Xerophyte

Central Spines

Absent.

Seeds

Blackish brown.

Description

The standard Mammillaria herreraeSN|9214]]SN|9214]] (commonly known as the Golf's Ball Cactus) is a very popular globular cactus covered by dense tight white spines that look like a little golf ball. It usually stays solitary, or occasionally clusters from the base. The crested form is particularly beautiful, but still rare in cactus collection. The most striking feature is the dense addpressed, white spination it possesses, which serve to protect it from the harsh sun common to its native habitat. More precisely the spines benefit the plant by reducing sun exposure and by trapping a layer of air next to the cactus body. This helps to cool the plant in the summer and keep it warm in the winter.

Tubercles

Closely set, cylindrical, terminally truncate. The axil is naked. Without latex.

Flowers

Diurnal, quite large for a Mammillaria, pale pink to red-violet, 20 - 25 mm long and very showy.

Blooming Season

April to May, it starts flowering when it gets to be 5-7 years old, and reaches at least 3 cm in diameter.

Stem

Fan-shaped, up to 3,5 cm in width. (In cultivation it can grow slowly up to 8 cm tall and my forms, especially if grafted, large white, mounds up to 20 cm in diameter.).

Radial Spines

100 or more, unequal, interlacing, bristly, white or grey, 1-5 mm long.

Fruits

Globose, whitish, small.