Mammillaria zeilmanniana
This is a popular species with flowers typically carmine violet to purple-pink in color, seldom white.
It is one of the most prolific bloomers among the Mammillarias.

Description: Plants in cultivation are heavily clustering. (while in its natural environment it simple and rarely branching)
Stems: Glossy green, spherical or oval to short cylindrical, 6-12 cm high, 4.5-8 cm in diameter.
Tubercles: Oval (Tubercle arrangement: 13 – 21).
Areoles: Woolly when young.
Axil: Naked.
Radial spine: About 15 - 18, radiating, finely bristly or hairlike white, pubescent.
Central spine: 4, the upper 3 straight, the lowest hooked, slightly longer than the radials, reddish brown.
Flower: Up to 2 cm, pale pinkish violet or purple, stigmas yellowish. (The white flowered sport of M. zeilmanniana is produced in cultivation and not known to occur in the wild)
Blooming season (Europe): The flowers can come at any time of the year.
Fruit: Whitish green to pale pink.
Seed: Black.

Cultivation: Requires excellent drainage provided by porous cactus soil. We suggest repotting every 2-3 years. Prefers bright light and ample airflow. Outside it likes full sun or afternoon shade, inside it needs bright light, and some direct sun. Water the soil abundantly when it is dry to the touch. Allow soil to drain thoroughly before watering again. Do not water much in the winter (Rot prone). Protect from frost. But it's hardy to -6°C if kept dry. During the growing season enrich the soil using a fertilizer rich in potassium and phosphorous, but poor in nitrogen, because this chemical element doesn’t help the development of succulent plants, making them too soft and full of water. Easily clustering and easily flowered.  Most plants will offset readily, and clumps can be produced in a very few years.

Propagation: Division, direct sow after last frost.
 

Scientific name:  Mammillaria zeilmanniana

First description by Boedeker, Monatsschr. Deutsche Kakt.-Ges. 3: 227 (1931)

Common Names include: Rose Pincushion Cactus

Origin:  San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato state, central Mexico.
(Until 1988 Mammillaria zeilmanniana had never been found in its natural habitat by anyone else since its original discovery in the late 1920's by Erich Georgi of Saltillo, a collector and exporter of exotic plants. It was then re-discovered after a long search in a canyon complex west of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico thriving in an isolated microenvironment.)

Habitat: Grows in a very restricted area in a narrow passage with sheer volcanic rock, large trees and flowing water offered shade and humidity in an otherwise very dry environment. It roots grow in the thin layer of moss and fern growth that covered the lower, shaded vertical rock that formed the canyon side. Altitude 1.950 m

Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2.

• Mammillaria crinita ssp. zeilmanniana. (Boed.) C.E.Glass
• Mammillaria crinita f. zeilmanniana
• Neomammillaria zeilmanniana
• Chilita zeilmanniana
• Ebnerella zeilmanniana

This is one of the easiest species to grow
blooming abundantly throughout the year.

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This plant description is based on research and personal experiences, and is too short to provide a comprehensive coverage of the subject. Do you see an error in what is shown? Or do you know more about the species than what we are showing? Your help is greatly appreciated. Why not send us an email with further information or photos, so that we can correct or extend the information provided?