Cactus color and shape variations

Cristated Astrophytum coahuilense

Cristate plants
Cistated forms occur in different species from the vegetal kingdom, being frequent in cactus. They generally take place when there is a change in the growing form on the plant apex. This point of growth is divided and subdivided, transforming itself into a line which, when continuing growing only in lateral way, distorts the symmetry that the plant would normally have, becoming this one a flat body, often with undulations. Several theories exist on the cause of this phenomenon, but none of them are absolutely satisfactory. Cristations can appear as much in new born plants as in older specimens. These plants can produce flowers, but in some cases they doesn't. The flowers can be of different size from the normal one and is not strange to observe differences in shape compared to those of normal specimens.

Astrophytum myriostigma cristated flower

In many occasions, cristated plants of species which produce sprouts or ramifications, send normal, non cristated buds. Seeds coming from cristated plants can reproduce this deformation in a certain percentage, but this is always reduced.

monstuous plants
In the case of this morphologic alteration, the plants that have it are not absolutely symmetrical, but on the contrary the growth is motley and arrive not to distinguish the ribs nor tubercles in the body of the plant. Possibly this is due to a recessive genus, since the appearance of the monstrous shapes in plants coming from seed, is related to the proportions of genetic inheritance determined by the laws of Mendel. The well-known Cereus peruvianus var. monstruosus is an example of this alteration.

monstruous Ariocarpus furfuraceus

Variegated plants
Variegadas plants are those in which a greater or smaller part of its body does not have the characteristic green color due to the lack of chlorophyll, predominating other pigments. The color of variegated zones in a plant is generally yellow although they can be pigmented of rose, red, brown and other colors. One of the most characteristic variegated cactus is Gymnocalycium mihanovichii var. Hibotan, which appeared in Japan in 1941 coming from seed and by successive selections of sprouts with greater surface covered with red coming from that first plant, the Japanese cultivator Watanabe was able to obtain a totally red plant. By means of similar processes several variegated forms of different colors from the same variety have been selected.

Variegated Ariocarpus trigonus

Between these colors they stand out the yellow, the pink one, the chestnut tree. Given the chlorophyll deficiency in totally variegated plants they must be grafted to survive.