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Escobaria minima
SB423 Brewster Co, TX
This tiny cactus with its thick whitish spines and attractive pink
flowers (larger than the plant itself),
is highly prized among
collectors.
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Description: Escobaria
minima is a tiny
cactus with rounded, single stems up to 2,5cm
tall and 6-17 mm wide,
occasionally with a short tap root; tubercles 2 to 4 mm wide.
A cultivated
plant can be slightly larger, and clumped .
Spines: The plant is crowded with thick, corky, white spines (1 to 4
centrals, 4 to 6 mm long; 13 to 23 radials, 3.5 to 5 mm long)
Flowers: Numerous, pink,
up to 2.5 cm in diameter, 1.5 cm long.
It blooms in several flushes, primarily in May, but the blooming period
lasts from March until June.
Fruit: It produces ovoid, green fruit (1.5-5 cm long) that ripens
from June to October.
The flowers are easy to pollinate,
and produce around thirty seeds per fruit.
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Photo
and © copyright by
Andrea
B. (Bologna, Italy)
http://www.cactusfriends.com/Andrea/index.html
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Family:
Cactaceae
(Cactus Family)
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Scientific name:
scobaria minima
(Baird) D. R. Hunt
Origin: Chihuahuan desert in the USA,
they are found from only three populations, all in a tiny area of
Brewster County, Texas.
Habitat:
Grows in desert grassland,
usually among the chips of weathered and physically fractured Caballos
Novaculite rock (a quartz-like material). This species is now known only
from three small sites
Conservation status: Listed in
CITES appendix 2.
Common Names include:
Nellie
Cory cactus
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Taxon
synonyms:
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Escobaria nelliae
Croizat) Backeberg
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Coryphantha minima
Baird
- Coryphantha
nellieae
Croizat
- Mammillaria nelliae
(Croizat) Croizat
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 This is the smallest Escobaria,
a real gem,
and very
beautiful!!!
Plants flowering in cultivation do not
self-pollinate, but are easy to hand pollinate, and produce around
thirty seeds per fruit.
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Cultivation:
Very slow-growing, but easy to cultivate.
Water regularly in summer, but do not over-water.
It prefers a completely
dry place during winter with much drainage. An unheated greenhoouse
would be perfect. It can survive low temperatures (appr. -12 C).
Full sun to light shade
Propagation: easy to
propagate from seed, cuttings and grafting. |
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Cultivation and Mail Sale 
