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Description: Densely spined
,usually solitary, barrel cactus.
Stem: Spherical to short-cylindrical.
With adulthood the plant
can reach 60-100 cm in
height (but usually less) and about 30-35 cm in
diameter.
Ribs: 24-35, up to 2 cm
high, margins
slightly tuberculate
and undulate .
Areoles: Elliptical, 2 cm long and 7 mm wide rather closely set.
With small conical glands.
Spines: Very numerous (about 22 to 25), 5-7 cm long, and fine
(1,2 mm thick) initially golden-yellow (or sometimes reddish on the
newest growth), becoming brownish as they age.
Radials and centrals
are
very much alike, none hooked (or vaguely hooked in juvenile specimens), annulate, slightly spreading and more or less outwardly recurved. They
are interlaced and cover the body nearly completely.
Flowers: 5cm long and 3,5 cm broad, tepals narrow, yellowish, or
the outer ones reddish, short-accuminate, the margins slightly erose.
Filaments yellowish below and gradually reddening toward the tip.
Stigma flesh colored, with 8-13 lobes.
Scales on the tube orbicular.
Fruit: 2,5-3
cm long and 1.5 cm broad or 5-6 cm long including the flowers remnants,
opening by a large pore at the base.
Seed: About 2 mm, black, shining, angled, pitted, with a small
white depressed hylum.
This
species might be a population of
Ferocactus cylindraceous, but it may also be a genetic link
between F. cylindraceus and F. wislizeni.
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Cultivation: Plants are slow growing to
start, but are easy to grow and require little care once they have
reached a nice flowering size. They are suited for a well-drained soil in
full sun throughout the year. Pot culture: it grows best in a fairly roomy,
well-drained container filled with a porous cactus soil mixture that
doesn't contain too much humus. To insure robust plants, water and
fertilize during the aestival growth cycle; this plant need plenty of water.
But it's necessary to avoid wetting the bodies of these plants while
they are in sunlight. A wet cactus in the sun light can cause sun
burning, which can lead to scars or even fungal infections and death.
In
winter keep completely dry at 10°C. This usually aids in maintaining a
healthier plant, but it can tolerate sporadic light frost.
Propagation:
Seeds are the only way of reproducing.
Unfortunately seed
material is very rarely available, and the seedlings are somewhat
root-rot prone.
Frequently grafted on stronger and durable Ferocactus stock (i.e
F. glaucescens and
F. pottsii) |
Cultivation
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