Mammillaria klissingiana

I found this species growing very near the town of Guadalcazar, San Luis Potosi. Previously I had found this plant, albeit more elongated forms, near Jaumave in Tamaulipas.

This form is more round and compact resembling M. formosa in shape. M. brauniana has been referred under M. klissingiana and further study may link this species with M. formosa and even M. leucocentra which some authorities claim to be a subspecies of M. geminispina.

Whatever species it is called it is a joy to find and several hours of searching only produced a few plants mostly found near the shade of rocky outcrops or under bushes.

Other cacti found in the vicinity were Echinocereus cinerascens, and an Opuntia species.

All the M. klissingiana found had pink to reddish flowers but one species growing in the proximity of a pink flowering species had pale flowers as can be seen in these pictures.

Mammillaria seed pods

These Mammillaria have been pollinated artificially during the winter and spring and are now producing seed pods. Some have and can be expected to flower again.

This picture shows the fruits of Mammillaria haageana ssp. schmollii (bottom of first picture). Immediately above to the right is M. formosa and to its left is M. clavidiae. Just visible in the right hand corner is a form of M. haageana found at Colonia De 

Los cruces, Puebla. On the left side is M. bocensis.

This picture shows the fleshy fruits of M. petrophila L. 052. This plant comes from Southern Baja California, Mexico.

Also visible in this picture are the dried fruits of M. elongata.







This plant comes by the tongue- twisting name of M. huitzilopochtli. There are several forms of which two can be seen in this picture. All forms of this species comes from the Tomellin Canyon of Oaxaca. The seeds were obtained from the plants discoverer, the late Dr. Alfred Lau.

Immediatly visible to the left is M. saxicola and M. sempervivi.

Yellow flowered Mamms

This dainty cactus rewards the grower with showy and lemon-scented yellow flowers. Mammillaria surculosa is reported from the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi. In the wild it forms dense mats.

In cultivation it quickly clusters in a few years. The flowers are very individual for this genus with crocus-like petals.

This and the following plant were previously placed in the genus Dolichothele due to the large tubercles and relatively large flowers. Dolicothele has been relegated to Subgenus under Mammillaria.

Mammillaria baumii is another sweetly-scented yellow-flowered charming plant. In habitat it is often found in the shade mostly on bare rocks.

It comes from the Mexican State of Tamaulipas. I have seen this species near the town of San Vicente where it forms sizable low mats.