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Description: Usually solitary, with flat, white, woolly stems.
Stem: Depressed globose to cylindrical, sunken apically, green to
dull green, covered with spines and white wool, 3–7(-12) cm high and
4–7(-8) cm in diameter. With latex.
Tubercles: Tubercles are spirally arranged, short conical to
conical, firm, 8 - 10 mm long and 4-5 mm in diameter. Axil with
abundant white wool.
Roots: Fibrous.
Radial spine: 13-28, needle-like, somewhat bristly, glassy white
to white, smooth, straight, somewhat radiating, horizontal, 2-8 mm long.
Central spine: (1-) 4-6, mostly 4, needle-like, firmer than the
radials, the lowest is the longest, 4-10 mm long, glassy white, white to
yellowish with short brown tips.
Flower: Carmine-pink, cherry red to pink, 7 mm long, stigmas
greenish.
Blooming season (Europe): From early March to June.
Fruit: Red, ripens 6-8 months after flowering, 10-20 mm long and
3-4 mm in diameter.
Seed: Bright brown, club - shaped, 1 mm long and 0,6 mm wide and
thick.
Cultivation: Water regularly in summer, but do
not over-water (Rot prone).
Use a pot with good drainage and a very porous potting media.
Keep dry in winter. Feed with a high potassium
fertilizer in summer. It is quite frost resistant if kept dry, hardy as low as -5° C (some
reports give it hardy to -12°C).
Outside full sun or
afternoon shade, inside it needs bright light, and some direct sun.
Propagation: Sow
directly after last
frost.
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Cultivation
and Mail Sale 
