Further monkey wrenches to throw into the machinery. The comment that seed-raised specimens were very uniform makes me wonder if perhaps this taxon is apomictic, so seedlings are usually genetically identical with the (solitary) seed parent. Is apomixy known in the Cactaceae? Yet antother possibility is an amphidiploid hybrid between two species with incompatible chromosome counts: a spontaneous doubling of the chromosomes in a sterile hybrid leading to fertility. Even if the plants of interest are hybrids (in the sense of the original parents of the strain), they're not just "another hybrid." Hybrids are plants too, and have certain vegetative and botanical rights, including the right to be named and studied. I suggest you simply refer to these plants as "Opuntia × charlestonensis Clokey", with a foot- or side note stating "believed to be a natural hybrid between O. phaecantha and O. erinaceae". If you want to point back to Clokey's orginal description, put that in the bibliography or notes. No need to tack the year of publication onto the name in a non-standard way. -- Rodger Whitlock Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate on beautiful Vancouver Island http://maps.google.ca/maps/…