The second one looks like arach. Albion to me. You can find a good pic of it on squaw mt site. I will agree with Andy on the first and say it would be very hard to id.

Oh my goodness Bonnie .. you know I have tons :) What is she looking for? I wont be cutting back until after Thanksgiving but you know its no problem for me to send them off. Laura

The note IS for housekeeping! Didn't want them not notice the cactus amongst the succulents and get hurt. Lord knows I get poked enough just moving them around! I had a massively bad reaction to a medicine derived from Euphorbia peplus - a skin cancer treatment that went really, really bad. So I'm a bit gun-shy around any Euphorbia - but will just banish mine to an area that isn't near people. My neighbor has twin toddlers who come and play around the front of my house too, and I would hate for them to touch one and have a problem. With all my cactus around, I'm already a wreck when they visit! Mountain Crest is a dangerous website! My shopping cart keeps growing and growing! Now I want those pots too! (Although getting excited about making my own - clay, cement, and I might try hypertufa!)

S M You didn't say what your general location and/or growing zone is? Nik is in warm climate and semps do not like that much heat and humidity - they will grow, but prefer bit milder climate. That is the reason why it took so long to root. What Nik did is correct - cut off all rot, set it on gritty substrate (do not worry about burying it) and unless stem has rotted thruout, it will evetualy root. They are Alpines, should get some winter rest; and many ppl in zones 9 and higher need to keep them in bit shadier and preferably cooler locations if possible. In my conditions, they do not have problem with rooting much faster. They grow outdoors, in ground or containers. They need very well draining mix especially in pots - and all I see is peat (or cocopeat?) in yours. They will rot if constantly wet. There is about 5cm of snow outside right now, I'll try to see if I can take some pics...