Camouflaged Cacti, Underground Stems, and other delights starring Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus

At an elevation of 6600 ft we check out a cool plant community with a substrate of calcareous shale consisting of some very cryptic cacti as well as the magnificent Dasylirion longissimum. Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus has been under the selection pressures of this uplifted calcareous and shale substrate for millions of years, giving it the ability to hide amongst the different tones of gray, orange and beige in this habitat.
How does a plant "know" what a rock looks like? It doesn't. Instead, its surrounding environment*selects* for it over gradually over lengths of time that far surpass a human lifetime (and far surpass human civilization itself).
There are any multitude of shapes and forms that the evolutionary lineage that produced Ariocarpus kotschoubeyanus could have taken, but since it evolved on slightly-metamorphosed calcium carbonate rock that fractures as it weathers here at 6,600 ft elevation, the tubercles on this plant (which is basically just a flattened stem, like a cylinder that's been smooshed in a vice) resemble the rocks.
In arid regions there is a lot more herbivore pressure on plants than there is in more mesic ones since there is much less on the menu. As a result any individual plant whose phenotype made it easier to spot got picked off.
We have seen the same thing happen most recently with the lily species Fritillaria delavayi in China, which has been subjected to increasingly more intense harvesting pressure by humans who pick it to sell in market as medicine. As a result, Fritillaria delavayi has survived by become much harder to spot in its rocky environment - measurably so, to the point that there was a paper published on it. Such is a prime example of natural selection at work in real time.
I've seen the same thing with pyramidalis in South Africa.
The genus Ariocarpus contains 8 or 9 species depending on which taxonomy you accept. All resemble rocks, indicating that the adaptive benefits of mimicking them have been in this lineage for quite some time.
Your contributions support this content. It sounds cliché but it's true. Whether it's travel expenses, vehicle repair, or medical costs for urushiol poisoning (or rockfalls, beestings, hand slices, toxic sap, etc), your financial support allows this content to continue so the beauty of Earth's flora can be made accessible to the public. At a time when so much is disappearing beneath the human footprint, CPBBD is willing to do whatever it takes to document these plant species and the ecological communities they are a part of before they're gone for good.
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Thanks, GFY.

[@RustandRedemption]

I feel guilty because most people are watching these to study for Botany but I put on CPBBD when im having a good smoke because I love the feeling of having home dawg hanging out showing me badass plants and stuff. I actually now, love to have a good smoke sesh out in the woods and then I just stare at plants like a creep.

[@BombstractGnome]

Same

[@avryptickle]

I feel like you aren’t in the minority here.

[@GregStrosnider]

It's a great calming stim.

[@herbbirdsfoot]

What’s “creepy” about staring at plants?

[@nathana.m.1622]

Keep on creepin’, before you know it plants will be creepin’ on you

[@RitaRamone]

I LIKE that a couple of Mammilarias are named for Tlaloc, and Huitzilopochtli.

[@morningstar8187]

I’m growing a ton of these from seed. They grow so crazy slow, but I just don’t have the heart to graft them. I graft a lot of slow growing species, like saguaro, but the tap root is such a huge characteristic of Ariocarpus that I feel like it wouldn’t truly count without one. Lophophora can regrow something of a tap root over time, but as far as I know Ariocarpus can’t.

[@kes1171]

@@morningstar8187 yea I'm growing many ariocarpus too lucky i started many years ago because they grow slow on their own roots

[@bobbiechinn9578]

I worked at the other big box store, the "blue" one. I was hired as the lead of the "green team" to care for all the live plants. When the season came to be busy i was forbidden to water, or care for the plants at all. They wanted me to only place them where they wanted them, price them and move on to the next display. I wasn't ALLOWED to care for plants at all. It was strictly unloading incoming, dispaying, and pricing. I had to make sure my teammates were doing the same. Thats why i left and what the shit. 😊

[@garethx12]

Ive been trying to go into dumpsters to grab "dead" plants from this kind of treatment but many places are getting more difficult to access. Ive managed to bring many back for house/container plants, but even if I can re use the pot and mulch the plant and save some of the potting soil, its a giant win in my mind.

[@zeahlessley6108]

Mmmm delicious calcareous landscapes with some cryptic cacti and a dash of colorful misanthropy! Excellent content, my compliments to the chef! 😙👌

[@Dracobear13]

I so glad your giving opuntia some love Tony.

[@lronbutters5688]

They are not curse words they are sentence enhancers Plus they make your mouth tingly when you say them ♾🧡

[@Heavilymoderated]

Fart yeah.

[@grannyplants1764]

Colorful adjectives nice 🪨

[@katiekane5247]

Home Despot treats their employees like any corporate giant, shitty. You get a mug and an apron as long as you keep your head down and don't get uppity. My grown daughter works Pro desk. Nice plant/geology/altitude spectacular.

[@mikeoxsbigg1]

The rants are legendary.

[@sheep2970]

something about the accent and attitude makes it so easy to watch these videos

[@masonstark3699]

Do you ever have the urge to water the drought stressed plants you feature in your videos? I think the little guys deserve a drink

[@bobbiechinn9578]

Those little mammilarias found a great spot they look great! Usually don't look so good in nature. 💚💚🌵🐝🐦🦋💚💚

[@64Pete]

Appreciate the tag-along lesson as always brother, gfy! ✌ 🇦🇺

[@peterbathum2775]

fin A. hearin youse takes me back to where I grew up .... and i learn stuff ffs.

[@ecomandurban7183]

❤❤❤💯💯💯💯💯. I love your videos they get right to the point. go .... yourself.

[@augustusbetucius2931]

I watch your channel for the cacti. I've always loved that family of plants. The other plants are great, too, but other plants aren't cacti. I subscribed some time ago, so I can have videos brought to my attention. I don't know why you do this, but I'm glad you do. I agree with you completely regarding the names of these plants named for these people. Not just the dead European guys, but even those named for recent American botanists. It's time to rename all of them, using names that make sense, such as the people or tribes who used or co-habitated with them. Rant away, my friend, rant away!

[@sjmazzoli]

thank you

[@sfhoodiecore]

i had no idea you had become a youtube superstar until i randomly saw you talking about prehistoric botany on lindsay nikole's channel and i was like "holy shit that's joey alone!" hope life is treating you well, you deserve the best of all things.

[@yaddahaysmarmalite4059]

that is some absolutely adorable habitat.

[@sjmazzoli]

Thanks!

[@herbbirdsfoot]

Tillandsia are amazing survivors, as are agaves. Keep venturing into these hot high altitude environments. More beetle damage footage! Who are these beetles?

[@LukeMcGuireoides]

GFYB! You should put that on a t shirt

[@joanneturnbull5640]

Maybes I will understand in a hundred,I’m here for the gorgeous aesthetic your dragging me along… psfart😅

[@MrEiht]

Today one of my two Astrophytum coahuilense is blooming. It is somewhat special because it germinated in Germany and must feel so lost: Not even 100.4 °F yet??? Then I have to explain it that Europe is on the metric things and we have Celsius. But my spanish is so bad, Mr. Cacti just giggles. No comprende mucho grande.

[@George7Baldwin]

Cumulus, and Cumulus Mediocris because of the uplift from the hills.

[@jolouisd]

Ey Tony we might have discovered that the Eastern deciduous forest extends up to Ottawa-Montreal region. Toronto and cash crops skew the range. Super interesting since the region has thousands of acres of peat bogs as well (dredged). I would assume a bahg in the Chicago region would look very similar.

[@herbbirdsfoot]

To optimize growth of some of these rare species, I’ve decided to build a 40’ by 40’ square 100 feet deep trench of stratified soil, all of it underneath a sealed low oxygen dome equipped with a modest irrigation system. Once every 80 years a cooling system will bring the temp down to freezing temperatures.

[@hestheMaster]

It's like a cross between the plants of western Arizona and the geography of central Nevada there. I almost expect you to find a hot springs there.

[@zventus1]

@21:44 "how long you been around? how long you been doing this for?" 😂 I'm gonna start asking this to all the trees I see now, thank you

[@funki22]

Yay

[@rantillodesign]

Hell yeah that conoidea is one cool dude, Cochemiea is quickly becoming one of my fav genera since the '21 reclassification. Met a few people who don't agree with the changes but can't argue with DNA. I enjoy trying to stay up to date with the tax, so much changing in just a few years Aylostera/Eriosyce/Kadenicarpus/Cochemiea/etc.

[@hellokittysays6333]

I watch this for the rambling curse-laden rants. Carry on, sir.

[@louiscle1622]

.you found turnera diffusa! the smell of the crushed leaf nice.

[@frankmacleod2565]

Excellent

[@dhaktizero4406]

"we are devo"

[@wx_stick93]

Cumulus Congestus, just means they have some vertical growth. Fluffy shits works too

[@timjozwiak2293]

They have a "fertilize the cactus" program there??!!

[@unclefrogy743]

sketchy steep slopes are what we expect with you. Me I would die falling down those slopes you will proubably die on a side walk in a park if not inside a happy old man. glad to see you are not on your own those places and comunities you explore are indeed over looked marvels of of beauty aand adaptation thanks for sharing it with us!

[@hellokittysays6333]

Whoa, "inside a happy old man"? What are we doing here?

[@unclefrogy743]

@@hellokittysays6333 as inside your house and your own bed a happy old man, sometimes the words in my mind do not make it outside in real tiime

[@hellokittysays6333]

@unclefrogy743 I'm sorry. I'm not picking on you. I just had to take the opportunity to point that out. Hope you're having a good day.

[@jeangeerman7097]

Should visit Aruba 🇦🇼

[@TCPLab]

How do you know that the ecotypes of Mammillaria are being selected? It could well be genetic drift, or maybe a lack of migration due to some barriers between the geographical distributions of the ecotypes. Which might be also interesting though, because maybe that could imply that this species is so well adapted to its environment that even far-fetched variations are not at a fitness strain. Whereas species that are having a more difficult time might be pulled back to the average shape, you know speaking in terms of a phenotype frequency distribution.

[@Heavilymoderated]

Okay. The last podcast kinda reinforced and validated a lot of things that I suspected, but my mind is still blown. Book is on my list now.

[@joannew3905]

You need to go back later and get seeds from those Opuntia without glochids! Love Opuntia, hate glochids. Ran barefoot through some Opuntia when I was a kid in Florida. Don't recommend doing that.

[@Northerncacti2021]

5:35 Ahahahaha!!! 😂

[@marumiyuhime]

its only cumulonimbus if it has rain coming out of it.

[@NoahNobody]

8:32 I thought that was covered in bugs. Maybe that has some benefit.

[@grannyplants1764]

Just watched Arid Zine video “3Surprising Facts About Cactus Spines”, wonderful Mike in Australia. Next time you’re poking around Mexico can you find and talk about Pachycereus pringlei, why does it loose it’s spines and make lines of callous? Why does it do that? Thanks 🌵🤔

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

The older tissue does it. Spines are just basically dead tissue and they simply break off after a number of years and don't regrow.

[@grannyplants1764]

@@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt interesting So there’s no reason for them forming lines of callous down the ribs…makes sense! Thank you for the reply! 💚

[@kes1171]

Named after a Russian prince who paid for the cactus with gold

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

He probably touched kids

[@kes1171]

IDK. 😮 but Great video love the cryptic cactus

[@PlantFun1]

Gahh Raven Biology of Plants 8th Edition is expensive. Time to fill out an Interlibrary Loan Request form and see if it'll work.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Libgen.is is always free

[@PlantFun1]

@@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt My hero. I got all old fashioned with it and you bailed me out.

[@cacogenicist]

Not all of the States is Texas. 😊 Here in Oregon we actually have public land -- shit-tonnes of it in Eastern Oregon. Not a lot of cacti, though. IIRC just _Pediocactus_ and _Opuntia._ The issue is more cattle ranching on federal land, rather than strip malls and shit-hole McMansion developments.

[@garethx12]

I know its a bit of a corny YT thing, but I was wondering if youd ever consider doing a team up video with Sean Overton at the Dustups ranch channel. He bought a bunch of desert land in TX and is currently reforresting it. I think it would be a natural "visit" video but some good times could ensue with the meeting of personalities. I didnt know where else to make this suggestion but thought Id chuck it into the void.

[@rgzhaffie]

Mind your biznaga.

[@jsunx8064]

What camera do you use to get such clear, up-close videos of plants and bugs?

[@allencrider]

The damiana margarita is popular in the Los Cabos region of Mexico. Said Wikipedia. Aphrodisiac but other info says fertility inducing.

[@davidedgar2818]

We lived just down the block from the local high school and had a few problems with students hanging out in our back area. We put in a hedge of" "Jumping" Cholla and that solved the problem. Sorry I don't know the proper name but I'm sure you know which one. It was in the Palm Springs area.🤙🤙🤙🤙

[@chompers11]

Be cooler if you didnt

[@davidedgar2818]

​. We wouldn't have done it but we eventually had a break in and the police did nothing. Other than putting a very vicious couple of dogs out there, what simpler solution would you have. Being " cool" is not being vicious or stupid.

[@chompers11]

@@davidedgar2818 agreed to the last line bud, kindness is punk

[@augustusbetucius2931]

How does Home Despot treat their employees? Not well based on my experience. I worked for that company for a year, and I will *not* buy from them anymore. Lowe's probably isn't better, but I'll take anything over Home Despot.

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Home Depot is a great company to shoplift from, I've heard from a friend

[@ellas8129]

[@DoubleTrouble3145]

I've asked for a divorce 3 times... But that's crazy talk, haha...

[@sicko_the_ew]

Populations don't mutate; individuals do?

[@llanitedave]

Yeah, but populations decide whether mutations get inherited.

[@sicko_the_ew]

@@llanitedave Yes. Or in broader terms, the environment does. So that gives us _two_ things. There's a prepackaged way of thinking pushed by certain academics (which propagates out to the rest of us through thinks like leaks in journalists' headbones) that likes to see just the one side, though, so the other side bears mentioning, too, just for completeness. And to spoil the tidy open-and-shutness of the one-sided version.

[@Ravenholm337]

Thanks for the distraction from the incredibly bleak current happenings in the world of "Democracy"

[@grannyplants1764]

Watched the debate last night. Deep depression…hearing and seeing this calms and soothes amazingly well even if it’s all spiky stuff. Thank you so much 💕🌵

[@PenntuckytheCrag]

Sounds more Indian than English

[@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt]

Russian

[@PenntuckytheCrag]

@@CrimePaysButBotanyDoesnt lol. Ok. Thx. German here a bit; ever besser

[@lilrawk]

Hehehehe, he said anus.

[@doctormellow]

Cornjulio?