In my unlearned mind, I lean toward A. lophantha because of the description in the Irish book (do not have the Gentry volume), and the fact that my plant so strongly resembles each and every pic I have found. That said, Irish goes on to describe a lot of natural hybridization between A. lophantha, A. xylocantha, A. lechuguilla and others, frequently making ID an exercise in futility. In any case, I certainly see your point in regard A. horrida, and cannot discount the possibility and association with the name tag, as well as the desert-tropicals pic.
Last edited by GermanStar; 09-18-2010 at 08:01 PM.
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