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(This
Taxon belong to a group of six closely
allied species. The group is:
F. alamosanus,
F. pottsii, F. schwarzii,
F. reppenhagenii,
F. glaucescens, & F. echidne)
Description: F. schwarzii is a solitary slow growing
barrel cactus that becomes nearly spineless when old making it a
handsome plant. At a first glance the mature specimens looks more like a
Echinocactus than a Ferocactus.
Stem: Deeply grooved and bright green, up to 80 cm tall, 50 cm in
diameter
Spines: Younger plants have usually 4 to 5 (or more) gold
coloured spines. As they age the number of spines decreases to 0-2. The
spines are needle-like, and are different than of most Ferocactus.
Flowers: Yellow 10 cm in diameter.
Flowering phenology: This species blooms relatively early, when
it reaches 12 cm in diameter.
"The particular characteristic of this species is that
the number of spines decrease as the plant ages"
Cultivation: Slow growing
to start but does well under cultivation.
Use very draining soil, water during the aestival growth
cycle (this plant need plenty of water) But needs to be avoided
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 scares
or even fungal infections and death.
Needs full sun. Keep dry at 10°C in winter,
but can tolerate sporadic light frost.
Reproduction:
Seeds are the only way of
reproducing.
Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and cultivars of plants
belonging to the Ferocactus pottsii
complex (This
Taxon has lots of
synonyms ( like many other
cacti) whit controversial varieties and
subspecies:
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Cultivation
and Mail Sale 
