Is there a right and wrong way to cactus? I feel like there's a lot of touchy and unspoken rules about cacti that people hold in high regard and I'm wondering who exactly made up these rules and why are they so heavily guarded?
I have a Peruvianus I got from a nice man named Gregory. I call it Gregory because I got it from Gregory. Is he a Noid? Yeah. But is he a Peruvianus? Yes, he looks exactly like my other Peruvianus I bought from eBay labeled "Peruvian torch". No cross that I know of, just a regular old Peruvianus from 2016. I never knew about clones or their names. Just knew cacs as Peruvianus, Pachanoi, Bridgesii, etc. until about 2023 when I met my cactus clone name mentor, we'll call him "D". D introduced me to the world of named clones. I had no idea there were so many, it's like fricken weed strains. He also told me about cacs like Bruce's dragon and other found clones with names that y'all absolutely nut over, I'm not gonna name names but there's some clones that were found by people and they got big because of a found clone they named. Is there only a select few who are allowed to find stands, ethically obtain cuttings, and name the stand or can anyone do it? I feel like some people think that by defending the cactus, the cactus gods will reward them with a better trip or something idk man, I will continue to be myself and name my cacti whatever, I will never sell them to you but I will continue doing what some users see as "taboo".
I understand if you're trying to sell it and if the other user is trying to cross it with something and the taxonomy or whatever but like I'm not trying to say that a Peruvianus is a Bridgesii, I'm just saying I'm not calling my Noid Peruvianus a "Noid" for the rest of my and it's life, he's Gregory. What's the big deal?
by A_CactusAteMyBaby
10 Comments
Someone told me the Beegees named a bunch of cactus after Grateful Dead songs or something like that. Sounds kinda nuts at first but if you listen to the ‘78 Horton Field House show they tease “stayin alive” on the intro to me and my uncle so it’s all beginning to add up
I understand where you’re coming from, but i also understand moreso why the people who devote years to carefully and meticulously pollinating and crossing strands and using Gregor Mendel’s punnit squares also cringe at this.
I could understand finding a wild growing Noid and naming it too.
It just seems like naming random plants doesn’t keep track to me.
The way I see it, if it’s seed grown, never cloned prior to you ownership, you own the only one, you could name it as a named clone. I personally wouldn’t unless it shows some huge potential or some very desirable traits. Most clones are named for a reason ie: being blue, very athletic, Variegated, monstrose, spicy. I don’t personally see any issue with you naming your cac, even if you decide to sell it, it won’t have any demand if it’s not special, but it doesn’t hurt anyone for it to have a name.
I recently cloned a real nice bridge I grew from seed. Very pretty, long spines and incredible growth rate. I just don’t think it’s important enough to name. I’ll toss in a pic.
On the other hand, if you own a cloned cactus, you may not name it. I have 2 really nice blues that are from cuttings I got in a bundle. Label lost, sharpie on the end is illegible. They are cuts of named clones, and I’d really love to put a name on them but I just can’t they’ll forever be NOIDS unfortunately.
Im confused. You are talking about cultivar naming but then use the example of not saying a Peruvianus is a bridgesii. Those are species, not cv’s. Cultivars are obviously useful for isolating traits that look cool, have pretty flowers, are spicy, etc. Take grecas, glorp, and boobie cactus – they’re all cv’s within the same species but have very unique traits that made them desirable and therefore in need of a cv name.
Reading through your post im not sure what exactly you’re arguing here. Do people really have an issue with you giving your cactus a nickname?
No, you just stick them in the ground and watch them outlive you.
if it’s not for sale it doesnt matter and no one follows the vague guidelines anyway. Personally I will not be naming any plants until I have grown them from seed and they are at flowering age and they will probably have to be pretty special plants at that it really doesnt matter though
I implore you to make a similar post to this in other niche biology groups, whether it be horticulture species or a sub on squirrel species lol
You can name your cactus whatever youd like, theres no cactus mafias to worry about fortunately, but if you find some random NOID and give it a cultivar name or grow some seeds and name a random one without any particularly special characteristics and try to use these names as a marketing ploy to sell your cactus to cultivar collectors, then you might get some flack from the community, as named cultivars, while not having any official rules or regulations, nor any regulatory body to make or enforce them, are generally expected to be either widely propagated clones of very special cactus, either due to their original owners being famous or notable, or having particularly interesting mutations, or being the result of a cultivators careful and precise crossing of genetics to find seed grown specimens with interesting phenotypes. So its really only frowned upon to name your cactus if you are trying to market your name and cactus as being a new special cultivar that collectors should want to buy, cause it sort of flys in the face of the years of dedication and work cultivators have put into creating some of the very interesting and unique clones that are out there now, as well as the history behind the older ones that typically have an associated story or significant person attached to them.
It’s not “all made up.” It’s called botany, the study of plants. Wikipedia or your local library could be a great starting place.
I mean, nobody will ever care if you name your plant Gregory and never sell/distribute it or its seeds. However, I think naming becomes slightly more important and a little more thought should be put into it if you’re going to distribute it. Issues to avoid (in my opinion) are mainly having multiple different clones going around in the community with the same name, or multiple names for the same clone. I know at least one example of the latter case, which thankfully has been resolved (Nuestra Bonita/Dafuq/Cruelty). I love my Nuestra Bonita, but I don’t want to buy a Dafuq thinking it’s something else…
It’s not because some things have been done in the past that they’re the best way forward as a community. And sometimes things that are not ideal happen by no one’s fault, and that’s what it is.
If you find a big ol’ stand and after a little due diligence with the owner you’re fairly confident it hasn’t already been distributed by others under another name and you want to distribute/sell cuts, then I think you should name it.
If you find a special plant in seeds you sowed (or among plants purchased as seedlings), have grown that plant long enough to know it well (and its characteristics are stable) and you want to distribute/sell some cuts, then I think yes, you should name it. Same if you don’t distribute the clone itself but want to make seeds for selling/distributing. Should every one of your seed grown plants be named? Should every seedling you sell? I don’t think so, but that’s just my opinion.
If you obtain a cut from someone else that is labeled AxB, a lost label or a noid, and you want to distribute it, you should probably not rename it. Or if you really want to name it, at least first check with the person you got it from if it has since been named, and if not and you still really want to name it, maybe even consider choosing the name with that person and try to gather a little bit of its backstory if possible.
That being said, when you name a clone and distribute it for the first time, I think the ideal way to do it is to make a post on a public forum that’s searchable (from google) like reddit, and take the time to introduce the newly named clone and provide a little backstory about it. Where (general area) and when the stand was found and some characteristics; or for seed grown plants, seed source and parents, etc. Any and all info you can provide about the clone’s origins and its characteristics. This way there is a public record somewhere about the clone name, and people can find it relatively easily years down the road. It’s great finding that kind of info about clones you’ve collected, and it’s frustrating when you can’t find any info about your beautiful clone “Terry”, and even more so if Terry has been going around in the community and nobody knows anything about it aside from what can be seen with the naked eye.
Just my 2 cents… you do you.