Xerophyte

Habit

It is a geophyte stem succulent plant usually solitary and barely rising above ground level with a swollen underground root system.

Central Spines

One often absent, brown, becoming grey with age.

Description

Gymnocalycium hosseiSN|14387]]SN|14387]] is a low-growing, very spiny, cactus species characterized by a marked variability in the length and shape of the spines even in the same population and has received many names. The plants typically got a dark greenish red-violet-brown body colour.

Flowers

Near the apex, 70 mm in length and 60 mm in diameter whitish to reddish pink, sometimes with brownish tint, with short floral tubes.

Blooming Season

Blooms appear recurrently from June to autumn.

Ribs

13-19 straight, broad, flat, divided into angular warts with prominent angular chins below the the large woolly areoles , with narrow furrows between them..

Stem

Globular, somewhat flattened and slightly depressed at the centre (or slightly elongated in cultivation), dark grey-green, olive-green, dark chocolate brown or red-violet, up to 9 cm high and 7-14 cm in diameter, often spineless at the top.

Radial Spines

7 to 9, pinkish -brown, turning grey with dark tips spreading, curving backward encasing the brown body, one pointing downward, others to the sides, brown, becoming grey with dark tips, usually up to 15 mm long, but quite variable in length.

Areoles

Oval 10-15 mm apart, slightly furnished with wool.