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All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.

 

Pterocactus fischeri CACTUS ART
NURSERY

Cultivation and Mail Sale
of Cacti and Succulents.


The beautiful flowers may be yellow, yellow-copper, brownish or dull purple,
and appear at  the apex of young stems.

 

Description : It is a geophyte cactus with a long underground tap-root, and deciduous spreading or erect branches, somewhat reminiscent of Opuntia whipplei.
Some consider Pterocactus fischeri just a variety of Pt. australis.
Stem:
 Thin, cylindrical, more or less tuberculate (tubercles as broad as they are long, arranged in spirals),  segment unbranched usually arising from the root-stock (or rarely joined), they are green to brown, up to 15 cm long (but usually less than 10 cm long) and 1-1,5 cm in diameter.
Root: Strong, napiform,  very long, cream
-coloured.
Areoles: Somewhat woolly
, with many yellowish glochids, 2-4 mm long.
Leaves: Minute, that (like in all Pterocactus) fall away early.
 

The central spines are papery, pointed upwards and grow only on the top of the new shoots and in the floral tube portion.

Central spines: About 4, 1-5 cm long, ± flattened, papyraceous, pointed upwards only on the top of a new segment, very bright, brown or blackish, with a yellowish tip.
Radial spines:
Spreading, 12 or more, up to 6 mm long, fine, setaceous, whitish.
Flowers: Diurnal, yellow, yellow-copper, brownish or dull purple, with a red stigma up to 2,5 cm in diameter
, growing apically at the tip of new stems.  Without a clear floral tube, distinguishable and almost continuous with the stem.
Blooming season: Summer.
Fruit: Dry
, 2-2,5cm in diameter, strongly tuberculate, dehiscing transversally in the upper part, opening up like a cap and setting the seed free.
Seed: Typical of the genus, winged,
with a strongly flattened aril; uneven on its periphery.

Like trees that lose their leave
s in autumn, the pterocati lose annually  their aerial parts (segments) in a controlled way using a layer of bark to seal the subterranean, living root-stock or keep their branches alive until harsh conditions kill them.   Then the grower throws the plants out, not realizing that the root is still healthy.  The best thing to do when pterocati begin to dye back is to stop watering them, and let them stay dry and dormant.  A few months later they will send up a shoot on their own.  When that shoot appears, resume watering.

Photo gallery: Alphabetical listing of Cactus and Succulent pictures published in this site.

Photo gallery PTEROCACTUS

 


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Family: Cactaceae (Cactus Family)
 

Scientific name:  Pterocactus fischeri Britton & Rose, 1914

Origin Endemic to Argentina (it ranges from central Neuquén into southern Mendoza).

Conservation status: Listed in CITES appendix 2.

 
The extremely long tuberous root.
 

 



The flowers forms apically at the tip of stems.


Cultivation:
Pterocacti are easy to grow, provided they are kept cold, but dry during autumn and winter.  It is essential to give full sun; otherwise they will become atypical. If grown in full sun, the new growth will flower profusely in spring and summer.
Most of the slender stems become detached during winter but some advise (to help plant) pruning all the top growth in autumn, to encourage it to produce stems with terminal flowers in the spring.

Reproduction: Seeds/Cuttings

 
 
 
Home | E-mail | Plant files | Mail Sale Catalogue | Links | Information | Search

All the information and photos in cactus art files are now available also in the new the Enciclopedia of Cacti. We hope you find this new site informative and useful.