STUBBS

Stubbs is a cross between Mark Albert’s Scopulicola #10 and Juul’s Giant. The cross was made around 2018 or 2019 by the late Mark Albert and Will Tomlinson of Oakland Cactus Company. I kept noticing it in the trial rows and eventually pulled it out of the ground to plant in the greenhouse. I have become increasingly enthused about it’s unique morphology as it grows larger. Originally, I named it stubbs because the tight areole spacing made it look dwarfish and I thought it might even be a slow growing natural dwarf. It wasn’t. it is actually huge and fast growing, so the name is more like calling the biggest guy in the friend group tiny.

Stubbs delivers the goods and is also a fantastic specimen/ornamental cactus. It has small spines and very closely spaced areoles with distinct looking indentations and ripples. The bigger it grows, the cooler it looks. To top it off, it is super fat. Comparing to other cactus in the greenhouse, excepting the terscheckii crosses, it is one of the largest diameter, similar to Juuls’ Giant in size, but actually appears to be growing larger. I have a couple of scopulicola that are as large or larger, but it is a real beast. It also has the variable “jointed” look seen in some scopulicola, where the diameter of the columns changes slightly in increments. I’ve leaned into propagating Stubbs and it should be available soon. Another cactus worthy of mass propagation for the ornamental plant market.