  I don't think they'd be hardy enough for your winter!

[Bjarne]

Thanks for all the answers  The picture was taken by my colleague Roy Mangersnes, who had just been in Bolivia. Here is a link to a little slideshow from his trip:

http://roywildphoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/slideshow-on-youtube.html

[cohan]

Thanks for all the answers  The picture was taken by my colleague Roy Mangersnes, who had just been in Bolivia. Here is a link to a little slideshow from his trip:

http://roywildphoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/slideshow-on-youtube.html

bjarne--beautiful! wonderful photos of a stunning landscape! thanks to roy, and you for sharing,..

iann--first i'd have to find some seeds or plants to try i guess mesa probably has some; i also very much doubt these would survive my winter...lol--it would have to be something from the extreme south and high altitude i've heard of some of the south americans good to zone 4-5, but 2-3  i think is pushing it, and this group is probably not even that hardy; a greenhouse here would not be as damp, especially if there is any heating involved; wet and cold are different seasons here...

[iann]

All the South American cacti seem to top out at about the same hardiness and it isn't as hardy as you need.  This one is found inside the tropics but at an altitude where you'd find it hard to walk across the road to take a picture.  Then various species are found almost to the tip of Patagonia but at progressively lower altitude.  The more southern forms to get exposed to more moisture with some of the Patagonian species more alpine than succulent.

Opuntia fragilis, Escobaria vivipara, Escobaria missouriensis, and Pediocactus simpsonii, are the most cold hardy I can think of.  If you can find a good northern clone you might have a chance with these, especially if you can keep them covered in snow during the coldest part of the winter.

[Lori S.]

Opuntia fragilis, Escobaria vivipara... are the most cold hardy I can think of.  If you can find a good northern clone you might have a chance with these, especially if you can keep them covered in snow during the coldest part of the winter.

Yes, the native species that occur across the Canadian prairies, including here in Alberta, are extremely hardy, and don't even need snow cover... they don't get it here and they don't necessarily get it in nature.

[cohan]

All the South American cacti seem to top out at about the same hardiness and it isn't as hardy as you need.  This one is found inside the tropics but at an altitude where you'd find it hard to walk across the road to take a picture.  Then various species are found almost to the tip of Patagonia but at progressively lower altitude.  The more southern forms to get exposed to more moisture with some of the Patagonian species more alpine than succulent.

Opuntia fragilis, Escobaria vivipara, Escobaria missouriensis, and Pediocactus simpsonii, are the most cold hardy I can think of.  If you can find a good northern clone you might have a chance with these, especially if you can keep them covered in snow during the coldest part of the winter.

add to that O polyacantha, very common in southern alberta along with fragilis, and just as tough as lori mentions; fragilis occurs also in northern alberta, far north of here;
Echinocereus viridiflorus and a couple of other Echinocereus, a couple of Sclerocactus along with some more Pedios and another Opuntia or two are grown in zone 3-4 as well;  ( i know some people in zone 3ish B.C. growing them, but our conditions are not exactly the same, even if extreme lows are similar)... i'll be trying seed and plants of several of these in the next year or so..
certainly the two opuntias and escobaria vivipara which occur in alberta i'd expect no difficulty with; i've heard that most forms of E vivipara and E missouriensis are extremely hardy, even those from much farther south..
i wonder if pedios might be more dependent on heavier snow cover, being more alpine species, but i dont know a lot of detail about the spots they come from (i've seen a lot of locations, but havent researched climate for them).. i get generally more snow cover than lori and southern alberta in general, but its not a guarantee here either-and certainly we can have weeks of weather -20 or even colder without snow, both before christmas and in february, in particular..this year is forecast to be an el niño winter, which means warmer than usual but also drier, for us...we'll see...