Xerophyte

Central Spines

1 turgid black, or whitish with a black tip 4 to 5 mm in length.

Seeds

Almost spherical, brown blacks 1.2 mm in length and 0.9 mm wide, of a shining black colour.

Description

Ortegocactus macdougalliiSN|3389]]SN|3389]] is a clumping, slow-growing, cactus that form tiny bushes only few centimetres in size.

Roots

Fibrous.

Tubercles

Low, often squashed, rhomboid and arranged in spiral, of 8 to 10 mm of diameter.

Flowers

Diurnal, funnel-shaped yellow 2 to 3 cm long , and 2, 5-3 (5) cm of diameter in the spring or summer, arises from the base of the areoles of superior tubercles, They last a couple of days. It is an auto-fertile plant.

Stem

This species has a strange and unmistakable lime-green-grey coloured epidermis, each stem extends with the years, reaching a diameter of 3 to 4 cm. However, as these plants age, they tend to develop rust-coloured spots on them even in the care of the most accomplished growers. This rust-coloured spots are a common feature of wild plants too, and seems to help them to blend with the rust-coloured likens that grows in the background.

Radial Spines

7 to 8 radial spines of the same colour of 5-10mm of length.

Fruits

Globular, slightly extendended, dry when mature, reddish, of about 5 mm of diameter, conserves adhered rest of perianth, indehiscent.

Areoles

Dimorphic, with white felt and spines in the superior part, some times with furrows.