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T. subterraneus is one of the most fascinating and unusual cacti.
It has a tuberous root from which arises an extremely thin neck, ending
in an enlarged top-shaped plant body, there is little chance of the thin
neck support the stem vertically.
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Description: Usually solitary, club-shaped cactus, up to 150
mm high,
30 mm wide, green-bluish.
The stem is typically prostrate, flaring out after a
very long slender neck that separates the large tuberose root from the
enlarged apical part of the plant; woolly apex
Spines: Radials 16-19, radiating horizontally, glassy white,
2-6mm long. Centrals 2 straight, erect, blackish-grey, 20-23mm long, one
erect, the other on sideways.
Flowers: Whitish to pinkish-magenta, with pink or brown midstripe, in summer,
20-25 mm long, 30 mm wide.
Fruits: Greenish-brown, small, relatively dry, and
unattractive.
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Cultivation: It’s a fairly
easy species to cultivate but quite prone to rot, especially after the
first flowering. It needs a very well drained soil,
and requires strong sun to
part sun. Waterings should be rather infrequent to keep the plant
compact, and avoid it becoming excessively elongated and unnatural in
appearance. Keep dry in winter, or when night temperatures remain
below 10° C. It is hardy to -4°C for a short period.
Assure a good
ventilation.
It can generate new shoots from the tuber if the original stem is
damaged.
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Photo of conspecific taxa, varieties, forms and
cultivars of the
Turbinicarpus mandragora
complex
(This taxon has lots of synonyms
with several controversial varieties and
subspecies):
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Family:
Cactaceae (Cactus
Family) Scientific
name: Turbinicarpus subterraneus (Backeb.) A. D. Zimmerman
Conservation status: Listed in
CITES Appendix I
Origin: It is a restricted micro-endemic species scattered in small
populations in the municipalities of Aramberri, Doctor Arroyo and Mier y
Noriega in the state of Nuevo Leon (Mexico)
Basionym: Echinocactus
subterraneus Backeb.
Synonyms :
- Gymnocactus subterraneus (Backeb.)
Backeb
- Neolloydia subterranea (Backeb.)
H. E. Moore
- Rapicactus subterraneus (Backeb.)
Buxb. & Oehme
- Thelocactus subterraneus (Backeb.)
Backeb. & F. M. Knuth
- Turbinicarpus mandragora ssp.
subterraneus (Backeberg) J. Lüthy
- Pediocactus subterraneus
NOTE: The variety
'zaragozae' of this species (or perhaps an independent species) does
not posess the thin 'neck'
A white flowering
specimen
Photo
and © copyright by Andrea (Bologna, Italy)
(
http://www.cactusfriends.com/Andrea/index.html ) |
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