Notes on Cactus Balls
This article aims to comprehensively introduce knowledge on cactus plants, with a focus on notes on cactus balls. The following provides detailed information.
"Cactus ball" is a commonly used term in Fujian and the inland areas for small cactus balls with a low trading volume, often grafted. However, we do not graft them. Enthusiastic cactus friends can slowly select seeds to play with, with various genera available.
I. The Three Outstanding Species
1. Three-light ball (Echinocereus pectinatus)
Among similar varieties, the three-light ball is the easiest to obtain, featuring the richest coloration with pink, purple, magenta, yellow, white, and more. It also blooms easily and has a good seed germination rate, with seeds from kk, kp, and mesa being recommended.
The downside is that the flowers are not as large as the other two species, but they can still reach 7 cm without issue.
Three-light balls are very easy to care for, as long as they undergo normal dormancy. Adult plants easily bloom with regularity and are slightly shade-tolerant, whereas the Red Sun requires more heat.
Three-light balls have an expensive relative, Echinocereus adustus ssp. roemerianus, which is as beautiful as a lotus flower. Experienced cactus friends can try purchasing a small bag, available from kk.
2. Red Sun (Echinocereus rigidissimus var. rubrispinus)
I currently believe there is no such thing as a Purple Sun. Some appear blue due to camera color differences. Looking at overseas plant and seed catalogs, the reddest is rubrispinus, meaning red spines. The true color is roughly like this, although some overseas descriptions believe it is slightly purple, but no one has specifically given it a new scientific name. Seeds are recommended from kk and kp, which are affordable. Mesa's Red Sun is relatively expensive.
The Red Sun's flowers are significantly larger than the three-light balls, with a main color of magenta, appearing more brilliant. However, blooming also consumes a lot of energy, which comes from the previous year's growth season's storage. Only with excellent lighting can the new Red Sun spines burst into a blood-red color.
3. Giant Wheel Shrimp, False Three-light Ball (Echinocereus scopulorum)
This variety was once merged into the three-light balls in the middle of this century. With the advancement of seed microscopy and DNA research, this species has been re-established as independent. Relatively rare, seeds are more expensive (mesa) and have higher collection value. Although the ball shape is not as beautiful, the flowers are larger and the petals denser, creating a stunning effect. Mesa sells a species from an island origin, but if not too particular, European seeds can be purchased, which are very affordable.
Another variety, E. bristolii, is a close relative of the Giant Wheel Shrimp and can be purchased together or separately. They differ only in flower color, with the Giant Wheel Shrimp's flowers being undoubtedly "giant."
II. Heavenly Flying Shrimp
The magical nature of the deer horn often leaves me in awe. Besides the blue shrimp and its relatives, each can produce flower rings, with the outstanding Jin Yufei flag being one of the best, Echinocereus X roetteri. The "X" at the beginning indicates that this is a hybrid species. As an independent species, its genes have become very stable, likely the result of natural hybridization, possibly the offspring of the Fei shrimp and the Jin flag.
This variety is highly sought after for its peculiar flower color, with common colors in the market including red, pink, magenta, orange red, yellow, white, and more. The variety found in botanical gardens or among enthusiasts is even more diverse. Unfortunately, even professional deer horn websites have brief introductions, mostly just pictures, pictures, and more pictures... with pink being the most common.
III. White Holy "Egg"
Beautiful spines are nothing more than long, red, thick, and wide, which I also quite like. However, I am more fascinated by spines like combs, feathers, and radiation, such as the once very expensive comb spine Euphorbia, which made me miss it for many nights?
I was once obsessed with the legendary Aji, Mayoda, and suddenly realized that the king of white balls is still the Moon World, which is already widely available nationwide... Although it is a common item everyone has, people often ask me how many species are there in the Moon World, what is valuable and what is not, and how to care for it well?
IV. Lushan Shenglongba!
This delicate jade genus has a long story to tell. It may be the genus with the most frequent changes and the most significant differences in the cactus family. I will not go into the history here. We will follow the classification methods of David Donati and Carozano Velo here.
Today, we will only talk about the Shenglong ball and its relatives, as well as those that look like relatives but are not, so we won't write the complete classification of the delicate jade genus.
Shenglong ball (Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus) belongs to the Turbinicarpus genus, Turbinicarpus subgenus, and Turbinicarpus section.
Why don't I say the delicate jade genus delicate jade subgenus delicate jade section? This you can only blame the Japanese... Turbinicarpus means gyro fruit in Latin and should be translated into Chinese as the gyro fruit genus. However, we often use the name of a common plant in the genus as the name of the genus, resulting in the delicate jade genus. This is not a big deal, but the key is that the plant we call the delicate jade (Turbinicarpus lophophoroides) is not the representative species of this genus!
There are also lophophoroides series and lophophoroides subseries within this genus. We can only call lophophoroides the delicate jade series, so what about Turbinicarpus? You can call it the gyro fruit series or the Shenglong series. Are you confused yet?
Let's talk about some trivia. Many people seem to think that scientific names are useless. I think knowing a little bit doesn't hurt. Chinese names have not kept up with the development of taxonomy, and many are no longer accurate. If you are raising the wrong plants, what is the fun in that? Some people say that as long as it looks good to me, that's enough. Some say that if I can't play well, I shouldn't play at all. This... it depends on the individual's perspective. A group of people playing football, and you don't even know what offside is, just kick it with a big foot; playing chess with an old general running all over the board; practicing Xingyi boxing and swinging a bench around everywhere...
Back to the topic, there are five varieties of the Shenglong series in my records, namely:
Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus
Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. rubriflorus
Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. andersonii
Turbinicarpus klinkerianus
Turbinicarpus klinkerianus ssp. schwarzii. Note that the last two are only part of the Shenglong series and not variants of the Shenglong ball.
In the more widely used ios classification, there are as many as 11 varieties of Shenglong balls. We will introduce them gradually if we have time.
Variety 1: Shenglong ball (Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus)
As the earliest named variety in the genus (1937), the Shenglong ball is the representative species of the delicate jade genus, the most common, easiest to care for, and can be considered one of the most beautiful plants. In fact, Hongmei Palace was described in 1838 but has been moved between the nipple ball genus, golden ball genus, and naked jade genus, finally arriving in the delicate jade genus in 1983, missing the opportunity to be the leader.
Seed microscopy and seedling morphology are the main basis for classification in this genus, which will also be mentioned when discussing the delicate palace and rose ball later. However, this poses a significant obstacle for us in purchasing plants. Here, we mainly describe the adult plant morphology, which is not scientific but more in line with the current classification level in China.
As a series, Shenglong differs from other series in the delicate jade genus in that during the f2 period, it has semi-hard or feathery radially arranged peripheral spines with one central spine, and it mentions seedlings again...
Let's look at the differences within the series. Faint, the differences within the series are still f2 (seedling 2). For cactus friends who have not sown more than 10 varieties of this genus, understanding f1, f2, and f3 can indeed be difficult.
Let me put it this way, we will first divide these five into two independent species, Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus and Turbinicarpus klinkerianus.
The difference between the two is that when the seedlings just grow a central spine, the new spines become clearly needle-like for schmiedickeanus (Shenglong ball), and they remain feathery for klinkerianus (Shengyunlong), and before the central spine appears, they are all feathery.
I hope everyone can understand. The reason I am not providing pictures is that I don't have seedlings that are exactly f2. There is a f2 comparison chart in the book, on the bottom right of page 138, and Gangge can take a picture to supplement it?
The most prominent feature of Shenglong ball adult plants (compared to subspecies) is their long conical tubercles with a square cross-section, three central spines, and extremely papery.
View the picture:
The flowers are white with a magenta midrib, and the midrib of the outer petals is brown:
Shenglong ball subspecies: Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. rubriflorus, which can be called Red Flower Shenglong ball in Chinese.
This subspecies is very similar to the Shenglong ball in appearance, with the main difference being that the tubercles are not as long, more blunt, and rounded, and the spines are less papery. It can also be said that the ornamental value of the ball shape is not as good as the original Shenglong ball. Personally, I feel that Shenglong is unparalleled in expressing the ancient beauty of cactus balls. Wild plants are very vigorous, and if the lighting is sufficient and water and fertilizer control is good in the gardening state, they are also quite flavorful, unfortunately, as delicate jade has been excluded from the mainstream market, excellent plants are rarely seen.
The main difference between Shenglong and Shenglong ball is still in the flowers, with a deeper petal color and a deeper midrib, making it more ornamental. Unfortunately, the flowers are only about 2 cm, not very eye-catching, especially when the ball shape has excellent ornamental value, it can only be considered as icing on the cake.
Turbinicarpus schmiedickeanus ssp. andersonii
This variety currently does not have an official Chinese name, but this name is not difficult to come up with. The main difference between this species and Shenglong is the extremely short central spine, with a tip like the embers left after a fire, which can be called Charcoal-burned Shenglong directly.
Some viewers say, did you just make up this name? Well, this Chinese name, basically, is called out like this. Anyway, it's not a scientific definition, as long as it's intuitive and easy to use. Aren't many people calling Mingfeng ball Pei Lei? That was my