MOD EDIT: REMOVED ALL THE BUYING STUFF

I have always been fascinated by astrophytum cacti for aesthetic reasons, they are amazing looking cacti, Astrophytum asterias has always reminded me of "space peyote". Schultes writes that A. asterias is "said to be either narcotic or medicinal" though I can't say that I have ever seen a published chemical analysis of any of the various astrophytum species, and I'm uncertain that any of them are medicinal or narcotic...

I suspect that astrophytum ornatum contains alkaloids, I suspect other astrophytum species may as well, and while my interest in astrophytum cacti is strictly aesthetic, I have always wondered why I have never been able to find a chemical analysis of this plant (astrophytum ornatum) anywhere in the literature or online, though there have been unconfirmable rumours that some astrophytum species may even be psychoactive, medicinal, or even poisonous...there have also been rumors claiming the opposite...

...if chemical analysis of astrophytum ornatum has been preformed, I can't locate it...

Regardless, it's a beautiful cactus, and a welcome new addition to my non-Entheogenic cacti collection.

-eg

Erowid claims some astrophytum species contain "unspecified alkaloids", I'm assuming that this means they tested positive on an alkaloid detection test, but then nobody every did the follow up to identify these alkaloids.
https://www.erowid.org/p...acti_guide_astroph.shtml

I honestly doubt these astrophytum species are psychoactive, if this were the case I'm sure this would have been well known by now, However I am still very interested in the chemical composition of astrophytum cacti...

The fact that some astrophytum species were considered sacred by the Tarahumara also interests me.

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Here is another issue I've been having...





It seems astrophytum ornatum and Astrophytum myriostigma are both commonly called "bishops cap"

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It's been fun looking into this species of cacti, a simple trip to the store can result in obtaining a new piece for my collection, as well as researching the new piece of my collection as much as I am able...it was all unplanned, but has become an interesting opportunity to research and learn about a new species of cacti.

The fact that some astrophytum species were considered sacred by the Tarahumara also makes me feel better, the majority of my plant collection consists of sacred, Entheogenic, medicinal, and edible plants, it's very rare that I will cultivate and care for a plant that doesn't fall into the categories listed.

-eg

-eg

´Bishop´s cap´ is a term used to refer to a variety of A. myriostigma var. quadricostata which has FOUR ribs - like a Bishop´s cap - DUH !!

Here is mine:


And this is my A. ornatum, about 17 years old now.

Yes, but for whatever reason in the literature both species are commonly called "bishops cap".



http://www.seedsofeaden....phytum-ornatum-b138.html
This site refers to a. ornatum as bishops cap.

http://www.thinkstockpho...um-or-bishop-s/513633244
This site calls a. ornatum bishops cap.

http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ASOR9
Here a. Ornatum is called bishops hat.

So you can see where both species sharing this common name could cause confusion in research...

-eg

I do not regard a handful of websites that crib each others´ errors as ´the literature´.

I have never seen A. ornatum called ´bishop´s cap´ in any published text - and can think of no reason why such a spiky beast would be.

As I repeat - in my small collection of texts (that is - actual books going back several decades) the ONLY cactus ever referred to as ´bishop´s cap´ is A. myriostigma var. quadricostata - meaning four ribs - because it actually LOOKS like a four cornered bishop´s cap.

To make this easier for you to grasp I shall post a couple of pics



here is my ´bishop´s cap´ cactus - you can clearly see the four corners.

And here is a bishop wearing the traditional four cornered cap



Getting the idea now ???

And here is my A. ornatum



There would appear to be no resemblance at all to a four-cornered bishop´s cap, IMHO.


Anything else you may have read is an incorrect assertion made without being aware of what a bishop´s cap actually looks like. Nothing more to say - I can´t keep on repeating the banal and obvious for ever.

The pics you post do not really look like A. ornatum which has straight spines. The curved spines on your plant are typical of those found on A. capricorne. It wouldn´t be the first time a seller has passed off a hybrid as something else to an innocent buyer!!

Astrophytum ornatum (DC.) Britton & Rose Show All
bishop's hat
http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=ASOR9
Usda makes this mistake.


https://books.google.com...us;+Astrophytum+ornatum+(DC.)+Britton+%26+Rose&source=bl&ots=Sotkl9at0_&sig=0RyDohfE2dAhCyQhIJayTUdn5Mc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9qPSui4fOAhWL3YMKHdaNBGoQ6AEITTAO#v=onepage&q=bishop's%20hat%2C%20bishop's%20mitre%20cactus%3B%20Astrophytum%20ornatum%20(DC.)%20Britton%20%26%20Rose&f=false
World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition page 83
This text lists Astrophytum capricorne and Astrophytum myriostigma as having common names like bishops-hat and bishops cap.

http://212.50.14.233/Kno...0Guide%20to%20Cactus.pdf
Gardeners guide to cacti and succulent (above) refers to A. Ornatum as bishops-hat and bishops cap.

Common names are not like Latin names, which is actually why we have latin names, in my research a. Formation has been called bishops cap, bishops cap and monks hood cactus, I never stated these designations were correct, I only stated that it makes research difficult when SEVERAL sources give the same species the same common name.

-eg

Astrophytum ornatum is not only prized for its “ornate” spines, but it is the fastest-growing and easiest to care for of the astrophytums. Along with astrophytum capricorne, it is also the largest, potentially stretching up to four feet in height and half a foot in diameter.

Astrophytum ornatum Metztitlan, Hidalgo, Mexico.
Matches my cactus in every way, leading me to believe the identification was proper, though it came from a source where precise identification would not matter much, it looks like they got it right.

http://www.llifle.com/En...titlan,_Hidalgo,_Mexico.

-eg

To reiterate the totally obvious yet one more time would obviously be a totally fruitless exercise. It might be fun though just to see how long you would bang on about this trivial point - and just how many more unread references you could produce.

- (I deleted the lecture on Astrophytum species you insisted on giving me.)

Whatever ´ornate´ means??!!

Still looks to me like you got sold a hybrid - none of my A. ornatum have curved spines, but the sprouts I have got from them sometimes have. The thing is, some unscrupulous growers might call a seed A. ornatum because that is the plant the seed was taken from. However they have not taken care that the plant was kept under an insect mesh and away from other Astrophytums.

Astrophytums hybridise so eagerly, and you can see your example is quite different from my A. ornatum - has it not occurred to you to ask why that is?

I have had A. ornatum X capricorne which look EXACTLY like your plant, including the way the ribs sort of spiral around the growing point.
And that is where my many years of experience make me so sure.

But if you are happy - well I am sure most folks in your position would be.

But now you can go and post lots more of your references to make you feel better - which I won´t read either.

It's a standard Astrophytum ornatum

A friend said curved, golden spines are standard for A. Ornatum, but are more prominent on the mirbelii variety

Again you can disagree as well, but I'm confident in the identification, I mean I always knew it was an astrophytum ornatum, this is a fairly standard example of the species, but since you suggested it was astrophytum capricorne (which it Cleary is not) I quickly consulted a friend, sent him a few photos, and was assured it's astrophytum ornatum, though it may be the mirbelii variety.

First picture is astrophytum capricorne

Next pictures are my astrophytum ornatum

Next is a picture of astrophytum ornatum sourced from the web

Next is astrophytum ornatum var. mirbelii

-eg

had a picture of Astrophytum ornatum var. mirbelii, and then a picture of the var. mirbelii spines close up, but could not get them to post...

http://www.cactus-art.bi...tum_ornatum_mirbelii.htm

The pictures are in the link above.

-eg

Firstly if you READ what I said - I think it is a hybrid A. ornatum X capricorne.. Not a A. capricorne but a hybrid.

I agree that the pic you posted from the web is A. ornatum - it looks just like mine.

The same as your plant looks just like the ornatum X capricorne hybrids I have raised in the past.

You can´t see the difference?

I guess not - as you don´t seem to be able to see for yourself.

Anyway, you just think what you like - I won´t be back here again. You bore me.