Echinocereus polyacanthus closeup and unknown mam

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:30 pm

The closeup of the Echinocereus polyacanthus pacifica shows the pollen grains.

This is a large white spined mam with purple flowers. It is about 8 inches high with a solitary head. It looks almost like my supertexta on steroids

Hope you enjoy

Irwin

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:57 pm

Irwin, those pollen grains look like they would make a wonderful dissert. Lots of nice details in the picture. It seems like the more spiny the cactus the prettier the flowers

crotermund · Post by **crotermund** » Fri May 11, 2007 2:58 pm

Nice pics, Irwin. I particularly like the first one because of the nice combination of colors. I also like it because it isn't obvious it is a cactus (to me, a non-cactus expert). BTW - what do they call a cactus expert?

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:55 pm

An interesting composition that really works well wth that very diffuse and quite beautiful red background. When I initially viewed this posting I had only scrolled down far enough to expose the top 50% of the image (showing just five of the seven stigma lobes) and I thought at that stage what a gorgeous abstract it made.

That's a beautifully clean Mamm in pic2. Is that broad horizontal banding caused by the lighting or is it actually present on the body of the plant?

Bruce

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Fri May 11, 2007 8:46 pm

Thank you Doug, Craig and Bruce for your kind comments.

Doug, you are right. Some of the spiniest have the most ravishing flowers. There's a metaphor lurking there, I think

Craig, my definition of a cactus expert is someone who can remove spines from fingers without using a tweezer.

Bruce, the horizontal banding is a part of the cactus. I suspect it is a demarcation between the growing seasons, but I am not sure.

Take care.

Irwin