Xerophyte

Seeds

Small, brown.

Description

Mammillaria marksiana is quite a nice looking cactus with its bright green colour, snow-white wool, sparse yellow spines and bright yellowish-green flowers. With the exception of plants found in the subgenus Dolichothele, no other Mammillaria species approaches the intensity of yellow found in the M. marksiana. Although it can make nice sized clumps it often remains solitary reaching with time a diameter of 12 cm.

Tubercles

Unequally swollen-pyramidal, weakly four-sided, bright green, in the axil there is usually lots of snow-white wool, particularly in the blooming area, but without bristles. Tubercle arrangement

Flowers

Diurnal, bright greenish yellow, 15 mm long and in diameter. The flowers form in a ring pattern on the previous year’s growth.

Blooming Season

Late winter to early spring.

Spines

Thin, needle-like, golden yellow to brown, difficult to distinguish as centrals and radials, very variable in number, even within the areoles of the same plant, 3 to 8(-11) mm long, depending on age and origin, younger plants have more spines (7-13), older ones have fewer ones (2-5), sometimes 2-13 additional bristle-like, rudimentary spines present.

Fruits

Club shaped, greenish or purplish red, up to 20 mm long, ripening in summer.