| Place of origin:
North of Mexico, state of Chihuahua.
Description: The plant, known vulgarly like
"Birrete de obispo" or Bishop's cap, has globular
stem, although with time grows vertically an can reach 20
cm. of height. The skin is green and it is covered by small
white grudges. This causes that some parts of the plant acquire
a grayish shade. The plant has between 8 and 9, very prominent,
acute ribs. The areolas are separated between 1.5 and 3 cm.
They are big, and covered by white wool. The spines have irregular
shape and appear in a variable number of up to 10. It size
is up to 7 cm. long, they are brown or black, curved and little
sharp. With the age the plant can lose them, letting the lower
part of the plant naked. The flowers appears in the apex or
in its proximities, they are reddish colored in the exterior
with a gradual transition towards the yellow or red color.
They last between 3 and 4 days and the flowering repeats several
times throughout the summer. Different varieties also exist
like niveum, that completely has the stem covered by white
grudges; crassispinum, of greater size and with the spines
of dark gray color; or minus, smaller bat more spiny.
Growing tips: Propagation by seeds. Requires
full sun and winter rest. Temperatures some degrees over 0º
C are best. |
