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Description: Branching
basally to form clumps.
Stems: 10-25 cm tall , 3-5 cm in diameter, dull green, often
becoming reddish. Without latex.
Tubercles: Cylindrical four-sided basally, keeled 7-10 mm long ,
5-7 mm in diameter; axils without wool, but sometimes with a few more or
less setose bristles. Tubercule arrangement: 8 - 13
Central spines: 1 to 4 brown needle-like ascending, dark brown or
black, the lowest one elongated (up to 1.5 cm. long), hooked at apex or
sometimes straight;
Radials: 11 to 18 obscuring the tubercles, 7-14 mm long,
needle-like rather stout, spreading, dull white with dark tips.
Flowers: Wide funnelform purplish pink (White and yellow
varieties are mentioned) inodorous 3 cm in diameter. Outer perianth-segments
greenish or sometimes pinkish; margins somewhat scarious; inner perianth-segments
narrowly oblong, nearly white with a brown stripe down center; style
pink, twice as long as the pink filaments; stigma-lobes 8, linear,
pointed, green;
Blooming season: April, In cultivation the flowers remain open
for several days (at least three).
Fruits: Pale scarlet, clavate, 14 to 18 mm. long;
Seeds: 1 mm. in diameter, constricted below, black with a large
elliptic basal hilum.
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Cultivation: This plant
blooms easily and needs lots of light. Use pot with good drainage and a
very porous
mineral-based potting mix. Pot plants are quite
wet-sensitively, especially in light of its small root
system. Water sparingly during the
growing season, let soil dry in between to prevent root rot,
keep very dry in
winter. Feed
with a high potassium fertilizer in summer.
Usually it is recommended to
overwinter this plant in a bright and warm greenhouse with at least
8-10° C , but it proved to be quite
frost resistant
(if kept dry it hardy as low as -7° C)
A resting period in winter and strong light are necessary so that it can
flower properly. Plants will offset readily, and
dense clumps can be produced in a very few years.
Propagation: Through seeds and
cuttings.
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