I looked at the Ferocactus wislizeni. It looks about the closest so far in terms of flowers, flower buds and seed pods.
I'll have to take a better look at the spines around the top. Maybe I can post a pic now that the cactus is not flowering and the pods are pretty much gone so we could see the growth pattern better at the top. That could be helpful?
WOW! I'm beginning to feel like I discovered some alien plant species or something!
