# # # SPECIAL PLANT # # # (Selected specimen)
Diameter 2,5-3 cm. Very rare. Last one for sale in this year. The areoles of the monstrous form of Notocactus werdermannianus  merges to form concentric lines.

Family: Cactaceae (Cactus Family)

Basionym : Notocactus werdermannianus Herter 1942

Accepted Scientific name: Parodia werdermanniana (Herter) N. P. Tayor 1987
forma mostruosa

Origin:  Garden origin (Nursery produced cultivar) The standard species comes from Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) and Uruguay (Tacuarembo)

Conservation status: Listed in CITES Appendix II

Synonyms:

• Notocactus ferrugineus H. Schlosser 1982
• Notocactus memoralis Prestlé 1988
• Notocactus vanvlietii Raush 1970

The areoles of the monstrous form of Notocactus werdermannianus  merges to form concentric lines.

Description: Notocactus werdermannianus is a (usually) simple stemmed small cactus with bright yellow flowers. This species shares some characteristics with wigginsia
Stem: Globular to slightly cylindrical, often flattened up to 13 cm tall and 10 cm in diameter, yellowish-green to green.
Ribs: up to 40, vertical, straight rounded with many small tubercles.
Areoles: White, wooly and closely set one to each other.
Radial spines: About 15-20, setaceous, more or less erected, whitish or yellowish 4-5 mm long.
Central spines: 4-partite yellowish or reddish (N. ferrugineus) acicular, sharp and flexible up to 15 mm long, the lowest of them longer and pointing downward.
Flowers: About 6 cm long, up to 7 cm in diameter, pale yellow and satiny. Tepals lanceolate darker at the tip, style quite long rich egg-yellow coloured, stigma lobes10-12 carmine red.
Seeds: With distinctive longitudinally-oriented fine striate cuticular sculpturing.

forma mostruosa (Monstous form): This plant is a rare oddity with areoles merging to form concentric lines. The epidermis is harder than in the normal Notocactus and cracks easily but this is not a defect and the plant will not suffer for this, and also the fact that the body splits open permits to the plant to develop original and strange shapes.

Cultivation: It is easy to grow. They like a warm bright location, does great in partial shade avoid full sun.  They need good drainage and prefer a neutral to slightly acidic compost with plenty of extra grit. Water during the summer. Best if watered with rain water. Keep above 0°C and rather dry in winter, rot easily if the substrate is wet and cold, tends to lose its roots in winter.

Propagation: Grafting or cutting.

The epidermis  is harder than in the normal Notocactus  and cracks easily but this is not a defect and the plant will not suffer for this.