Xerophyte

Central Spines

1-5 (mostly 4), light yellow with red tips, uppermost two V-shaped (often with 1 or 2 extra smaller centrals), 20-45 cm long, lowermost one always hooked at the tip, like a fishhook, 22-30(45) mm long.

Seeds

Kidney-shaped 1,7-2 mm long, dark brown to black and shinning.

Description

Sclerocactus brevihamatusSN|25266]]SN|25266]] subsp. tobuschii is a small deep-seated cactus with hooked spines. The plant is usually solitary and almost identical to the standard species but with fewer radial spines, flatter stems and with flower tending to appear a little late.

Roots

Short central taproot with a lot of fine fibrous, diffuse roots.

Tubercles

5-12 mm high with shallow woolly grooves on upper surface on their entire length.

Flowers

Diurnal, funnelform, inconspicuous, from the adaxial edge of the areoles an the top of the plant, 2,5-3 cm long, 2,5-4 cm in diameter, opening fully, greenish-yellow, light yellow or creamy white, sometime with reddish-brown central strips. Filaments and anthers yellowish. Stigma lobes green, yellow, or whitish.

Blooming Season

Flowering late February though April. The flower may open again on the second day.

Ribs

10-12 completely divided into tubercles.

Stem

Unbranched, globose to nearly flat flattened, often inconspicuous, dark green to grey-green, 5-7,5 cm high, up to 10 cm in diameter. The stems of immature specimens, are not obscured by spines.

Radial Spines

7-9 irregularly spreading white or greyish, straight, needle-like, 10-20 mm long.

Fruits

Elongate egg-shaped, thin walled, about 15-30 mm long, 1-1.5 cm wide, fleshy, nearly naked, greenish, ripening to pink or pinkish- brown by late spring or early summer.

Areoles

Nearly circular with short whitish wool.