Mammillaria CRINITA 'LEUCANTHA'

Mammillaria CRINITA 'LEUCANTHA' - White-flowered hairy mammillaria, Mammillaria crinita 'Leucantha', Mammillaria AURIHAMATA.

Mammillaria is a large genus of low-growing succulent plants in the cactus family (Cactaceae), comprising about 170-200 species distributed mainly in Mexico, as well as in the southern United States, Central America, the Caribbean region, and northern South America. In nature, representatives of the genus occur in deserts, semi-deserts, dry scrublands, tropical deciduous forests, on limestone slopes, rocky plains, and in mountainous areas with bright sun and well-drained soils.

Plants usually develop as solitary or clustering globose, flattened-globose, cylindrical, or short-columnar cacti. Instead of ribs, they have distinct tubercles on whose tips areoles with radial and central spines are located. In many species, wool, bristles, buds, flowers, and fruits form in the axils between tubercles.

Flowers are usually formed in a ring closer to the top of the stem, and can be white, cream, yellow, pink, red, or purple. After pollination, elongated or club-shaped fruits develop, often red or pink, containing small brown or black seeds with a pitted or reticulate surface.

White-flowered hairy mammillaria is a cactus with globose or short-cylindrical stems, often forming clumps due to active lateral branching. Tubercles are elongated, arranged in dense spirals. Areoles bear dense white radial spines, slender and bristly, as well as 1-3 central ones, slightly stiffer. The 'Leucantha' form is distinguished by an especially light, almost snow-white covering of spines, which gives the plant a soft and fluffy appearance.

Flowering occurs in spring and early summer. Flowers are small, funnel-shaped, pink or pink-purple, with a lighter center, formed in a ring in the apical part of the stem. Fruits are oblong, red, containing small black seeds.

Mammillaria seeds are small, dark brown or black, rounded or slightly oval. Germination in careful greenhouse conditions is usually about 50-80%.

Sowing is carried out in spring or year-round if stable supplemental lighting is available. A sterile fine-grained mineral substrate based on sifted cactus soil, fine sand, perlite, and mineral chips is used. Seeds are distributed over the surface, slightly pressed into the moist soil, and covered with a minimal layer of fine sand or not covered at all. Sowing is moistened from a spray bottle with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or biofungicide with the addition of a growth stimulant: SUPERthrive, HB-101, Aminozol, Epin, or Zircon. The container is covered with a transparent lid or placed in a greenhouse.