I thought a thread devoted to all the cool mutants out there would be fun. Here are a few of mine.
Here is a cresting Senecio vitalis.


Totem pole cactus Pachycereus schottii var. monstrosus


Fairy Castle Acanthocereus tetragonus







Mammillaria pilcayensis


Myrtillocactus geometrizans




Please share photos of any awesome mutants in your collection!

Here is one of mine. I see it needs some of the normal sections removed. It's Cylindropuntia fulgida v. mammillata forma monstrosa. At least that was it's last known name!

Nice Karen! How long have you had it?

Audrey, I am completely in with your Mammillaria pilcayensis! How old is it?

Karen, that's really nice. How big is that plant?

Glad to see this thread! It reminded me to transfer photos from my SD card.

Love all the photos above!

Here are my mutants:
Going to show their varying growth display/formation as seasons change:
1) Echinopsis forma cristate :
initially when I got it 22 May 2016

Eventually repotted sometime late 2016 to a clay container with very griity media.
Photo June 2017

May 2018

11 July 2018 - I am noticing it is having a hard time as our temps were soaring hot and dry, peak of summer

29 July 2018

26 Aug 2018 -very tightly clamping itself in

Moved indoors as the cool and wet season came in late Fall.
11 Dec 2018


2) Opuntia cylindrica cristata
Oct 2011

Jan 2012


May 2012 - June 2012 - moved to bigger container with other cacti

Moved again to another container, previous container was too big and deep, so found another one container, shallow but wide. Summer temps has been hotter the following years and triple digit range more spread out. Rain fall has changed in winter, noticing it is struggling with increased rain fall, so trying to help the plant to recover from 2014 to present:
June 2017


Aug 2017


Oct 2017 - glad to see it form a new arm in mid Fall.


May 2018

July 2018 - it has made new growth, returning to its non-cristate form on some new growth

Sept 2018


3) Echeveria 'Doris Taylor' crested
Initially when acquired last March 2013

Eventually repotted to another container.
July 2013

Growth changes in 2014


Nov 2014

Fast forward to Feb 2018: it now looks more like a hand with mittens at the tips and some new growth are non crested at the end sections

June 2018

Aug 2018

Sep 2018

Feb 2019

Just a couple of crests here... First plant with some reversions that formed normal heads. Second photo is 8 years old, so the plant is much bigger and weirder now.

Wow, what a lot of wonderful plants!
I've had that one for about 15 years. It was only about 10 inches tall when I photographed it. It's now in the ground and about 3 ft tall and 4 ft across. I need to get back and remove all the normal growth. It seems to put out 4 normal sections to one crested one. It now needs some major work on it.

_Bleu_ said:Audrey, I am completely in with your Mammillaria pilcayensis! How old is it?

I just bought this one last month so I'm not sure of its age. I need to find or make a cool pot for it. I got it pretty cheap in a bid on eBay.

Tarev, I remember your Doris Taylor. It sure has grown into such an interesting specimen! I'm glad to see it has done so well.

I have this one.

That is a sneaky, prickly pear-looking cholla. Only the one reverted stem in the back really gives it away.

Thanks Audrey!

Crested plants are my favorites.
I have had this Euphorbia flanaganii for many years.
It has always been a little weird and extremely slow growing.
It has been in a 3 inch ceramic pot for many years.
I am afraid to disturb it.



This Aeonium Sunburst was a wavy crest.
Now it is a pom-pom.
I have been waiting for it to grow big enough for me to make cuttings.
I just cant bring myself to cut it. The biggest rosette is a half inch.



My all time favorite is the Euphorbia lactea 'cristata'
I have had the green form and the white 'variegata' form for many years.
My first one was the green one and then I fell in love with the "ghost plant"
That is what they call the white 'variegated' version of this "elkhorn" euphorbia.
I have planted many of these over the years and the one in my picture is one
of my 'mother' plants. This one has been in the ground for 20 years.
It started out 'variegated' and after 15 years it reverted to 'green'.
The green grows faster so it is overtaking the white 'variegata' part.
The white part is still growing at its slower pace and this plant is very happy.



This plant is about three feet tall and has many curls

problem with the curls uploading

Bob, our crested plants are awesome! Thanks for sharing them here.

Bob, that Euphorbia flanaganii is really funky! I had a ton of the Euphorbia lactea 'cristata' I propagated from one grafted plant. I always brought some to plant sales and they never sold much. Well, one plant sale I loaded up all of mine not realizing I had brought every last one of them and one person bought them all! I did not realize I had none left until several weeks later. I will dig some photos up of mine later. The lack of pigmentation I get, but how well they still grow with their own massive roots makes me wonder why these keep being grafted onto other stock?

Audrey, I have a tiny plant I've had for 2 years. It looks alive, but hasn't changed a bit in that time. Do you have any secrets for growing them?

Karen, if your talking about the Euphorbia lactea 'cristata' I can tell you what I did but it is the same as I do for most of my succulents and is not the typical advice given. I use nice organic soils that still are well draining like rose soil. This works with my style of watering habits matched with my climate. I never fertilized. Let me look around and try to find the photos. I think I saw some of them in one of my 2015 folders the other day. The roots get truly massive if given the space. Off to look for photos....might be a while!

Not what I was looking for but I just found these.